Pub Date : 2022-03-01DOI: 10.1177/00307270221080180
M. Pulleman, Wietse de Boer, K. Giller, T. Kuyper
Attention to soil biodiversity and its importance for sustainable food production has markedly increased in recent years. In particular, the loss of soil biodiversity as a consequence of intensive agriculture, land degradation and climate change has raised concerns due to the expected negative impacts on ecosystem services, food security and human health. The result is a strong demand for ‘nature-based’ practices that stimulate soil biodiversity or beneficial soil organisms and enhance soil health. Here, we examine the origin of popular ideas on the role of soil biology in sustainable soil management, as well as their potential to address key global challenges related to agriculture. Three examples of such ideas are discussed: 1) a higher fungal:bacterial (F:B) biomass ratio favours soil carbon storage and nutrient conservation; (2) intensive agricultural practices lead to a decline in soil biodiversity with detrimental consequences for sustainable food production; (3) inoculation with arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi reduces agriculture's dependency on synthetic fertilizers. Our analysis demonstrates how ecological theories, especially E.P. Odum's ( 1969) hypotheses on ecological succession, have inspired the promotion of agricultural practices and commercial products that are based on the mimicry of (soil biology in) natural ecosystems. Yet our reading of the scientific literature shows that popular claims on the importance of high F:B ratios, soil biodiversity and the inoculation with beneficial microbes for soil health and sustainable agricultural production cannot be generalized and require careful consideration of limitations and possible trade-offs. We argue that dichotomies and pitfalls associated with the normative use of nature as a metaphor for sustainability can be counterproductive given the urgency to achieve real solutions that sustain food production and natural resources. Finally, implications for soil ecology research and sustainable soil management in agriculture are discussed.
{"title":"Soil biodiversity and nature-mimicry in agriculture; the power of metaphor?","authors":"M. Pulleman, Wietse de Boer, K. Giller, T. Kuyper","doi":"10.1177/00307270221080180","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1177/00307270221080180","url":null,"abstract":"Attention to soil biodiversity and its importance for sustainable food production has markedly increased in recent years. In particular, the loss of soil biodiversity as a consequence of intensive agriculture, land degradation and climate change has raised concerns due to the expected negative impacts on ecosystem services, food security and human health. The result is a strong demand for ‘nature-based’ practices that stimulate soil biodiversity or beneficial soil organisms and enhance soil health. Here, we examine the origin of popular ideas on the role of soil biology in sustainable soil management, as well as their potential to address key global challenges related to agriculture. Three examples of such ideas are discussed: 1) a higher fungal:bacterial (F:B) biomass ratio favours soil carbon storage and nutrient conservation; (2) intensive agricultural practices lead to a decline in soil biodiversity with detrimental consequences for sustainable food production; (3) inoculation with arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi reduces agriculture's dependency on synthetic fertilizers. Our analysis demonstrates how ecological theories, especially E.P. Odum's ( 1969) hypotheses on ecological succession, have inspired the promotion of agricultural practices and commercial products that are based on the mimicry of (soil biology in) natural ecosystems. Yet our reading of the scientific literature shows that popular claims on the importance of high F:B ratios, soil biodiversity and the inoculation with beneficial microbes for soil health and sustainable agricultural production cannot be generalized and require careful consideration of limitations and possible trade-offs. We argue that dichotomies and pitfalls associated with the normative use of nature as a metaphor for sustainability can be counterproductive given the urgency to achieve real solutions that sustain food production and natural resources. Finally, implications for soil ecology research and sustainable soil management in agriculture are discussed.","PeriodicalId":54661,"journal":{"name":"Outlook on Agriculture","volume":"51 1","pages":"75 - 90"},"PeriodicalIF":3.0,"publicationDate":"2022-03-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"46386011","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"经济学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2022-02-21DOI: 10.1177/00307270221082113
D. Powlson, P. Poulton, M. Glendining, A. Macdonald, K. Goulding
