Plant biodiversity of Rosa damascena fields from Bulgaria's Rose Valley

The growing human population's demand for food and organic materials has a severe impact on the environment as conventional agriculture expands, destroying habitats and wildlife. This highlights the need to balance provision security with biodiversity conservation through new agricultural practices. This study investigates how different agricultural practices affect the plant diversity found in rose fields located in Kazanlak region, Bulgaria. We compared conventional and organic farming methods, while also looking at how the management of spaces between the rose rows by mowing or ploughing affects their plant diversity. Our results show that mowing management, as opposed to ploughing, leads to greater plant diversity and a higher vegetation total cover. Additionally, organic farming practices combined with mowing management were found to support plant communities with higher diversity, compared to conventional farming under mowing. We conclude that organic farming combined with mowing management is the most beneficial practice for promoting plant diversity in Bulgarian rose fields.