Intersection between biodiversity conservation, agroecology, and ecosystem services

Abstract

Agroecological research has improved our understanding of the drivers and benefits of biodiversity, thus providing the scientific basis needed to achieve agricultural multifunctionality. We review how agroecology has contributed to our understanding of the effects of local and landscape level drivers on beneficial insects, as well as on the ecosystem services they provide. Several syntheses from agroecosystem research indicate that both populations and biodiversity of pollinator and natural enemies decline with increases in local agricultural intensification and that landscape composition and configuration may mediate these local scale effects. Changes in agricultural management may affect predation and pollination services by altering the resource base for natural enemies and pollinators, by altering their species pool, and by modifying their interactions. The effects of these drivers depend on taxonomical or functional groups and landscape context. Studies that directly measure the cascading effects of landscape drivers on pest control and pollination services and plant level benefits are sparse. We propose five research themes to improve our understanding of the interface of agroecology, conservation, and ecosystem service research.

Exploring barriers to the agroecological transition in Nicaragua: A Technological Innovation Systems Approach

“…Beyond the discussion about if it is through overprice or value chains that rentability could be improved, our results suggest that a "retail transformation" (Reardon et al 2009), focusing on the health, nutrition, and environmental benefits of agroecological products, could be beneficial to agroecological farmers. As suggested by other authors, the valorization of ecosystem services provided by agroecology could serve as an entry point to increasing agroecology's profitability to farmers (D'Annolfo et al 2017;Dendoncker et al 2018;Gliessman et al 2012;Liere, Jha, and Philpott 2017;Ponisio and Ehrlich 2016). Further, synergies between agroecology and alternative opportunities, such as ecotourism, could be explored.…”

“…Land fragmentation and tenure issues are subjects to be addressed by municipal or national government but could be discussed within villages first. Concerning on-farm adoption of agroecology, the impacts of parcel fragmentation have been more studied from a biodiversity perspective (Liere, Jha, and Philpott 2017;Perfecto, Vandermeer, and Wright 2009). Credit issues could be handled by the Banco Produzcamos, which is dependent on national government input or by credit schemes from local cooperatives.…”

The Influence of Herbicide Underdosage on the Composition and Diversity of Weeds in Oilseed Rape (Brassica napus L. var. oleifera D.C.) Mediterranean Fields

“…absolute abundance o f a species sum o f all absolute abundances × 100 (1) Absolute abundance = total number o f individuals o f a species total number o f sampling units containing that species (2) Species richness was the mean number of species in each treatment [36]. The Shannon's diversity index (H ), and the Simpson index (D) were calculated according to [44][45][46]:…”

“…Currently, biodiversity is considered crucial for agricultural landscapes also having a beneficial impact for cropping systems, especially if it does not limit the achievement of optimal yield [1,2]. In recent decades, biodiversity in farmland gradually declined, mainly because of simplified crop rotations, and ever more intensive cultivation practices [3,4].…”

Nutrición mineral y rendimiento de sorgo inoculado con cepas microbianas en dos agroambientes

“…El exceso del uso de agroquímicos ha tenido como resultado contaminación, decremento de la biodiversidad en las regiones agrícolas, degradación de los agroecosistemas e incrementos de los costos de producción. La producción agrícola sostenible podría reemplazar a la agricultura tradicional, aunque para eso se requiere de una mayor comprensión y entendimiento de las interacciones bilógicas dentro de los agroecosistemas (Lire et al, 2017). Los inoculantes microbianos poseen en la actualidad gran importancia ecológica y económica en la agricultura.…”