Clearing natural vegetation to establish arable agriculture (cropland) almost invariably causes a loss of soil organic carbon (SOC). Is it possible to restore soil that continues in arable agriculture to the pre-clearance SOC level through modified management practices? To address this question we reviewed evidence from long-term experiments at Rothamsted Research, UK, Bad Lauchstädt, Germany, Sanborn Field, USA and Brazil and both experiments and surveys of farmers’ fields in Ethiopia, Australia, Zimbabwe, UK and Chile. In most cases SOC content in soil under arable cropping was in the range 38–67% of pre-clearance values. Returning crop residues, adding manures or including periods of pasture within arable rotations increased this, often to 60–70% of initial values. Under tropical climatic conditions SOC loss after clearance was particularly rapid, e.g. a loss of >50% in less than 10 years in smallholder farmers’ fields in Zimbabwe. If larger yielding crops were grown, using fertilizers, and maize stover returned instead of being grazed by cattle, the loss was reduced. An important exception to the general trend of SOC loss after clearance was clearing Cerrado vegetation on highly weathered acidic soils in Brazil and conversion to cropping with maize and soybean. Other exceptions were unrealistically large annual applications of manure and including long periods of pasture in a highly SOC-retentive volcanic soil. Also, introducing irrigated agriculture in a low rainfall region can increase SOC beyond the natural value due to increased plant biomass production. For reasons of sustainability and soil health it is important to maintain SOC as high as practically possible in arable soils, but we conclude that in the vast majority of situations it is unrealistic to expect to maintain pre-clearance values. To maintain global SOC stocks at we consider it is more important to reduce current rates of land clearance and sustainably produce necessary food on existing agricultural land.
{"title":"Is it possible to attain the same soil organic matter content in arable agricultural soils as under natural vegetation?","authors":"D. Powlson, P. Poulton, M. Glendining, A. Macdonald, K. Goulding","doi":"10.1177/00307270221082113","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1177/00307270221082113","url":null,"abstract":"Clearing natural vegetation to establish arable agriculture (cropland) almost invariably causes a loss of soil organic carbon (SOC). Is it possible to restore soil that continues in arable agriculture to the pre-clearance SOC level through modified management practices? To address this question we reviewed evidence from long-term experiments at Rothamsted Research, UK, Bad Lauchstädt, Germany, Sanborn Field, USA and Brazil and both experiments and surveys of farmers’ fields in Ethiopia, Australia, Zimbabwe, UK and Chile. In most cases SOC content in soil under arable cropping was in the range 38–67% of pre-clearance values. Returning crop residues, adding manures or including periods of pasture within arable rotations increased this, often to 60–70% of initial values. Under tropical climatic conditions SOC loss after clearance was particularly rapid, e.g. a loss of >50% in less than 10 years in smallholder farmers’ fields in Zimbabwe. If larger yielding crops were grown, using fertilizers, and maize stover returned instead of being grazed by cattle, the loss was reduced. An important exception to the general trend of SOC loss after clearance was clearing Cerrado vegetation on highly weathered acidic soils in Brazil and conversion to cropping with maize and soybean. Other exceptions were unrealistically large annual applications of manure and including long periods of pasture in a highly SOC-retentive volcanic soil. Also, introducing irrigated agriculture in a low rainfall region can increase SOC beyond the natural value due to increased plant biomass production. For reasons of sustainability and soil health it is important to maintain SOC as high as practically possible in arable soils, but we conclude that in the vast majority of situations it is unrealistic to expect to maintain pre-clearance values. To maintain global SOC stocks at we consider it is more important to reduce current rates of land clearance and sustainably produce necessary food on existing agricultural land.","PeriodicalId":54661,"journal":{"name":"Outlook on Agriculture","volume":"51 1","pages":"91 - 104"},"PeriodicalIF":3.0,"publicationDate":"2022-02-21","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"48224453","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"经济学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2022-02-14DOI: 10.1177/00307270221076530
R. Denison
Some aspects of nature are better potential models for agriculture than others. Natural ecosystems have not competed against each other the way wild plants have, so individual adaptations have been improved more consistently over time, relative to ecosystem-level patterns and processes. Wild plants have also been improved by competitive natural selection for longer than humans or most ecosystems have existed. Evolution-tested adaptations, like inducible defenses against pests, will often be worth preserving (if inherited by crops from wild ancestors) or copying. However, when there are tradeoffs between individual competitiveness and plant-community performance, as illustrated by solar tracking, reversing effects of past natural selection will often be a better option. Nitrogen-fixing cereals are unlikely to be a viable alternative to fertilizer unless we can copy adaptations that existing nitrogen-fixing plants have evolved to deal with oxygen and with conflicts of interest with symbionts.
