scholarly journals Targeting perennial vegetation in agricultural landscapes for enhancing ecosystem services

2013 ◽  
Vol 29 (2) ◽  
pp. 101-125 ◽  
Author(s):  
H. Asbjornsen ◽  
V. Hernandez-Santana ◽  
M. Liebman ◽  
J. Bayala ◽  
J. Chen ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Ecosystem Services ◽  
Agricultural Landscapes ◽  
Management Tool ◽  
Past Century ◽  
Pollination Services ◽  
Goods And Services ◽  
Wide Range ◽  
Perennial Vegetation ◽  
Hydrologic Regulation ◽  
Pathogen Populations

AbstractOver the past century, agricultural landscapes worldwide have increasingly been managed for the primary purpose of producing food, while other diverse ecosystem services potentially available from these landscapes have often been undervalued and diminished. The incorporation of relatively small amounts of perennial vegetation in strategic locations within agricultural landscapes dominated by annual crops—or perennialization—creates an opportunity for enhancing the provision of a wide range of goods and services to society, such as water purification, hydrologic regulation, pollination services, control of pest and pathogen populations, diverse food and fuel products, and greater resilience to climate change and extreme disturbances, while at the same time improving the sustainability of food production. This paper synthesizes the current scientific theory and evidence for the role of perennial plants in balancing conservation with agricultural production, focusing on the Midwestern USA as a model system, while also drawing comparisons with other climatically diverse regions of the world. Particular emphasis is given to identifying promising opportunities for advancement and critical gaps in our knowledge related to purposefully integrating perennial vegetation into agroecosystems as a management tool for maximizing multiple benefits to society.

scholarly journals Improving Habitat Quality at the Local and Landscape Scales Increases Wild Bee Assemblages and Associated Pollination Services in Apple Orchards in China

2021 ◽  
Vol 9 ◽  
Author(s):  
Panlong Wu ◽  
Piaopiao Dai ◽  
Meina Wang ◽  
Sijie Feng ◽  
Aruhan Olhnuud ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Management Practices ◽  
Ground Cover ◽  
Agricultural Landscapes ◽  
Wild Bees ◽  
Natural Habitats ◽  
Pollination Services ◽  
Wild Bee ◽  
Wide Range ◽  
Bee Diversity ◽  
Landscape Scales

Bees provide key pollination services for a wide range of crops. Accumulating evidence shows the effect of semi-natural habitats at the landscape level and local management practices on bee diversity in fields. However, most of the evidence is derived from studies in North America and Europe. Whether this paradigm is applicable in China, which is characterized by smallholder-dominated agricultural landscapes, has rarely been studied. In this study, we aimed to investigate how bee diversity affected apple production, and how landscape and local variables affected bee diversity and species composition on the Northern China Plain. The results showed that bees significantly increased apple fruit set compared to bagged controls. Wild bee diversity was positively related to apple seed numbers. Higher seed numbers reduced the proportion of deformed apples and thus increased fruit quality. Wild bee abundance was positively correlated with flowering ground cover, and both the abundance and species richness of wild bees were positively affected by the percentage of semi-natural habitats. We conclude that apple quality can benefit from ecological intensification comprising the augmentation of wild bees by semi-natural habitats and flowering ground cover. Future pollination management should therefore reduce the intensification level of management at both the local and landscape scales.

scholarly journals Assessing Ecosystem Services Supplied by Agroecosystems in Mediterranean Europe: A Literature Review

Land ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 9 (8) ◽  
pp. 245 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mario V. Balzan ◽  
Renata Sadula ◽  
Laura Scalvenzi
Keyword(s):  
Ecosystem Services ◽  
Literature Review ◽  
Ecosystem Service ◽  
Mediterranean Region ◽  
Management Practices ◽  
Cropping Systems ◽  
Agricultural Landscapes ◽  
Ecosystem Structure ◽  
Wide Range ◽  
The Mediterranean

