The impact of agricultural practices on biodiversity

McLaughlin, Alison; Mineau, Pierre

doi:10.1016/0167-8809(95)00609-v

Cited by 560 publications

(294 citation statements)

References 39 publications

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“…2003). We are increasingly wellinformed not only about the processes that affect associated ecological systems (McLaughlin & Mineau 1995;Vickery et al . 2001;Robinson & Sutherland 2002;Dalton & Brand-Hardy 2003), but also those through which organisms, populations and communities respond (Fuller et al .…”

Section: Introduction: the Challenges Of Agricultural Change And The mentioning

confidence: 99%

Meeting the ecological challenges of agricultural change: editors’ introduction

Ormerod

Marshall²,

Kerby³

et al. 2003

Journal of Applied Ecology

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Summary 1.The global need for agricultural production has never been greater. Nor has it ever been more complex due to the needs to balance global food security, optimum production, technological innovation, the preservation of environmental functions and the protection of biodiversity. The role of ecologists in finding this balance is pivotal. 2.In support of this role, ecologists now have very substantial experience of agricultural systems. We can understand, recognize and sometimes predict, at least qualitatively, the effects of pesticide applications, fertilizer use, drainage, crop choices and habitat modifications on farmland organisms, agro-ecosystems or other ecosystems influenced by agricultural land. 3. In instances of greater uncertainty, for example under changing climates, where environmental stresses on ecosystems are interactive, and where ecosystem management or restoration must adapt to new technologies, the investigative skills and experience of ecologists are even more crucial in problem solving. 4. There are, nevertheless, contrasting examples of good and bad practice in knowledgetransfer between ecologists and the communities who need our knowledge. The UK farm-scale evaluations of genetically modified crops, for example, involved ecologists at all stages from design and data collection to advocating policy. By contrast, many European agri-environment projects appear to have been developed and evaluated with only modest ecological advice. We advocate fuller involvement of ecologists in the development and evaluation of the European Union Common Agricultural Policy. 5. This special profile of seven agriculturally related papers illustrates effectively the array of approaches used by applied ecologists in addressing agricultural questions: modelling, meta-analysis, surveys, transect studies, classical experiments, seedbank assays and process studies based on modern ecological methods. With over 20% of recent papers in the Journal of Applied Ecology reflecting agricultural issues, agro-ecology continues to represent one of the pre-eminent areas of applied ecology that is unlikely to diminish in importance.

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Section: Introduction: the Challenges Of Agricultural Change And The mentioning

confidence: 99%

Meeting the ecological challenges of agricultural change: editors’ introduction

Ormerod

Marshall²,

Kerby³

et al. 2003

Journal of Applied Ecology

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“…Independent from the use of GM crops, modern agricultural systems have considerable negative impacts on global biodiversity [6][7][8][9][10][11]. On a global scale, the most direct negative impact is due to the considerable loss of natural habitats, which is caused by the conversion of natural ecosystems into agricultural land [9,12]. The negative impact of modern agricultural systems in Europe cannot be ascribed to only one factor, but is caused by the interaction of a multitude of factors.…”

Section: Gm Crops Modern Agriculture and The Environmentmentioning

confidence: 99%

Ecological Impacts of Genetically Modified Crops: Ten Years of Field Research and Commercial Cultivation

Sanvido

Romeis

Bigler

Green Gene Technology

110

102

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“…Wildflowers, weeds, and trap crops intentionally planted in crop fields or in field margins provide alternative resources, overwintering sites, and refuge habitats for natural enemies, leading to lower pest populations (Nicholls and Altieri 2013). Likewise, timing of planting and fallow lands, as well as temporal increases in crop diversity via rotations, can lower insect pest populations (Altieri 1999;McLaughlin and Mineau 1995;and references therein). However, because non-crop vegetation can also increase crop seed pressure (Schroth et al 2000), deviate predator services away from crop plants (Benton, Vickery, and Wilson 2003;Bianchi, Booij, and Tscharntke 2006), and serve as refugia to potential pests (Girma, Rao, and Sithanantham 2000), complex interactions must be carefully considered (Barbieri et al 2010).…”

Section: Local Effectsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Intersection between biodiversity conservation, agroecology, and ecosystem services

Liere

Jha

Philpott

2017

Agroecology and Sustainable Food Systems

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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.

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The impact of agricultural practices on biodiversity

Cited by 560 publications

References 39 publications

Meeting the ecological challenges of agricultural change: editors’ introduction

Meeting the ecological challenges of agricultural change: editors’ introduction

Ecological Impacts of Genetically Modified Crops: Ten Years of Field Research and Commercial Cultivation

Intersection between biodiversity conservation, agroecology, and ecosystem services

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