{"title":"Copy competitively-tested adaptations of wild species, maybe, but not natural ecosystems tested only by persistence","authors":"R. Denison","doi":"10.1177/00307270221076530","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1177/00307270221076530","url":null,"abstract":"Some aspects of nature are better potential models for agriculture than others. Natural ecosystems have not competed against each other the way wild plants have, so individual adaptations have been improved more consistently over time, relative to ecosystem-level patterns and processes. Wild plants have also been improved by competitive natural selection for longer than humans or most ecosystems have existed. Evolution-tested adaptations, like inducible defenses against pests, will often be worth preserving (if inherited by crops from wild ancestors) or copying. However, when there are tradeoffs between individual competitiveness and plant-community performance, as illustrated by solar tracking, reversing effects of past natural selection will often be a better option. Nitrogen-fixing cereals are unlikely to be a viable alternative to fertilizer unless we can copy adaptations that existing nitrogen-fixing plants have evolved to deal with oxygen and with conflicts of interest with symbionts.","PeriodicalId":54661,"journal":{"name":"Outlook on Agriculture","volume":"51 1","pages":"46 - 54"},"PeriodicalIF":3.0,"publicationDate":"2022-02-14","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"48926732","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"经济学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2022-02-11DOI: 10.1177/00307270221078022
J. Lenné, D. Wood
Nature-based solutions, principally diverse systems, are increasingly being promoted as the solution to future food production as they are perceived to be more productive, resilient and ecologically based. This ‘paradigm of in-field diversity’ approach is inciting a growing perception that monocultures, the source of most global food production, are ecologically dysfunctional and highly vulnerable to diseases and pests. Our perspective paper clearly shows that natural monodominant vegetation is common in nature and that the ancestral species of major cereals including wheat, barley and rice grew in monocultures maintained by disturbances such as fire or flood. Early farmers mimicked these ecological stresses during field management, favouring annual monodominant crops. We also present well-supported evidence that cereal monocultures are an ancient method of farming founded in the origins of agriculture and that modern plant breeding generates and supports monoculture crops that are inherently genetically diverse and usually resistant to prevailing diseases and pests. Until research has been done on the ecology, agronomy and management of diverse nature-based solutions to future agriculture, the scarce funding to agricultural research for future food production is better targeted at improving monoculture agriculture to be more efficient, productive, resilient and environmentally benign. Monoculture agriculture, particularly for cereals, is a proven natural model for future food production.