Agricultural landscapes in the Mediterranean region may be considered as social-ecological systems that are important for biodiversity conservation whilst contributing to a wide range of ecosystem services. This literature review aims to identify the current state and biases of ecosystem service assessment in agroecosystems within the Mediterranean region, evaluate pressures impacting on agroecosystems and their services, and practices that promote ecosystem service synergies in Mediterranean agroecosystems. A total of 41 papers were selected for analysis from a set of 573 potentially relevant papers. Most of the selected papers focused on supporting, regulating and provisioning services, and mostly assessed ecosystem structure or services in the European Mediterranean context. Literature about benefits and values ascribed to by communities and stakeholders remain limited. Results presented here support the notion of multifunctional Mediterranean agroecosystems and multiple synergies were recorded in this review. Publications dealing with pressures that related to agricultural practices and demographic changes were in the majority and impact on different cropping systems. This review highlights the need to carry out integrated ecosystem service assessments that consider the multiple benefits derived from agroecosystems and which may be used to identify management practices that lead to the improvement of ecosystem services capacities and flows.

The impact of hedges maturation on soil organic carbon stocks in agricultural landscapes

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sofia Biffi ◽  
Pippa j Chapman ◽  
Richard P Grayson ◽  
Guy Ziv
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
Ecosystem Services ◽  
Organic Carbon ◽  
Soil Organic Carbon ◽  
Agricultural Landscapes ◽  
Net Zero ◽  
Wide Range ◽  
Soc Stock ◽  
The Impact

<p>Hedgerows can provide a wide range of regulatory ecosystem services within improved grassland landscapes, such as soil function improvement, soil erosion reduction, biodiversity, water quality, and flood prevention and mitigation. Because of their beneficial effects, farmers are incentivised to retain their hedgerows and the planting of hedges has been encouraged in agri-environment schemes in Europe. Today, hedgerow planting it is one of the most popular practices adopted in the Countryside and Environmental Stewardships in England. The role of hedgerows in climate change mitigation has been increasingly recognized over the past decade, however, while other services have been more widely studies, less is known about hedges soil organic carbon (SOC) storage capacity. The Resilient Dairy Landscapes project aims at identifying strategies to reconcile dairy systems productivity and environment in the face of climate change, and with the Committee on Climate Change calling for a 30% - 40% increase in hedgerow length by 2050 in the UK, it is important to determine the role of hedgerows in meeting Net Zero targets. In this study, we estimate the extent of SOC stock beneath hedges and how it may vary with depth, hedge management and age, as well as how it may compare to SOC stock in adjacent agricultural fields. Thus, we measured SOC under 2-4 years old, 10 years old, 37 years old, and 40+ years old hedgerows at 10 cm intervals up to 50 cm of depth under 32 hedges located on dairy farms in Cumbria, UK. We found that the time since planting and the depth of samples play a crucial role in the amount of SOC stock stored underneath hedgerows when accounting for differences in soil type. Our results contribute measurable outcomes towards the estimate of targets for Net Zero 2050 and the extent of ecosystem services provision by hedgerow planting in agricultural landscapes.  </p>

The Business Side of Ecosystem Services of Soil Systems

Earth ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 1 (2) ◽  
pp. 15-34
Author(s):  
Elena A. Mikhailova ◽  
Christopher J. Post ◽  
Mark A. Schlautman ◽  
Gregory C. Post ◽  
Hamdi A. Zurqani
Keyword(s):  
Decision Making ◽  
Ecosystem Services ◽  
Soil Survey ◽  
Business Systems ◽  
Business Decision ◽  
Soil Resources ◽  
Organizational Hierarchy ◽  
Goods And Services ◽  
Soil Systems ◽  
Wide Range

