Agricultural intensification is regarded as a potential solution to the rising demand for food while limiting further loss of habitat. However, agricultural lands can be rich in biodiversity and changes to way those lands are managed have the potential to drive substantial biodiversity loss. We therefore have an imperative to understand how species use landscape elements in farmlands to help develop strategies that can minimize losses in the face of intensification. In this seminar I will present case studies showing how spatial and temporal variation in the farming matrix influences reptile and frog communities and individual species. Which taxon is most at risk? How are they influenced by crop harvesting? How is their capacity to orient towards habitat altered by changes in agricultural practices? What is the risk of predation across landscape elements? Answers to these questions provide new insight into the complex responses of wildlife to changes in farming landscapes, but also provide some guidance for conservation planning as we move forwards towards peak-human.