This report evaluates how key agricultural management practices affect non-target terrestrial organisms (NTTOs), such as earthworms, collembolans, spiders, beetles, soil mites and lepidopteran larvae, within European farming systems. It places the effects of plant protection products (PPPs) in the wider context of agricultural production, recognising that many routine farming activities can also have substantial impacts on NTTOs despite not being subject to the same regulatory scrutiny. The report first examines crop management systems for winter wheat (in France, Poland and the UK) and apples (in Italy and Poland). Both crops rely on a combination of cultural practices, fertilisation and PPP use. Wheat production involves repeated soil cultivation, fertilisation, pesticide applications and harvesting throughout a single growing season. Apple production is more complex due to its perennial nature, with orchards requiring long-term management over many years, including pruning, mowing, fertilisation, pest and disease control, irrigation and fruit thinning. In both systems, farming activities continuously modify habitats, food resources and shelter for NTTOs, making it difficult to isolate the effects of individual practices. The second part of the report reviews published literature on the impacts of five key agricultural practices—tillage, fertilisation, mowing, harvesting and crop rotation—on NTTO communities.
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