Ecosystem service trade-offs, perceived drivers, and sustainability in contrasting agroecosystems in central Mexico

Abstract

ABSTRACT. The ability of agroecosystems to provide food ultimately depends on the regulating and supporting ecosystem services that underpin their functioning, such as the regulation of soil quality, water quality, soil erosion, pests, and pollinators. However, there are trade-offs between provisioning and regulating or supporting services, whose nature at the farm and plot scales is poorly understood. We analyzed data at the farm level for two agroecosystems with contrasting objectives in central Mexico: one aimed at staple crop production for self-subsistence and local markets, the other directed to a cash crop for export markets. Bivariate and multivariate tradeoffs were analyzed for different crop management strategies (conventional, organic, traditional, crop rotation) and their underpinning socioeconomic drivers. There was a clear trade-off between crop yield and soil quality in self-subsistence systems. However, other expected trade-offs between yields and soil quality did not always occur, likely because of the overall good soils of the region and the low to medium input profile of most farms. Trade-offs were highly dependent on farm-specific agricultural practices; organic, traditional, and rotation management systems generally showed smaller trade-offs between yield and soil quality, pest control, and biodiversity than did conventional management systems. Perceived drivers reported by farmers included increasing prices for cash crops, rising costs of inputs, and extreme climatic events (e.g., drought, hail, frost). Farmers did not identify the regulation of soil quality, water quality, soil erosion, pests, or pollinators as important constraints. Although acceptable yields could be maintained irrespective of key regulating and supporting services according to these perceptions, current levels of soil erosion and nutrient runoff are likely to have important negative effects at the watershed scale. Sustainability in both agroecosystems could be increased substantially by promoting alternative practices aimed at maintaining biodiversity, soil quality, and soil retention.

Trade-offs in ecosystem services and varying stakeholder preferences: evaluating conflicts, obstacles, and opportunities

“…For step 2 of the protocol, i.e., deriving the PPF, the framework can be used for a quantitative analysis with mathematical models (e.g., Nelson et al 2009) or empirical data (e.g., González-Esquivel et al 2015). Alternatively, we believe that using the framework for hypothetical or graphical analysis, as we did in the workshop, may also be instrumental in understanding conflicts and visualizing solutions.…”

“…3, curves A and C). Intermediate regions that hold a mosaic of valley bottoms with fertile soils and hills that host endemic biodiversity are found in central Mexico (González-Esquivel et al 2015; Fig. 3, curve B).…”

“…In the Mexico cases, PPFs were drawn to reflect empirically measured trade-offs (González-Esquivel et al 2015; F. Mora, P. Balvanera, E. García-Frapolli, A. Castillo, J. Trilleras, and D. Cohen, unpublished manuscript). The Kenya case PPF was a graphical representation of generalized threshold-exhibiting vegetation dynamics in drylands (May 1977, Scheffer et al 2001).…”

Ecosystem service trade-offs across global contexts and scales

“…Their analysis reveals that currently feasible management and technological shifts would both increase the production of corn and enhance water quality. In Mexican agroecological systems studied by González-Esquivel et al (2015), provisioning services in terms of staple crop production for self-subsistence and local markets, on the one hand, and avocado cash crops for the export market, on the other hand, trade off with soil quality, pest and pollinator regulation, water quality, and biodiversity. The study reveals that management decisions of farmers are driven largely by export markets, costs of agricultural inputs, and climatic factors but not by negative consequences of management practices for regulating services or biodiversity.…”

Analyzing Farmers’ Perceptions of Ecosystem Services and PES Schemes within Agricultural Landscapes in Mengyin County, China: Transforming Trade-Offs into Synergies

“…Meeting the dramatic growth in the demand for the provision of food, timber, fiber and fuel often leads to a diminution or loss of the supply of other ecosystem services, such as the maintenance of soil fertility, water quality, pest control, and pollination [2,3]. In turn, there are 'burdens' upon intensive agroecosystem that has harmful effects, leading to a decline in biodiversity and threatening the environment [4,5].…”