Current applications of the Ecosystems Services (ES) framework to soils are narrowly defined (e.g., soil-based, pedosphere-based, etc.), and focus on soil properties while treating soil as a closed system. Because soil is an open system, it receives and loses matter across its boundaries within Earth’s spheres (atmosphere, biosphere, hydrosphere, lithosphere, ecosphere, and anthroposphere), which also need to be accounted for in economic analysis. In market economies, the market transforms resources from the Earth’s pedosphere and related spheres into goods and services for societal welfare with non-market institutions mediating human and environmental interactions. These transformations and mediations can result not only in welfare but damages as well. The concept of soil ES and ecosystem disservices (ED) is a human-centered framework, which can be a useful tool in business decision-making. Soil ES (e.g., provisioning, regulation/ maintenance, and cultural) are used to produce goods and services, but the value of these ES and ED are not always accounted for as a part of business decision-making. The objective of this review is to illustrate the monetary valuation of ecosystem services of soil systems (SS) with examples based on the organizational hierarchy of soil systems. The organizational hierarchy of soil systems can be used in economic valuations of soil ES by scale (e.g., world, continent), time (e.g., soil, geologic), qualitative and quantitative degrees of computation (e.g., mental, verbal, descriptive, mathematical, deterministic, stochastic), and degree of complexity (e.g., mechanistic, empirical). Soil survey databases, soil analyses, Soil Data Systems (SDS), and Soil Business Systems (SBS) provide tools and a wide range of quantitative/qualitative data and information to evaluate goods and services for various business applications, but these sources of soil data may be limited in scope due to their static nature. Valuation of soil resources based on soil and non-soil science databases (e.g., National Atmospheric Deposition Program (NADP) databases, etc.) is critically needed to account for these ES/ED as part of business decision-making to provide more sustainable use of soil resources. Since most ecosystems on Earth have been modified by human activity, “soil systems goods and services” (SSGS) may be a more applicable term to describe soil contributions (benefits/damages) to economic activity, compared to a term such as “soil ecosystem goods and services.”

The Decision to Outsource: A Case Study of the Complex Interplay Between Strategic Wisdom and Behavioural Reality

2004 ◽  
Vol 10 (2) ◽  
pp. 26-40 ◽  
Author(s):  
James D Hunter ◽  
Ray W Cooksey
Keyword(s):  
Transaction Cost ◽  
Transaction Cost Economics ◽  
Lessons Learned ◽  
Production Costs ◽  
Management Tool ◽  
Sustainable Competitive Advantage ◽  
For Profit ◽  
Goods And Services ◽  
Energy Company ◽  
Wide Range

ABSTRACTThe last two decades have seen an unprecedented growth in the use of outsourcing interventions in diverse organisational contexts. This phenomenon can be viewed as a means of unbundling the vertically integrated activities of organisations in response to existing strategic wisdoms that focus upon value-creating activities as a means of enhancing an organisation's sustainable competitive advantage. This paper explores the delicate balance between these more conventional strategic motives and the more complex, emergent and interconnected behavioural impacts and considerations in the context of a decision to outsource the meter reading activities of a well-established, publicly listed Australian energy company. By drawing upon the idiosyncratic experiences reported by particular groups of individuals involved in, or affected by, an outsourcing decision, the authors note some important lessons that may inform the pursuit of such decisions in the future.In recent years the outsourcing phenomenon has fundamentally altered the processing and delivery of a wide range of goods and services by organisations in public, private and not-for-profit sectors (Auguste et al. 2002; Osterman 1998: Industry Commission 1996; Domberger & Hall 1995). Despite the stellar rise of outsourcing as a mainstream management tool, outsourcing's proponents seem unable to successfully distance themselves from ongoing questioning of the rationale for, and fallout resulting from, its adoption (Jennings 2002; Doig et al. 2001; Humphry 2000; Hunter & Gates 1998: Commonwealth Ombudsman 1996; Rees & Rodley 1995).Much of the debate and research relating to outsourcing has been informed by the principles of transaction cost economics (Williamson 1979; Williamson 1975; Coase 1937) whereby the make-or-buy decision is crystallised by simply comparing the costs of managing transactions (using the market) with production costs (producing internally). In short, the transaction cost approach suggests that markets are most efficient for all transactions, except those that involve assets of a highly specialised nature used frequently as these represent a set of circumstances open to opportunistic behaviour by the market.However, the hard lessons learned with the passage of time have shown (the informed observer) that managers who limit their sourcing decisions to cost comparisons alone are likely to run the risk of seeing their organisation wither and die: rigorous cost analysis is a part, albeit an important part, of a plethora of other strategic considerations that combine to move an organisation toward its long-term goals and objectives (Fill & Viser 2000: Rule 1999; Meredith 1998; Domberger 1998; Hunter & Gates 1998: Hodge 1996; Koehan et al. 1994). Indeed, this strategic context forms the cornerstone from which this paper proceeds to explore the appropriateness and meaningfulness of the strategic literature's conception of outsourcing decisions for the realities of a complex and dynamic operating environment.

