scholarly journals Modeling the Supporting Ecosystem Services of Depressional Wetlands in Agricultural Landscapes

Wetlands ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 40 (5) ◽  
pp. 1061-1069
Author(s):  
David M. Mushet ◽  
Cali L. Roth
Keyword(s):  
Ecosystem Services ◽  
Crop Production ◽  
System Modeling ◽  
Integrated Approach ◽  
Agricultural Landscapes ◽  
Floral Resources ◽  
Depressional Wetlands ◽  
Native Plant ◽  
Des Moines Lobe ◽  
Des Moines

Abstract We explored how a geographic information system modeling approach could be used to quantify supporting ecosystem services related to the type, abundance, and distribution of landscape components. Specifically, we use the Integrated Valuation of Ecosystem Services and Tradeoffs model to quantify habitats that support amphibians and birds, floral resources that support pollinators, native-plant communities that support regional biodiversity, and above- and below-ground carbon stores in the Des Moines Lobe ecoregion of the U.S. We quantified services under two scenarios, one that represented the 2012 Des Moines Lobe landscape, and one that simulated the conversion to crop production of wetlands and surrounding uplands conserved under the USDA Agricultural Conservation Easement Program (ACEP). While ACEP easements only covered 0.35% of the ecoregion, preserved wetlands and grasslands provided for 19,020 ha of amphibian habitat, 21,462 ha of grassland-bird habitat, 18,798 ha of high-quality native wetland plants, and 27,882 ha of floral resources for pollinators. Additionally, ACEP protected lands stored 257,722 t of carbon that, if released, would result in costs in excess of 45-million USD. An integrated approach using results from a GIS-based model in combination with process-based model quantifications will facilitate more informed decisions related to ecosystem service tradeoffs.

scholarly journals Regenerating Agricultural Landscapes with Perennial Groundcover for Intensive Crop Production

Agronomy ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 9 (8) ◽  
pp. 458 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kenneth J. Moore ◽  
Robert P. Anex ◽  
Amani E. Elobeid ◽  
Shuizhang Fei ◽  
Cornelia B. Flora ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Water Quality ◽  
Ecosystem Services ◽  
Crop Production ◽  
Cropping Systems ◽  
Private Investment ◽  
Crop Productivity ◽  
Agricultural Landscapes ◽  
Native Plant ◽  
Grain Crop ◽  
Intensively Managed

The Midwestern U.S. landscape is one of the most highly altered and intensively managed ecosystems in the country. The predominant crops grown are maize (Zea mays L.) and soybean [Glycine max (L.) Merr]. They are typically grown as monocrops in a simple yearly rotation or with multiple years of maize (2 to 3) followed by a single year of soybean. This system is highly productive because the crops and management systems have been well adapted to the regional growing conditions through substantial public and private investment. Furthermore, markets and supporting infrastructure are highly developed for both crops. As maize and soybean production have intensified, a number of concerns have arisen due to the unintended environmental impacts on the ecosystem. Many areas across the Midwest are experiencing negative impacts on water quality, soil degradation, and increased flood risk due to changes in regional hydrology. The water quality impacts extend even further downstream. We propose the development of an innovative system for growing maize and soybean with perennial groundcover to recover ecosystem services historically provided naturally by predominantly perennial native plant communities. Reincorporating perennial plants into annual cropping systems has the potential of restoring ecosystem services without negatively impacting grain crop production and offers the prospect of increasing grain crop productivity through improving the biological functioning of the system.

scholarly journals Assessing the role of dispersed floral resources for managed bees in providing supporting ecosystem services for crop pollination

PeerJ ◽  
2018 ◽  
Vol 6 ◽  
pp. e5654 ◽  
Author(s):  
Annalie Melin ◽  
Mathieu Rouget ◽  
Jonathan F. Colville ◽  
Jeremy J. Midgley ◽  
John S. Donaldson
Keyword(s):  
Ecosystem Services ◽  
Integrated Approach ◽  
Biological Data ◽  
Natural Vegetation ◽  
Floral Resources ◽  
Western Cape ◽  
Pollination Services ◽  
Alien Plant ◽  
Crop Fields ◽  
Relative Contribution

