Reconciling biodiversity conservation, food production and farmers’ demand

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.

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

10.1101/350967 ◽

2018 ◽

Cited By ~ 1

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.

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

Moravian Geographical Reports ◽

10.2478/mgr-2014-0008 ◽

2014 ◽

Vol 22 (2) ◽

pp. 15-25 ◽

Cited By ~ 4

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.

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Regenerating Agricultural Landscapes with Perennial Groundcover for Intensive Crop Production

Agronomy ◽

10.3390/agronomy9080458 ◽

2019 ◽

Vol 9 (8) ◽

pp. 458 ◽

Cited By ~ 6

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.

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Achieving Sustainability and Biodiversity Conservation in Agriculture: Importance, Challenges and Prospects

European Journal of Sustainable Development ◽

10.14207/ejsd.2020.v9n3p616 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 9 (3) ◽

pp. 616

Author(s):

Emogine Mamabolo ◽

Maria M. Makwela ◽

Toi J. Tsilo

Keyword(s):

Biodiversity Conservation ◽

Crop Production ◽

Sustainable Development Goals ◽

Conservation Policy ◽

Agricultural Landscapes ◽

Environmental Stability ◽

Policy Planning ◽

Trade Offs ◽

Integrated Research ◽

Development Goals

Concerns over the two-legged march towards sustainability and biodiversity conservation in agricultural landscapes have sparked debates globally; both in research and development, socioeconomics and policy planning. While others argue that sustainable and biodiversity conserving agriculture is impractical, an increasing body of evidence continues to recognise the importance of biodiversity for human survival and environmental stability. Because of this recognition, the UN decided to integrate and prioritise biodiversity conservation in its sustainable development goals. Although the concept of biodiversity is recognised as a potential coping strategy for climate change and crop production challenges; the practicality of its integration in agriculture remains a challenge. In this paper, some of the important prospects that can support and facilitate biodiversity conservation in agricultural landscapes are briefly discussed. While we recognise that the path to sustainability is not going to be easy, we emphasise the need for integrated research from both the sectors of agriculture and conservation to be prioritised, to reconcile productive sustainable agriculture and biodiversity conservation. Such research should target trade-offs and synergies which can make it possible for these sectors to coexist and survive in their coexistence. This will be highly beneficial to facilitate and guide the sustainability and conservation policy planning. Keywords: sustainable intensification; resilience; biodiversity conservation; ecosystem services; food security

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Response and Simulation of Trade-offs/synergies Among Ecosystem Services to Ecological Restoration Program: a Case Study of the Chengdu-Chongqing Urban Agglomeration, China

10.21203/rs.3.rs-571046/v1 ◽

2021 ◽

Author(s):

Tiantian Chen ◽

Li Peng ◽

Qiang Wang

Keyword(s):

Ecosystem Services ◽

Carbon Sequestration ◽

Habitat Quality ◽

Soil Conservation ◽

Food Production ◽

Water Yield ◽

Ecological Security ◽

Trade Off ◽

Trade Offs ◽

Synergistic Relationships

Abstract The Grain to Green Program (GTGP), as a policy tool for advancing ecological progress, has been operating for 20 years and has played an important role in improving ecosystem service values. However, there are few studies on the trade-off/synergy changes in ecosystem services during the implementation of the GTGP and how to select the optimal scheme for regional ecological security based on the trade-off relationship. Thus, we took the Chengdu-Chongqing urban agglomeration (CCUA) in southwestern China as the study area; we used multisource data and the corresponding models and methods to estimate the regional food production, carbon sequestration, water yield, soil conservation and habitat quality services. Then, we clarified the trade-off/synergy relationships among ecosystem services from 2000 to 2015 by spatial analysis and statistical methods and evaluated the influential mechanism of the GTGP on trade-offs between ecosystem services. Finally, different risk scenarios were constructed by the ordered weighted average algorithm (OWA), and the regional ecological security pattern was simulated under the principle of the best protection efficiency and the highest trade-off degree. We found that (1) the trade-offs/synergies of regional ecosystem services changed significantly from 2000 to 2015. Among them, food production, water yield and soil conservation have always had trade-off relationships, while carbon sequestration, soil conservation and habitat quality have all had synergistic relationships. The relationships between carbon sequestration and water yield and food production changed from non-correlated to trade-off/synergistic, and the relationship between habitat quality and food production and water yield was not obvious. (2) Except for carbon sequestration service, the trade-off intensity between other ecosystem services decreased, indicating that the change trend of ecosystem services in the same direction was obvious. (3) The GTGP has been an important factor affecting the trade-off intensity of regional ecosystem services. On the one hand, it has strengthened the synergistic relationships among carbon sequestration, soil conservation and habitat quality; on the other hand, it has increased the constraints of water resources on soil conservation and vegetation restoration. (4) The decision risk coefficient α = 1.6 was the most suitable scenario, the total amount of regional ecosystem services was high, and the allocation was balanced under this scenario. The ecological security area corresponding to this scenario was also the area with high carbon sequestration and habitat quality services. The purpose of this study was to provide a scientific reference for the precise implementation of the GTGP.

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Three Decades of Changes in Brazilian Municipalities and Their Food Production Systems

Land ◽

10.3390/land9110422 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 9 (11) ◽

pp. 422

Author(s):

Ramon Felipe Bicudo da Silva ◽

Mateus Batistella ◽

James D. A. Millington ◽

Emilio Moran ◽

Luiz A. Martinelli ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Food Production ◽

Crop Production ◽

Census Data ◽

Production Systems ◽

Statistical Tests ◽

Spatial Scales ◽

Farm Size ◽

Socioeconomic Outcomes ◽

Economic Output ◽

Trade Offs

Agricultural systems are heterogeneous across temporal and spatial scales. Although much research has investigated farm size and economic output, the synergies and trade-offs across various agricultural and socioeconomic variables are unclear. This study applies a GIS-based approach to official Brazilian census data (Agricultural Censuses of 1995, 2006, and 2017) and surveys at the municipality level to (i) evaluate changes in the average soybean farm size across the country and (ii) compare agricultural and socioeconomic outcomes (i.e., soybean yield, agricultural production value, crop production diversity, and rural labor employment) relative to the average soybean farm size. Statistical tests (e.g., Kruskal–Wallis tests and Spearman’s correlation) were used to analyze variable outcomes in different classes of farm sizes and respective Agricultural Censuses. We found that agricultural and socioeconomic outcomes are spatially correlated with soybean farm size class. Therefore, based on the concepts of trade-offs and synergies, we show that municipalities with large soybean farm sizes had larger trade-offs (e.g., larger farm size was associated with lower crop diversity), while small and medium ones manifest greater synergies. These patterns are particularly strong for analysis using the Agricultural Census of 2017. Trade-off/synergy analysis across space and time is key for supporting long-term strategies aiming at alleviating unemployment and providing sustainable food production, essential to achieve the UN Sustainable Development Goals.

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