The Decision to Outsource: A Case Study of the Complex Interplay Between Strategic Wisdom and Behavioural Reality

2004 ◽  
Vol 10 (2) ◽  
pp. 26-40 ◽  
Author(s):  
James D Hunter ◽  
Ray W Cooksey
Keyword(s):  
Transaction Cost ◽  
Transaction Cost Economics ◽  
Lessons Learned ◽  
Production Costs ◽  
Management Tool ◽  
Sustainable Competitive Advantage ◽  
For Profit ◽  
Goods And Services ◽  
Energy Company ◽  
Wide Range

ABSTRACTThe last two decades have seen an unprecedented growth in the use of outsourcing interventions in diverse organisational contexts. This phenomenon can be viewed as a means of unbundling the vertically integrated activities of organisations in response to existing strategic wisdoms that focus upon value-creating activities as a means of enhancing an organisation's sustainable competitive advantage. This paper explores the delicate balance between these more conventional strategic motives and the more complex, emergent and interconnected behavioural impacts and considerations in the context of a decision to outsource the meter reading activities of a well-established, publicly listed Australian energy company. By drawing upon the idiosyncratic experiences reported by particular groups of individuals involved in, or affected by, an outsourcing decision, the authors note some important lessons that may inform the pursuit of such decisions in the future.In recent years the outsourcing phenomenon has fundamentally altered the processing and delivery of a wide range of goods and services by organisations in public, private and not-for-profit sectors (Auguste et al. 2002; Osterman 1998: Industry Commission 1996; Domberger & Hall 1995). Despite the stellar rise of outsourcing as a mainstream management tool, outsourcing's proponents seem unable to successfully distance themselves from ongoing questioning of the rationale for, and fallout resulting from, its adoption (Jennings 2002; Doig et al. 2001; Humphry 2000; Hunter & Gates 1998: Commonwealth Ombudsman 1996; Rees & Rodley 1995).Much of the debate and research relating to outsourcing has been informed by the principles of transaction cost economics (Williamson 1979; Williamson 1975; Coase 1937) whereby the make-or-buy decision is crystallised by simply comparing the costs of managing transactions (using the market) with production costs (producing internally). In short, the transaction cost approach suggests that markets are most efficient for all transactions, except those that involve assets of a highly specialised nature used frequently as these represent a set of circumstances open to opportunistic behaviour by the market.However, the hard lessons learned with the passage of time have shown (the informed observer) that managers who limit their sourcing decisions to cost comparisons alone are likely to run the risk of seeing their organisation wither and die: rigorous cost analysis is a part, albeit an important part, of a plethora of other strategic considerations that combine to move an organisation toward its long-term goals and objectives (Fill & Viser 2000: Rule 1999; Meredith 1998; Domberger 1998; Hunter & Gates 1998: Hodge 1996; Koehan et al. 1994). Indeed, this strategic context forms the cornerstone from which this paper proceeds to explore the appropriateness and meaningfulness of the strategic literature's conception of outsourcing decisions for the realities of a complex and dynamic operating environment.