Most pollination ecosystem services studies have focussed on wild pollinators and their dependence on natural floral resources adjacent to crop fields. However, managed pollinators depend on a mixture of floral resources that are spatially separated from the crop field. Here, we consider the supporting role these resources play as an ecosystem services provider to quantify the use and availability of floral resources, and to estimate their relative contribution to support pollination services of managed honeybees. Beekeepers supplying pollination services to the Western Cape deciduous fruit industry were interviewed to obtain information on their use of floral resources. For 120 apiary sites, we also analysed floral resources within a two km radius of each site based on geographic data. The relative availability of floral resources at sites was compared to regional availability. The relative contribution of floral resources-types to sustain managed honeybees was estimated. Beekeepers showed a strong preference for eucalypts and canola. Beekeepers selectively placed more hives at sites with eucalypt and canola and less with natural vegetation. However, at the landscape-scale, eucalypt was the least available resource, whereas natural vegetation was most common. Based on analysis of apiary sites, we estimated that 700,818 ha of natural vegetation, 73,910 ha of canola fields, and 10,485 ha of eucalypt are used to support the managed honeybee industry in the Western Cape. Whereas the Cape managed honeybee system uses a bee native to the region, alien plant species appear disproportionately important among the floral resources being exploited. We suggest that an integrated approach, including evidence from interview and landscape data, and fine-scale biological data is needed to study floral resources supporting managed honeybees.

scholarly journals Perceptions of Energy Crop Production by Lay People and Farmers Using the Ecosystem Services Approach

2014 ◽  
Vol 22 (2) ◽  
pp. 15-25 ◽  
Author(s):  
Gerd Lupp ◽  
Olaf Bastian ◽  
Ralf-Uwe Syrbe ◽  
Reimund Steinhäußer
Keyword(s):  
Ecosystem Services ◽  
Food Production ◽  
Crop Production ◽  
Regional Scale ◽  
Landscape Management ◽  
Agricultural Landscapes ◽  
Energy Crop ◽  
Structured Interviews ◽  
Lay Persons ◽  
Legal Frameworks

Abstract Perceptions of energy crop production are assessed in this paper. The Görlitz district (Germany) serves as a case study area for this purpose. Semi-structured interviews with farmers and standardized surveys among lay persons were conducted. Many farmers perceive themselves being responsible for providing many ecosystem services. Farmers prefer a regional scale of energy crop cultivation based on conventional crops. Improved legal frameworks and incentives would safeguard equal competition and ecosystem services. Laypersons think that drinking water, food production, biodiversity and pollination are the most important ecosystem services of agricultural landscapes. Providing biomass for renewable energy production is not considered to be an important ecosystem service. Laypersons believe that biomass production should be restricted to fields that are not needed for food production, and the use of residues or landscape management materials. According to laypersons, more money should be spent to halt the decline of ecosystem services.

scholarly journals Trade-offs in provisioning and stability of multiple ecosystem services in agroecosystems

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Daniel Montoya ◽  
Bart Haegeman ◽  
Sabrina Gaba ◽  
Claire de Mazancourt ◽  
Vincent Bretagnolle ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Ecosystem Services ◽  
Crop Production ◽  
Management Strategies ◽  
Landscape Composition ◽  
Agricultural Landscapes ◽  
Crop Pollination ◽  
Trade Offs ◽  
Intensively Managed ◽  
Crop Area ◽  
The Stability