{"title":"Monodominant natural vegetation provides models for nature-based cereal production","authors":"J. Lenné, D. Wood","doi":"10.1177/00307270221078022","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1177/00307270221078022","url":null,"abstract":"Nature-based solutions, principally diverse systems, are increasingly being promoted as the solution to future food production as they are perceived to be more productive, resilient and ecologically based. This ‘paradigm of in-field diversity’ approach is inciting a growing perception that monocultures, the source of most global food production, are ecologically dysfunctional and highly vulnerable to diseases and pests. Our perspective paper clearly shows that natural monodominant vegetation is common in nature and that the ancestral species of major cereals including wheat, barley and rice grew in monocultures maintained by disturbances such as fire or flood. Early farmers mimicked these ecological stresses during field management, favouring annual monodominant crops. We also present well-supported evidence that cereal monocultures are an ancient method of farming founded in the origins of agriculture and that modern plant breeding generates and supports monoculture crops that are inherently genetically diverse and usually resistant to prevailing diseases and pests. Until research has been done on the ecology, agronomy and management of diverse nature-based solutions to future agriculture, the scarce funding to agricultural research for future food production is better targeted at improving monoculture agriculture to be more efficient, productive, resilient and environmentally benign. Monoculture agriculture, particularly for cereals, is a proven natural model for future food production.","PeriodicalId":54661,"journal":{"name":"Outlook on Agriculture","volume":"51 1","pages":"11 - 21"},"PeriodicalIF":3.0,"publicationDate":"2022-02-11","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"45147516","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"经济学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2022-02-10DOI: 10.1177/00307270221077708
L. Cabral, J. Sumberg
This paper profiles some key promoters of nature-based and natural systems agriculture – Masanobu Fukuoka, Wes Jackson, Jerome Irvin Rodale and Robert Rodale, and Allan Savory. The focus is on ‘narratives with epic elements’ that have been constructed around these personalities, and how these have helped gain legitimacy and influence for themselves, their ideas, and their organisations. Similar processes and dynamics can be seen in more mainstream agricultural research. As the struggle over the future of agriculture is increasingly played out in corporate boardrooms, through PR agencies and on social media, it is critically important to understand how narratives with epic elements emerge, and are used to influence the debate about the future of agriculture and the potential contribution of nature-based solutions.
{"title":"The use of epic narratives in promoting ‘natural agriculture’","authors":"L. Cabral, J. Sumberg","doi":"10.1177/00307270221077708","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1177/00307270221077708","url":null,"abstract":"This paper profiles some key promoters of nature-based and natural systems agriculture – Masanobu Fukuoka, Wes Jackson, Jerome Irvin Rodale and Robert Rodale, and Allan Savory. The focus is on ‘narratives with epic elements’ that have been constructed around these personalities, and how these have helped gain legitimacy and influence for themselves, their ideas, and their organisations. Similar processes and dynamics can be seen in more mainstream agricultural research. As the struggle over the future of agriculture is increasingly played out in corporate boardrooms, through PR agencies and on social media, it is critically important to understand how narratives with epic elements emerge, and are used to influence the debate about the future of agriculture and the potential contribution of nature-based solutions.","PeriodicalId":54661,"journal":{"name":"Outlook on Agriculture","volume":"51 1","pages":"129 - 136"},"PeriodicalIF":3.0,"publicationDate":"2022-02-10","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"41387364","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"经济学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2022-02-10DOI: 10.1177/00307270221077442
W. van der Werf, F. Bianchi
There is increasing demand for farmers to reduce their use of anthropogenic inputs such as fertilizers and pesticides. It is often suggested that nature offers alternative ways to suppress pests, but what might these be? One prominent difference between most natural and agricultural systems is the diversity of plants and associated biota such as arthropod herbivores, predators and parasites, both above- and below-ground. It is often claimed that a move away from monocultures and towards greater field, farm and landscape diversity could be an important and obvious first step towards more natural pest control. This paper draws together strands of evidence on what a move to more diverse crop systems can and cannot bring to pest control. We conclude that diversification has great potential, but is not a silver bullet. Adopting a wider definition of IPM and including the environmental stewardship role of agriculture would enable a greater use of natural mechanisms for pest control, including a greater role for diversity, but would also require an economic mechanism to reward stewardship that serves wider societal needs while discouraging management that does not.