scholarly journals The Business Side of Ecosystem Services of Soil Systems

Earth ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 1 (1) ◽  
pp. 15-34
Author(s):  
Elena Mikhailova ◽  
Christopher Post ◽  
Mark Schlautman ◽  
Gregory Post ◽  
Hamdi Zurqani
Keyword(s):  
Decision Making ◽  
Ecosystem Services ◽  
Soil Survey ◽  
Business Systems ◽  
Business Decision ◽  
Soil Resources ◽  
Organizational Hierarchy ◽  
Goods And Services ◽  
Soil Systems ◽  
Wide Range

Current applications of the Ecosystems Services (ES) framework to soils are narrowly defined (e.g., soil-based, pedosphere-based, etc.), and focus on soil properties while treating soil as a closed system. Because soil is an open system, it receives and loses matter across its boundaries within Earth’s spheres (atmosphere, biosphere, hydrosphere, lithosphere, ecosphere, and anthroposphere), which also need to be accounted for in economic analysis. In market economies, the market transforms resources from the Earth’s pedosphere and related spheres into goods and services for societal welfare with non-market institutions mediating human and environmental interactions. These transformations and mediations can result not only in welfare but damages as well. The concept of soil ES and ecosystem disservices (ED) is a human-centered framework, which can be a useful tool in business decision-making. Soil ES (e.g., provisioning, regulation/ maintenance, and cultural) are used to produce goods and services, but the value of these ES and ED are not always accounted for as a part of business decision-making. The objective of this review is to illustrate the monetary valuation of ecosystem services of soil systems (SS) with examples based on the organizational hierarchy of soil systems. The organizational hierarchy of soil systems can be used in economic valuations of soil ES by scale (e.g., world, continent), time (e.g., soil, geologic), qualitative and quantitative degrees of computation (e.g., mental, verbal, descriptive, mathematical, deterministic, stochastic), and degree of complexity (e.g., mechanistic, empirical). Soil survey databases, soil analyses, Soil Data Systems (SDS), and Soil Business Systems (SBS) provide tools and a wide range of quantitative/qualitative data and information to evaluate goods and services for various business applications, but these sources of soil data may be limited in scope due to their static nature. Valuation of soil resources based on soil and non-soil science databases (e.g., National Atmospheric Deposition Program (NADP) databases, etc.) is critically needed to account for these ES/ED as part of business decision-making to provide more sustainable use of soil resources. Since most ecosystems on Earth have been modified by human activity, “soil systems goods and services” (SSGS) may be a more applicable term to describe soil contributions (benefits/damages) to economic activity, compared to a term such as “soil ecosystem goods and services.”

scholarly journals Forest Investment Framework as a Support Tool for the Sustainable Management of Planted Forests

2019 ◽  
Vol 11 (12) ◽  
pp. 3477
Author(s):  
Richard Yao ◽  
David Palmer ◽  
Barbara Hock ◽  
Duncan Harrison ◽  
Tim Payn ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Ecosystem Services ◽  
Sustainable Forest Management ◽  
Growth Models ◽  
Forest Growth ◽  
Planted Forest ◽  
Planted Forests ◽  
Support Tool ◽  
Goods And Services ◽  
Market Values ◽  
Wide Range

Planted forest ecosystems provide a wide range of goods and services such as timber, carbon sequestration, and avoided erosion. However, only ecosystem services with market values (e.g., timber) are usually represented in decision making while those with non-market values (e.g., avoided erosion) that are difficult to quantify are often ignored. A spatial economic tool, the Forest Investment Framework (FIF), integrates data from forest growth models with spatial, biophysical, and economic data, to quantify the broader value of planted forests and to represent non-market values in sustainable forest management. In this paper, we have tested the applicability of FIF in three types of case studies: assessment of afforestation feasibility, regional economic analyses, and ecosystem service assessment. This study provides evidence that a spatial economic tool that quantifies the economic, environmental, and social values of the planted forest ecosystem is valuable in informing land management decisions for maintaining and enhancing the provision of market and non-market ecosystem services to society.

