Ecologically Intermediate and Economically Final: The Role of the Ecosystem Services Framework in Measuring Sustainability in Agri-Food Systems

Ecosystem services can be defined as the ecosystem’s contribution to human activities. According to recent assessments, the agricultural sector is one of the most important economic users of ecosystem services in Europe. To assess, value, and account for ecosystem services related to the agri-food system offers the possibility to measure and investigate how agricultural management practices together with changing environmental conditions can affect ecological resilience. However, the accounting of ecosystem services’ flows needs to be carefully addressed, because the overlapping of services and benefits and the overlapping of what are considered intermediate and final services could create dangerous misunderstandings about the role and importance of ecosystem services in agriculture. This paper reports on the possible accounting approaches that can be used to assess crop provision, as well as their meanings and implications from an ecological to an economic perspective. The results demonstrate that an economic accounting-based assessment of ecosystem services needs to move from an ecological holistic view to a one-by-one disaggregation of ecosystem services in order to avoid underestimates that would ultimately affect the policy perception of the role of ecosystems with respect to the agri-food systems’ resilience.

Factors Affecting the Effectiveness of Flood Resilience Plan for Urban Sustainability of Ratnapura Municipal Council Area

Natural disasters adversely affect urban built-up areas all over the world. Flood is the most destructive natural disaster that affects Ratnapura, the provincial capital of the Sabaragamuwa Province in Sri Lanka. This monsoonal flooding is a prolonged problem that arises mainly due to the overspill of River Kalu and other water bodies connected to the river during heavy rainy seasons. It causes short-term and long-term damages to human lives, properties, the economy, and the environment. Floods cause severe damages to private residential buildings. Hence, the availability of a flood resilience plan is a significant feature of the good governance of the Local Authorities. There are many factors to consider when preparing a flood resilience plan. This study aims to assess the factors affecting the effectiveness of the existing flood resilience plan in the Ratnapura Municipal Council Area. The main data instrument used is a questionnaire survey from residents in the flood-prone area. It assessed the effectiveness of actions taken by the government pre-disaster, during a disaster, and post-disaster. Various factors affecting the flood resilience plan were identified and categorized: community resilience, economic resilience, ecological resilience, emergency readiness and responsiveness, infrastructure resilience, and social and cultural resilience. Findings revealed that the respondents were more satisfied with emergency readiness and responsiveness out of the five main categories. In addition, respondents address the effectiveness of the existing flood resilience plan and its affected factors like community resilience, economic resilience, emergency readiness and responsiveness, infrastructure resilience and social, and cultural resilience. Findings will be helpful for town planners and the Municipal Council of Ratnapura to identify flood resilience strategies through community perspectives to mitigate the flood hazard and propose innovative strategies to achieve urban sustainability and build resilient communities.

How People Foraging in Urban Greenspace Can Mobilize Social–Ecological Resilience During Covid-19 and Beyond

Informal foraging for food and other natural materials in urban greenspaces is an activity undertaken by many across the world. For some, foraging is a necessary means of survival and livelihood, while for others, it provides cultural and recreational opportunities. In the socioeconomic crises induced by Covid-19, foraging can help communities, especially (but not exclusively) vulnerable people, cope with the impacts of lockdowns, and associated economic decline. In the long run, foraging can help improve social–ecological resilience in urban systems, particularly in response to climate, economic, and disease disruptions. First, we elaborate the ways in which urban foraging can provide immediate relief from the shocks to natural, human, social, physical, and financial capital. We then describe how over time, the livelihood, food, and income diversification brought about by foraging can contribute to preparedness for future uncertainties and gradual change. Cities are increasingly becoming home to the majority of humanity, and urban foraging can be one of the pathways that makes cities more liveable, for humans as well as other species we coexist with. Through the capitals framework, we explore the role foraging could play in addressing issues of biodiversity conservation, culture, and education, good governance and social justice, multifunctional greenspace, and sustainable nature-based livelihoods in urban areas.

Characterization of Wild Rice - Oryza Species Complexes in Sri Lanka

Rice is the staple food crop in Sri Lanka, which occupies 34% (0.77/million ha) of the total cultivated area. Sri Lanka currently produces 2.7 million tonnes of rough rice annually and satisfies around 95% of the domestic requirement. In Sri Lanka, genus Oryza consists of two species complexes, O. sativa (AA) and O. officinalis (CC). These two complexes are both pan tropical and have very similar overall distribution. Five wild rice species are reported in Sri Lanka, (O. nivara [AA], O. rufipogan (AA) O. eichengeri [CC], O. rhizomatis (CC) and O. granulate (GG). O. rhizomatis has been reported only in Sri Lanka and considered endemic to Sri Lanka. Recent studies demonstrated, the reliance on single source of information could mislead results in the phylogenetic inferences due to analytical inconsistency and biological processes. Therefore, exact number of wild rice species in Sri Lanka becomes uncertain and the necessity arises to assess Oryza species complexes in Sri Lanka using morphological, anatomical, and molecular information to enumerate number of species within each Oryza complex and characterization of species and species complexes. The study revealed, characterization of wild rice species, to a certain extent, can be made through morphological and anatomical characters, specially lamina anatomical characters. Molecular information is more reliable in delimitation of wild rice species complexes in Sri Lanka. O. rhizomatis and O. eichingeri (CC) are well separated from the rest of wild rice species (AA). Molecular data revealed, O. nivara and O. rufipogon have undergone independent evolution within Sri Lanka. Well separated five wild rice species are existing in Sri Lanka. Studies on ecological resilience of morphological, anatomical, and molecular studies are very useful for species enumeration of wild rice complexes in Sri Lanka. The findings led to conclude that wild rice species in Sri Lanka are “ecological swarms” and represents allopatric or sympatric populations. A comprehensive knowledge on genetic diversity and population structure of wild rice germplasm in Sri Lanka provides useful information to include these locally adapted and evolved wild rice species in rice crop improvement/breeding.

Spatio-Temporal Pattern and Influence Mechanism of Cultivated Land System Resilience: Case from China

The study of cultivated land systems from the perspective of resilience is of great significance for the innovation of the research paradigm of cultivated land use and the rational utilization and protection of cultivated land. This study aims to explain the theoretical connotations of cultivated land system resilience (CLSR), construct an evaluation system and zoning rules for CLSR, and take 30 provinces of China as case study areas to explore the influencing factors of CLSR, so as to provide a reliable governance plan for the sustainable development of cultivated land. The results show that: (1) CLSR refers to a sustainable development ability that CLS—by adjusting the structure and scale of internal elements—absorbs and adapts to internal and external disturbances and shocks to the maximum possible extent, abandons the original inapplicable state, creates a new recovery path, achieves a new balance, and avoids system recession. (2) The overall CLSR of the 30 provinces showed an upward trend, and the degree of polarization of the distribution pattern was gradually intensified and experienced a transition process from “leading by resource and ecological resilience—equilibrium of each resilience—leading by production and scale structural resilience”. (3) In the north, east, and south coastal areas of China, CLSR mainly consists of the major evolution areas and the stable development areas; the potential excitation areas of CLSR are mainly concentrated in the central and western regions of China; the CLSR-sensitive lag areas and degraded vulnerable areas are mainly distributed in the northwest and southwest of China. (4) Water resource endowment has a strong influence on CLSR, while social economy mainly influences CLSR through ‘economic foundation-superstructures’ and ‘economic development-factor agglomeration’. (5) According to the different CLSR zones, CLSR was strengthened mainly from the aspects of driving factor agglomeration, building factor free-flow systems, and multi-means support.