Until now the main instrument to counteract the loss of biodiversity and landscape quality in the European countryside has been agri‐environment schemes (AES), which offer short‐term payments for performing prescribed environmental management behaviors. In our opinion this approach is, in its current set‐up, not a sustainable way of enhancing biodiversity and landscape quality. Here we will argue that conservation in agricultural areas is also a social challenge. To change farmers’ behaviors toward more sustainable conservation of farmland biodiversity, instruments should aim to influence individual farmer's motivation and behavior. We should aim to place farmland biodiversity “in the hands and minds of farmers.”

Sown, temporary field margins are a common agri-environment scheme (AES) in the Netherlands. Despite their wide application, though, there has been scarcely any long-term monitoring of the succession of invertebrates. In the field margins of 40 farms, invertebrate diversity and the abundance of three functional groups were assessed in relation to age. The diversity in terms of number of species groups was found to increase with the age of the margins. The abundance of herbivores and detritivores also showed a positive correlation with the age of the margins. However, the abundance of predators decreased with increasing age. Older margins showed a higher total vegetation cover and fewer plant species, also resulting in lower plant species evenness. We suggest several changes to the current AES regulations. For the conservation of invertebrate diversity, longer-lasting field margins are desirable. In addition, old margins are favoured by detritivores, a group that has particular difficulty finding suitable habitats in agricultural landscapes. However, such margins are less favourable from an agricultural perspective, as they appear unsuitable for high abundances of potentially useful predators and the high vegetation cover attracts many potentially harmful herbivores. To circumvent this, the AES might be extended by incorporating hay-making, which would reduce standing biomass and might lead to more predators and fewer herbivores.

Capsule Dutch Blackbirds from all regions had almost ceased migrating in the period between 1955 and 1990, probably as a result of climate change.

Artificial light at night (ALAN) is one of the suggested drivers of the global decline in insects, including moths. ALAN strongly affects moth physiology and behaviour, but it remains unknown whether ALAN is a selective pressure that drives adaptation and evolution in moths. We assess whether feeding and calling behaviours of Yponomeuta cagnagellus moths are locally adapted to ALAN. Collected from locations that were either illuminated or dark at night‐time for several decades, moths were exposed to different light intensities in a laboratory experiment. Male moths, but not female moths, fed less frequently in bright light than in dark or dim conditions. Female calling was less frequent in dimly or brightly lit conditions than in the dark treatment. Individuals from illuminated source populations showed increased feeding behaviour by males and marginally decreased calling behaviour by females. Our study suggests that ALAN affects the phenotypical calling behaviour by females and feeding behaviour by male moths of Y. cagnagellus but has not resulted in adaptation. Long‐term ALAN conditions also affected feeding and marginally affected calling frequency. Reduced calling in lit conditions, perhaps driven by a reduced need for such behaviour because of an increase in visual cues or through the proximity of individuals in lit conditions, may result in long‐term adaptation. Studies into more moth species are required to determine the extent to which a lack of adaptation to ALAN may contribute to current global declines in moth populations.