AbstractChanges in land use generate trade-offs in the delivery of ecosystem services in agricultural landscapes. However, we know little about how the stability of ecosystem services responds to landscape composition, and what ecological mechanisms underlie these trade-offs. Here, we develop a model to investigate the dynamics of three ecosystem services in intensively-managed agroecosystems, i.e. pollination-independent crop yield, crop pollination, and biodiversity. Our model reveals trade-offs and synergies imposed by landscape composition that affect not only the magnitude but also the stability of ecosystem service delivery. Trade-offs involving crop pollination are strongly affected by the degree to which crops depend on pollination and by their relative requirement for pollinator densities. We show conditions for crop production to increase with biodiversity and decreasing crop area, reconciling farmers’ profitability and biodiversity conservation. Our results further suggest that, for pollination-dependent crops, management strategies that focus on maximising yield will often overlook its stability. Given that agriculture has become more pollination-dependent over time, it is essential to understand the mechanisms driving these trade-offs to ensure food security.

scholarly journals Reconciling biodiversity conservation, food production and farmers’ demand

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Daniel Montoya ◽  
Sabrina Gaba ◽  
Claire de Mazancourt ◽  
Vincent Bretagnolle ◽  
Michel Loreau
Keyword(s):  
Ecosystem Services ◽  
Global Change ◽  
Biodiversity Conservation ◽  
Food Production ◽  
Crop Production ◽  
Natural Habitat ◽  
Agricultural Landscapes ◽  
Demographic Stochasticity ◽  
Trade Offs ◽  
Intensively Managed

AbstractAgricultural management should consider multiple services and stakeholders. Yet, it remains unclear how to guarantee the provision of ecosystem services that reaches stakeholders’ demands, especially considering the observed biodiversity decline and the current global change predictions that may affect food security. Here, we use a model to examine how landscape composition – fraction of semi-natural habitat (SNH) – affects biodiversity and crop production services in intensively-managed agricultural systems. We analyse three groups of stakeholders assumed to value different ecosystem services most – individual farmers (crop yield per area), agricultural unions (landscape production) and conservationists (biodiversity). We find that trade-offs among stakeholders’ demands strongly depend on the degree of pollination dependence of crops, the strength of environmental and demographic stochasticity, and the relative amount of an ecosystem service demanded by each stakeholder, i.e. function thresholds. Intermediate amounts of SNH can allow for the delivery of relatively high levels of the three ecosystem services. Our analysis further suggests that the current levels of SNH protection lie below these intermediate amounts of SNH in intensively-managed agricultural landscapes. Given the worldwide trends in agriculture and global change, these results suggest ways of managing landscapes to reconcile the demands of several actors and ensure for biodiversity conservation and food production.

scholarly journals Agro-Forest Management and Soil Degradation in Mediterranean Environments: Towards a Strategy for Sustainable Land Use in Vineyard and Olive Cropland

2018 ◽  
Vol 10 (7) ◽  
pp. 2565 ◽  
Author(s):  
Maurizio Marchi ◽  
Carlotta Ferrara ◽  
Rita Biasi ◽  
Rosanna Salvia ◽  
Luca Salvati
Keyword(s):  
Ecosystem Services ◽  
Rural Areas ◽  
Crop Production ◽  
Integrated Approach ◽  
Well Being ◽  
Sustainable Land Use ◽  
Agricultural System ◽  
Multiple Use ◽  
Present Contribution ◽  
The Mediterranean

Landscape fragmentation typical of the Mediterranean region is the result of long-term settlement history and continuous socioeconomic interactions among countries. In complex agro-ecosystems of the Mediterranean basin, formulation of practical guidelines aimed at counteract soil and land degradation, water depletion, rural area depopulation, and the loss of agricultural knowledge is imperative. Based on a multidisciplinary, integrated approach, the present contribution discusses the role of traditional agricultural systems in ecosystem services provision, considering together economic sustainability and the medium-term ecological benefits. A permanent monitoring of rural areas specialized in traditional crop production such as olive and vine may support optimal selection of cultivars finely adapted to a warm climate. A competitive agricultural system may consider human well-being, social equity, and conservation of natural resources, to ensure a high level of services for current and future generations. Recovery and conservation of agricultural resources provide positive externalities and social benefits at both local and regional levels. Understanding the multiple use and functions of tree crop landscapes will contribute to improve food security, land quality, and the provision of related ecosystem services.

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