Managing Biodiversity in Agricultural Ecosystems

Managing Biodiversity in Agricultural Ecosystems PDF Author: Devra Ivy Jarvis
Publisher: Columbia University Press
ISBN: 9780231136488
Category : Science
Languages : en
Pages : 520

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Book Description
Describes how farmers manage, maintain, and benefit from biodiversity in agricultural production systems. Includes the most recent research and developments in the maintenance of local diversity at the genetic, species, and ecosystem levels.

Managing Biodiversity in Agricultural Ecosystems

Managing Biodiversity in Agricultural Ecosystems PDF Author: Devra Ivy Jarvis
Publisher: Columbia University Press
ISBN: 9780231136488
Category : Science
Languages : en
Pages : 520

Get Book Here

Book Description
Describes how farmers manage, maintain, and benefit from biodiversity in agricultural production systems. Includes the most recent research and developments in the maintenance of local diversity at the genetic, species, and ecosystem levels.

Biodiversity in Agriculture

Biodiversity in Agriculture PDF Author: Paul Gepts
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
ISBN: 110737667X
Category : Nature
Languages : en
Pages :

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Book Description
The introduction of plant and animal agriculture represents one of the most important milestones in human evolution. It contributed to the development of cities, alphabets, new technologies, and ultimately to civilizations, but it has also presented a threat to both human health and the environment. Bringing together research from a range of fields including anthropology, archaeology, ecology, economics, entomology, ethnobiology, genetics and geography, this book addresses key questions relating to agriculture. Why did agriculture develop and where did it originate? What are the patterns of domestication for plants and animals? How did agroecosystems originate and spread from their locations of origin? Exploring the cultural aspects of the development of agricultural ecosystems, the book also highlights how these topics can be applied to our understanding of contemporary agriculture, its long-term sustainability, the co-existence of agriculture and the environment, and the development of new crops and varieties.

Biodiversity in Agroecosystems

Biodiversity in Agroecosystems PDF Author: Wanda W. Collins
Publisher: CRC Press
ISBN: 9781420049244
Category : Technology & Engineering
Languages : en
Pages : 352

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Book Description
between the diversity of plant and animal species and host/dependent agricultural systems. Biodiversity in Agroecosystems shows how biodiversity can be thought of not only as the rich make-up of a great number of related and competing species within an ecologically defined community, but also as the robust behavior and resilience of those species over time and as the endurance of their eco-community. This book brings to the fore new research on biodiversity in agricultural ecosystems at both micro and macro levels, heretofore available only in journals and proceedings papers.

Population, Agriculture, and Biodiversity

Population, Agriculture, and Biodiversity PDF Author: J. Perry Gustafson
Publisher: University of Missouri Press
ISBN: 0826274404
Category : Science
Languages : en
Pages : 425

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Book Description
This timely collection of 15 original essays written by expert scientists the world over addresses the relationships between human population growth, the need to increase food supplies to feed the world population, and the chances for avoiding the extinction of a major proportion of the world's plant and animal species that collectively makes our survival on Earth possible. These relationships are highly intertwined, and changes in each of them steadily decrease humankind’s chances to achieve environmental stability on our fragile planet. The world population is projected to be nine to ten billion by 2050, signaling the need to increase world food production by more than 70 percent on the same amount of land currently under production—and this without further damaging our fragile environment. The essays in this collection, written by experts for laypersons, present the problems we face with clarity and assess our prospects for solving them, calling for action but holding out viable solutions.

Routledge Handbook of Agricultural Biodiversity

Routledge Handbook of Agricultural Biodiversity PDF Author: Danny Hunter
Publisher: Routledge
ISBN: 1317753291
Category : Nature
Languages : en
Pages : 692

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Book Description
The world relies on very few crop and animal species for agriculture and to supply its food needs. In recent decades, there has been increased appreciation of the risk this implies for food security and quality, especially in times of environmental change. As a result, agricultural biodiversity has moved to the top of research and policy agendas. This Handbook presents a comprehensive overview of our current knowledge of agricultural biodiversity in a series of specially commissioned chapters. It draws on multiple disciplines including plant and animal genetics, ecology, crop and animal science, food studies and nutrition, as well as social science subjects which explore the socio-economic, cultural, institutional, legal and policy aspects of agricultural biodiversity. It focuses not only on the core requirements to deliver a sustainable agriculture and food supply, but also highlights the additional ecosystem services provided by a diverse and resilient agricultural landscape and farming practices. The book provides an indispensable reference textbook for a wide range of courses in agriculture, ecology, biodiversity conservation and environmental studies.

Agriculture, Biodiversity and Markets

Agriculture, Biodiversity and Markets PDF Author: Stewart Lockie
Publisher: Earthscan
ISBN: 1849774374
Category : Business & Economics
Languages : en
Pages : 337

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Book Description
Debate about how best to ensure the preservation of agricultural biodiversity is caught in a counter-productive polemic between proponents and critics of market-based instruments and agricultural modernization. However, it is argued in this book that neither position does justice to the range of strategies that farmers use to manage agrobiodiversity and other livelihood assets as they adapt to changing social, economic, and environmental circumstances.