{"title":"Options for diversifying agricultural systems to reduce pesticide use: Can we learn from nature?","authors":"W. van der Werf, F. Bianchi","doi":"10.1177/00307270221077442","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1177/00307270221077442","url":null,"abstract":"There is increasing demand for farmers to reduce their use of anthropogenic inputs such as fertilizers and pesticides. It is often suggested that nature offers alternative ways to suppress pests, but what might these be? One prominent difference between most natural and agricultural systems is the diversity of plants and associated biota such as arthropod herbivores, predators and parasites, both above- and below-ground. It is often claimed that a move away from monocultures and towards greater field, farm and landscape diversity could be an important and obvious first step towards more natural pest control. This paper draws together strands of evidence on what a move to more diverse crop systems can and cannot bring to pest control. We conclude that diversification has great potential, but is not a silver bullet. Adopting a wider definition of IPM and including the environmental stewardship role of agriculture would enable a greater use of natural mechanisms for pest control, including a greater role for diversity, but would also require an economic mechanism to reward stewardship that serves wider societal needs while discouraging management that does not.","PeriodicalId":54661,"journal":{"name":"Outlook on Agriculture","volume":"51 1","pages":"105 - 113"},"PeriodicalIF":3.0,"publicationDate":"2022-02-10","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"49292687","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"经济学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2022-02-07DOI: 10.1177/00307270221077380
R. Varadan, S. Mamidanna, Shalander Kumar, S.K. Zamir Ahmed, I. Jaisankar
The complexities of smallholder farming systems pose a challenge in demonstrating the potential benefits or risks of new technologies and policies. Using Integrated Analysis Tool, a rule-based dynamic simulation model, this study tried to improve the performance of major farming systems in the Tamil Nadu State of India. Amongst the four major farming systems viz. Black gram-based (BFS), Paddy-based (PFS), and Integrated Farming Systems (IFS) in Villupuram district and Dryland Farming System (DFS) in Virudhunagar district, IFS was found to be the most profitable and resilient based on their performance simulated for a 3-year rotation. Setting IFS as a benchmark, potential interventions were evaluated under other farming systems to improve their relative performance. The analysis allowed understanding the interactions in smallholder farming systems and the potential impact of interventions in a whole farm way considering the cash flows, cost intensity, and input-output trade-offs. While multi-bloom technology in black gram increased the net profit of BFS without much stress on input and labour, area expansion under rainfed groundnut incurred high expenditure. Trading-off paddy with maize and groundnut significantly increased the net profit of PFS but replacing sugarcane with tapioca and turmeric was not remunerative. Improved livestock management practices have substantially increased the net profit of DFS wherein crop yield could not be enhanced substantially without the prospects of good irrigation infrastructure. The irrigation endowed PFS has achieved 90% performance, whereas the water-starved BFS and DFS could achieve only 65% performance of IFS. We conclude that agricultural policy must not only focus on potential interventions that are profitable but also consider what is acceptable to the farmer, considering synergies and trade-offs between competing resources at the farm level.
{"title":"Technology, infrastructure and enterprise trade-off: Strengthening smallholder farming systems in Tamil Nadu State of India for sustainable income and food security","authors":"R. Varadan, S. Mamidanna, Shalander Kumar, S.K. Zamir Ahmed, I. Jaisankar","doi":"10.1177/00307270221077380","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1177/00307270221077380","url":null,"abstract":"The complexities of smallholder farming systems pose a challenge in demonstrating the potential benefits or risks of new technologies and policies. Using Integrated Analysis Tool, a rule-based dynamic simulation model, this study tried to improve the performance of major farming systems in the Tamil Nadu State of India. Amongst the four major farming systems viz. Black gram-based (BFS), Paddy-based (PFS), and Integrated Farming Systems (IFS) in Villupuram district and Dryland Farming System (DFS) in Virudhunagar district, IFS was found to be the most profitable and resilient based on their performance simulated for a 3-year rotation. Setting IFS as a benchmark, potential interventions were evaluated under other farming systems to improve their relative performance. The analysis allowed understanding the interactions in smallholder farming systems and the potential impact of interventions in a whole farm way considering the cash flows, cost intensity, and input-output trade-offs. While multi-bloom technology in black gram increased the net profit of BFS without much stress on input and labour, area expansion under rainfed groundnut incurred high expenditure. Trading-off paddy with maize and groundnut significantly increased the net profit of PFS but replacing sugarcane with tapioca and turmeric was not remunerative. Improved livestock management practices have substantially increased the net profit of DFS wherein crop yield could not be enhanced substantially without the prospects of good irrigation infrastructure. The irrigation endowed PFS has achieved 90% performance, whereas the water-starved BFS and DFS could achieve only 65% performance of IFS. We conclude that agricultural policy must not only focus on potential interventions that are profitable but also consider what is acceptable to the farmer, considering synergies and trade-offs between competing resources at the farm level.","PeriodicalId":54661,"journal":{"name":"Outlook on Agriculture","volume":"51 1","pages":"197 - 212"},"PeriodicalIF":3.0,"publicationDate":"2022-02-07","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"42109581","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"经济学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2022-02-04DOI: 10.1177/00307270221078027
J. Sumberg
This paper introduces the Outlook on Agriculture Special Issue on biomimicry and nature-based solutions. It provides a selective overview that will help frame and situate the collection, with a particular focus on agriculture and food production. The relationship between agriculture and nature is a central concern, and particularly how this relationship is framed by those promoting the idea that to overcome the multiple challenges it faces, agriculture must (re)turn to nature. The significance of different understandings of ‘nature-based solutions’, and the relative importance of biomimicry, are explored.