scholarly journals A Conceptual Model Framework for Mapping, Analyzing and Managing Supply–Demand Mismatches of Ecosystem Services in Agricultural Landscapes

Land ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 10 (2) ◽  
pp. 131
Author(s):  
Mostafa Shaaban ◽  
Carmen Schwartz ◽  
Joseph Macpherson ◽  
Annette Piorr
Keyword(s):  
Ecosystem Services ◽  
Conceptual Model ◽  
Model Simulation ◽  
Cooperative Behavior ◽  
Landscape Scale ◽  
Agricultural Landscapes ◽  
Integrated Modelling ◽  
Model Framework ◽  
Trade Offs ◽  
Wide Range

Appreciation for agricultural sustainability and ecosystem services (ESS) has received considerable attention from the scientific community. However, research has not yet systematically and sufficiently considered the spatial dimension of ESS trade-offs as a source of conflicts. Moreover, approaches for ESS management that address a wide range of beneficiaries and their interactions at landscape scale are lacking. Our main research question is how to motivate different beneficiaries of agricultural landscapes to cooperate in reducing supply–demand mismatches and accompanied conflicts, as well as to assess how different scenarios would impact relevant Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). We present a novel and conceptual integrated model in which we employ a combination of three methodological tools: participatory geographic information system (PGIS), agent-based modelling (ABM) and a Bayesian belief network (BBN). The objective of our model simulation is to identify and manage site-specific spatial trade-off patterns and to provide decision support for shifting competitive behavior of individual stakeholders in satisfying their demand for ESS to a collective and cooperative scheme, while jointly striving to attain relevant targets outlined in the SDGs. Attached to this work is a short video depicting our conceptual model. We strongly suggest that tackling a complex social-ecological system necessitates a highly integrated modelling approach that fosters the transition from farm- to landscape-scale management, from individualistic to collective action, and from competitive to cooperative behavior.

scholarly journals Recent Advances in Enzymatic and Non-Enzymatic Electrochemical Glucose Sensing

Sensors ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 21 (14) ◽  
pp. 4672
Author(s):  
Mohamed H. Hassan ◽  
Cian Vyas ◽  
Bruce Grieve ◽  
Paulo Bartolo
Keyword(s):  
Noble Metals ◽  
Direct Electrochemistry ◽  
Glucose Sensing ◽  
Glucose Sensors ◽  
Diabetic Patients ◽  
Past Century ◽  
Industrial Sectors ◽  
Recent Advances ◽  
Wide Range ◽  
Sensitivity And Selectivity

The detection of glucose is crucial in the management of diabetes and other medical conditions but also crucial in a wide range of industries such as food and beverages. The development of glucose sensors in the past century has allowed diabetic patients to effectively manage their disease and has saved lives. First-generation glucose sensors have considerable limitations in sensitivity and selectivity which has spurred the development of more advanced approaches for both the medical and industrial sectors. The wide range of application areas has resulted in a range of materials and fabrication techniques to produce novel glucose sensors that have higher sensitivity and selectivity, lower cost, and are simpler to use. A major focus has been on the development of enzymatic electrochemical sensors, typically using glucose oxidase. However, non-enzymatic approaches using direct electrochemistry of glucose on noble metals are now a viable approach in glucose biosensor design. This review discusses the mechanisms of electrochemical glucose sensing with a focus on the different generations of enzymatic-based sensors, their recent advances, and provides an overview of the next generation of non-enzymatic sensors. Advancements in manufacturing techniques and materials are key in propelling the field of glucose sensing, however, significant limitations remain which are highlighted in this review and requires addressing to obtain a more stable, sensitive, selective, cost efficient, and real-time glucose sensor.

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