Biodiversity In Agricultural Production Systems

Biodiversity In Agricultural Production Systems PDF Author: Gero Benckiser
Publisher: CRC Press
ISBN: 9781574445893
Category : Technology & Engineering
Languages : en
Pages : 472

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Book Description
While modern science has always recognized the central role that biodiversity plays in the ecological processes that maintain the Earth's equilibrium, our increasing knowledge of nature has deepened our appreciation of this principle. Consequently, those involved with implementing and maintaining sustainable agriculture systems have begun to take a far more sophisticated approach to understanding and making use of the components and mechanics of biodiversity. Providing a comprehensive and highly practical exploration of the subject, Biodiversity in Agricultural Production Systems examines abiotic ecosystem diversity and biological complexity at every relevant level. Leading researchers detail subspecies diversity, covering ecotypes, lifecycles, genes, physiology, and behavior. They also discuss species richness and supraspecies diversity, which includes foodweb interactions and non-trophic relationships, as well as above- and belowground relationships. Exploring various facets of agricultural crops and cultivation practices, this inter-disciplinary volume- Gives an overview of the pore space dynamic in agroecosystems where most soil microorganisms reside, including bacteria, fungi, protozoa, nematodes, and Tardigrada Examines the highly diverse and prominent role played by earthworms Looks at the metabolic processes occurring in soils that result in the release of greenhouse gases Outlines principles and strategies of order between interacting molecules, cells, species and communities Looks at mechanisms of competition, exploring growth regulation, transformation, and feeding strategies, as well as toxin production, mutation, and biofilm formation Discusses matter recycling and the diversity of microbial metabolism in soils Shows how long-term observation plots are used to assess soil quality Biodiversity in Agricultural Production Systems provides important information for those involved with researching and implementing sustainable agricultural systems, as well as those addressing specific challenges related to soil degradation, water management, and climatic impacts. It also provides recent research and fresh perspectives to enhance the approaches of those working in horticulture, biology, and the environmental sciences.

Agrobiodiversity

Agrobiodiversity PDF Author: Karl S. Zimmerer
Publisher: MIT Press
ISBN: 0262549697
Category : Science
Languages : en
Pages : 403

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Book Description
Experts discuss the challenges faced in agrobiodiversity and conservation, integrating disciplines that range from plant and biological sciences to economics and political science. Wide-ranging environmental phenomena—including climate change, extreme weather events, and soil and water availability—combine with such socioeconomic factors as food policies, dietary preferences, and market forces to affect agriculture and food production systems on local, national, and global scales. The increasing simplification of food systems, the continuing decline of plant species, and the ongoing spread of pests and disease threaten biodiversity in agriculture as well as the sustainability of food resources. Complicating the situation further, the multiple systems involved—cultural, economic, environmental, institutional, and technological—are driven by human decision making, which is inevitably informed by diverse knowledge systems. The interactions and linkages that emerge necessitate an integrated assessment if we are to make progress toward sustainable agriculture and food systems. This volume in the Strüngmann Forum Reports series offers insights into the challenges faced in agrobiodiversity and sustainability and proposes an integrative framework to guide future research, scholarship, policy, and practice. The contributors offer perspectives from a range of disciplines, including plant and biological sciences, food systems and nutrition, ecology, economics, plant and animal breeding, anthropology, political science, geography, law, and sociology. Topics covered include evolutionary ecology, food and human health, the governance of agrobiodiversity, and the interactions between agrobiodiversity and climate and demographic change.

Agrobiodiversity Conservation Securing the Diversity of Crop Wild Relatives and Landraces

Agrobiodiversity Conservation Securing the Diversity of Crop Wild Relatives and Landraces PDF Author: Nigel Maxted, M. Ehsan Dulloo, Brian V. Ford-Lloyd, Lothar Frese, José Iriondo and Miguel A.A. Pinheiro de Carvalho
Publisher: CABI
ISBN: 9781845938529
Category : Agrobiodiversity conservation
Languages : en
Pages : 387

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Book Description
Based on the 2010 conference 'Towards the establishment of genetic reserves for crop wild relatives and landraces in Europe', this book is the cutting-edge discussion of agrobiodiversity conservation. By considering the benefits of understanding and preserving crop wild relatives and landraces, it encompasses issues as wide-ranging and topical as habitat protection, ecosystem health and food security. "Agrobiodiversity Conservation" focuses on Europe, but is globally relevant. It is suitable for postgraduate students of conservation and environmental studies, conservation professiona.

Nature and Farming

Nature and Farming PDF Author: David Norton FLS
Publisher: CSIRO PUBLISHING
ISBN: 064310660X
Category : Science
Languages : en
Pages : 303

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Book Description
Conserving and enhancing native biodiversity on farms brings many benefits as well as providing many challenges. Nature and Farming explains why it is important to sustain native plants and animals in agricultural landscapes, and outlines the key issues in developing and implementing practical approaches to safeguarding native biodiversity in rural areas. The book considers the range of ecological and agricultural issues that determine what native biodiversity occurs in farmland and how it can be secured. Many inspiring case studies are presented where innovative approaches towards integrating biodiversity and farm management have been successful, resulting in win–win outcomes for both nature and society. In the integration and synthesis of these case studies lies the kernel of a new paradigm for nature conservation on farms. Although the book focuses on biodiversity conservation on Australian and New Zealand farms, the issues and approaches discussed are applicable to many other developed countries, especially in Europe and North America.