{"title":"Future agricultures: The promise and pitfalls of a (re)turn to nature","authors":"J. Sumberg","doi":"10.1177/00307270221078027","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1177/00307270221078027","url":null,"abstract":"This paper introduces the Outlook on Agriculture Special Issue on biomimicry and nature-based solutions. It provides a selective overview that will help frame and situate the collection, with a particular focus on agriculture and food production. The relationship between agriculture and nature is a central concern, and particularly how this relationship is framed by those promoting the idea that to overcome the multiple challenges it faces, agriculture must (re)turn to nature. The significance of different understandings of ‘nature-based solutions’, and the relative importance of biomimicry, are explored.","PeriodicalId":54661,"journal":{"name":"Outlook on Agriculture","volume":"51 1","pages":"3 - 10"},"PeriodicalIF":3.0,"publicationDate":"2022-02-04","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"42107430","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"经济学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2022-02-01DOI: 10.1177/00307270221077356
J. T. Thiessen Martens
Ecosystem restoration is proposed as one aspect of the transformative changes required to meet global sustainability goals. In the prairie region of Canada, where the widespread and relatively recent conversion of natural ecosystems to farmland displaced Indigenous peoples and made way for a thriving agricultural sector, I propose that ecosystem restoration requires two intertwined transition processes: reorienting worldviews to embrace the social and biophysical contexts of local ecosystems, and taking practical steps to restore ecosystem functioning and integrity. Attention to ecosystem functioning—the relational processes that undergird the desired outcomes—can promote the design and implementation of agricultural landscapes that mimic key features of natural ecosystems while maintaining a mix of land uses. Human ingenuity and thoughtful integration of traditional and scientific knowledge are needed to develop locally adapted land use that supports synergetic relationships within and among farm fields and other landscape features. Integrating social goals into the design of agricultural landscapes can spawn creative solutions but will require a shift toward a more open and collaborative approach, especially regarding the use of privately owned lands.
{"title":"Restoring social and ecological relationships in the agroecosystems of Canada's prairie region","authors":"J. T. Thiessen Martens","doi":"10.1177/00307270221077356","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1177/00307270221077356","url":null,"abstract":"Ecosystem restoration is proposed as one aspect of the transformative changes required to meet global sustainability goals. In the prairie region of Canada, where the widespread and relatively recent conversion of natural ecosystems to farmland displaced Indigenous peoples and made way for a thriving agricultural sector, I propose that ecosystem restoration requires two intertwined transition processes: reorienting worldviews to embrace the social and biophysical contexts of local ecosystems, and taking practical steps to restore ecosystem functioning and integrity. Attention to ecosystem functioning—the relational processes that undergird the desired outcomes—can promote the design and implementation of agricultural landscapes that mimic key features of natural ecosystems while maintaining a mix of land uses. Human ingenuity and thoughtful integration of traditional and scientific knowledge are needed to develop locally adapted land use that supports synergetic relationships within and among farm fields and other landscape features. Integrating social goals into the design of agricultural landscapes can spawn creative solutions but will require a shift toward a more open and collaborative approach, especially regarding the use of privately owned lands.","PeriodicalId":54661,"journal":{"name":"Outlook on Agriculture","volume":"51 1","pages":"55 - 66"},"PeriodicalIF":3.0,"publicationDate":"2022-02-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"45035966","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"经济学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2022-01-27DOI: 10.1177/00307270211073813
