Harnessing virtual fencing for more effective and adaptive agri-environment schemes to conserve grassland biodiversity

Virtual fencing (VF) is an emerging technology that creates virtual boundaries for livestock. Collars equipped with positioning systems, such as GPS, emit acoustic warning signals if an animal approaches the virtual fence and an electric impulse if it continues to move forward, deterring it from crossing the virtual fence. Compared to physical fences, virtual fences, combined with positioning systems, enable precise tracking of individual animals and fencing out small areas within pastures at high spatio-temporal resolutions and low cost. VF has the potential to enhance agri-environment schemes (AES) aimed at conserving biodiversity in three ways. (1) Many existing grassland AES focus on limiting livestock density and/or regulating the timing of grazing. Monitoring compliance with these contract conditions is costly, which puts compliance at risk. GPS tracking can help overcome compliance issues by continuously monitoring grazing animals at low cost. (2) Grazing on pastures at even and high livestock densities leads to low levels of biodiversity. Applying VF to exclude small areas from grazing provides structural and associated organismic diversity. AES could incentivise farmers to fence out such small areas to enhance biodiversity. (3) Grazing on patches with endangered plants or nests of meadow birds may negatively affect small-scale populations of endangered grassland species. Unmanned aerial vehicles and automated picture analyses could be used to detect valuable patches, transmit the information to VF systems, and AES could remunerate farmers for fencing them out. The article will explore these ideas on a conceptual level and discuss their potential benefits and drawbacks. •Virtual fencing provides opportunities for improving AES.•Virtual fencing may improve legal compliance of existing AES.•AES may incentivise fencing out patches from grazing for more heterogeneity.•AES may incentivise fencing out patches with endangered species.