Agricultural ecosystems and their services: the vanguard of sustainability?

Abstract

A major opportunity exists in the transition from the disciplinary Millennium Development Goals (MDG's) to the more interdisciplinary Sustainable Development Goals (SDG's) to transform the dialogue around the environment from its current conceptualization as a constraining factor towards its utilization an enabling force for sustainable development.Agricultural ecosystems are the ecosystems closest to human well-being providing 31% of global employment, and the sustenance for the entirety of the global population. Despite this central contribution, agricultural systems or agroecosystems are responsible for driving significant environmental pressures while failing to provide sustainable diets for a world that is increasing either under-or malnourished. Agriculture's dual change is often presented as a trade-off between conservation and development objectives. However, an increasing body of research demonstrates that agricultural systems are both wholly dependent on, and potentially net providers of ecosystem services beyond food production. Recognizing this dual role allows for greater convergence between conservation and development objectives and leverages environmental management of agricultural system as a means to achieving global sustainability goals. We propose a simple framework for ecosystem services and resilience in agricultural landscapes to better capture and operationalize interactions between ecosystem services provided to agriculture, and those provided from agriculture. We discuss how such a perspective influences definitions of production ecosystem services and emphasize the need for greater focus on resilience and regulating services. We argue for better applications of resilience-based approaches and call for refocusing ecosystem service research on human well-being outcomes articulated in the social targets of the SDGs, in addition to the more traditional biophysical and conservation based outcomes.

Why farmers should manage the arbuscular mycorrhizal symbiosis

“…Even if we agreed with all the conclusions presented in Ryan & Graham (), we would still propose to redesign a system that is currently not beneficial for AM fungi and many other soil organisms. This idea of redesigning systems that promote beneficial soil biota, such as AM fungi, is not new (see the large literature on agroecology; for example, Wezel et al ., ; Bender et al ., ; DeClerck et al ., ), and is based on the enhancement of ecosystem services to boost sustainable agricultural production.…”

Assessing Ecosystem Services and Multifunctionality for Vineyard Systems

“…Producers could use the ecosystem services approach to assess and promote the multifunctionality of their managed land and thereby choose to create multifunctional landscapes (TEEB, 2015;DeClerck et al, 2016). For vineyard systems specifically, they can adopt ideas like vinecology, which combines practices of ecology and viticulture (Viers et al, 2013): for example, creating wildlife habitat like hedgerows and vegetation strips in the vineyards to attract wildlife including pollinators, to enhance natural pest control, and to increase the aesthetic value to people (Jedlicka et al, 2011;Orre-Gordon et al, 2013).…”

“…Thus, many agricultural systems are examples of multifunctional landscapes, which provide multiple ecosystem services (Lovell et al, 2010;Bennett, 2017). Multifunctional landscapes are often more resilient to ecosystem shocks and disturbances, such as human-induced changes like deforestation, or climate-induced environmental variation (DeClerck et al, 2016). They provide a wider range of services, which can be beneficial when reacting to future challenges, such as climate change or water scarcity, as they can either buffer disturbances or offer alternatives to current situations (Lovell and Taylor, 2013).…”

Evaluating strategies for sustainable intensification of US agriculture through the Long-Term Agroecosystem Research network

“…The ability to sustainably intensify agriculture depends largely on the non-commodity ecosystem services available for agricultural use now and into the future (Power 2010, DeClerck et al 2016. Two general models have emerged for sustaining necessary ecosystem services while increasing productivity in agricultural landscapes (Fischer et al 2008, Phalan et al 2011.…”