M. van Noordwijk, P. V. van Oel, C. Muthuri, Usha Satnarain, R. R. Sari, Paulina Rosero, M. Githinji, Lisa Tanika, L. Best, Gildas Geraud Comlan Assogba, George Kimbowa, Federico Andreotti, Elisabeth Lagneaux, C. Wamucii, A. L. Hakim, A. Miccolis, Ali Yansyah Abdurrahim, A. Farida, E. Speelman, G. Hofstede
Metrics of hydrological mimicry (‘mimetrics’) reflect similarity in ecological structure and/or functions between managed and natural ecosystems. Only the land-surface parts of hydrological cycles are directly visible and represented in local knowledge and water-related legislation. Human impacts on water cycles (HIWC) can, beyond climate change, arise through effects on local and regional hydrological processes, from both reduced and increased water use compared to a natural reference vegetation with which landscape structure and hydrology are aligned. Precipitationsheds, the oceanic and terrestrial origin of rainfall, depend on evapotranspiration and thus on vegetation. The political commitment to reduce agricultural impact on nature requires hydrological mimetrics to trickle down through institutions to actions. Existing metrics do not suffice. For example, the water footprint metric that relates agricultural water use to consumption decisions, suggests minimizing water use is best, ignoring full hydrological impacts. We explore principles, criteria and indicators for understanding HIWC, via modified evapotranspiration, effects on streamflow (downstream impacts) and atmospheric fluxes and precipitation (downwind impacts). Comprehensive HIWC mimetrics for a set of pantropical watersheds suggest hydrological mimicry options for forest-derived land use patterns through intermediate densities of trees with diversity in rooting depth and water use, interacting with soils, crops and livestock.
{"title":"Mimicking nature to reduce agricultural impact on water cycles: A set of mimetrics","authors":"M. van Noordwijk, P. V. van Oel, C. Muthuri, Usha Satnarain, R. R. Sari, Paulina Rosero, M. Githinji, Lisa Tanika, L. Best, Gildas Geraud Comlan Assogba, George Kimbowa, Federico Andreotti, Elisabeth Lagneaux, C. Wamucii, A. L. Hakim, A. Miccolis, Ali Yansyah Abdurrahim, A. Farida, E. Speelman, G. Hofstede","doi":"10.1177/00307270211073813","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1177/00307270211073813","url":null,"abstract":"Metrics of hydrological mimicry (‘mimetrics’) reflect similarity in ecological structure and/or functions between managed and natural ecosystems. Only the land-surface parts of hydrological cycles are directly visible and represented in local knowledge and water-related legislation. Human impacts on water cycles (HIWC) can, beyond climate change, arise through effects on local and regional hydrological processes, from both reduced and increased water use compared to a natural reference vegetation with which landscape structure and hydrology are aligned. Precipitationsheds, the oceanic and terrestrial origin of rainfall, depend on evapotranspiration and thus on vegetation. The political commitment to reduce agricultural impact on nature requires hydrological mimetrics to trickle down through institutions to actions. Existing metrics do not suffice. For example, the water footprint metric that relates agricultural water use to consumption decisions, suggests minimizing water use is best, ignoring full hydrological impacts. We explore principles, criteria and indicators for understanding HIWC, via modified evapotranspiration, effects on streamflow (downstream impacts) and atmospheric fluxes and precipitation (downwind impacts). Comprehensive HIWC mimetrics for a set of pantropical watersheds suggest hydrological mimicry options for forest-derived land use patterns through intermediate densities of trees with diversity in rooting depth and water use, interacting with soils, crops and livestock.","PeriodicalId":54661,"journal":{"name":"Outlook on Agriculture","volume":"51 1","pages":"114 - 128"},"PeriodicalIF":3.0,"publicationDate":"2022-01-27","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"46706857","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"经济学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
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