부산대학교 도서관

Byline: Ian Montgomery, Institute of Global Food Security, School of Biological Sciences, Queen's University of Belfast, Belfast BT9 5DL, Northern Ireland, United Kingdom; email: i.montgomery@qub.ac.uk, Neil.Reid@qub.ac.uk; Tancredi Caruso, School of Biology and Environmental Science, University College Dublin, Dublin 4, Ireland; email: tancredi.caruso@ucd.ie; Neil Reid, Institute of Global Food Security, School of Biological Sciences, Queen's University of Belfast, Belfast BT9 5DL, Northern Ireland, United Kingdom; email: i.montgomery@qub.ac.uk, Neil.Reid@qub.ac.uk Keywords: agricultural intensification, field boundaries, hedgerow ecology, landscape ecology, production, sustainability Abstract Hedge density, structure, and function vary with primary production and slope gradient and are subject to other diverse factors. Hedgerows are emerging ecosystems with both above- and belowground components. Functions of hedges can be categorized as provisioning, regulating, cultural, and supporting ecosystem services; these functions include food production, noncrop food and wood production, firewood production, pollination, pest control, soil conservation and quality improvement, mitigation of water flux and availability, carbon sequestration, landscape connectivity and character maintenance, and contributions to biodiversity. Urban hedges provide a relatively equitable microclimate and critical connections between green spaces and enhance human health and well-being through contact with biodiversity. Soil and water conservation are well researched in tropical hedges but less is known about their contribution to pollination, pest control, and biodiversity. Establishing a minimum hedge width and longer intervals between cutting of temperate hedges would enhance biosecurity and promote carbon sequestration and biodiversity. Hedges have a global role in mitigating biodiversity loss and climate change, which restoration should maximize, notwithstanding regional character.