Agricultural Environments

This chapter outlines the origin and historical development of global agriculture. Agricultural systems around the world are extremely diverse, but all involve the management of land for the production of food and other commodities. Agroecosystems encompass a wide variety of production systems, both within and between different regions, and different classifications are used to order these. Characteristics and classifications of some major types of contemporary agricultural systems are introduced. The difference between agricultural and natural (or alternatively managed) ecosystems and farmed versus unfarmed habitats on agricultural land is explored, and examples of each are provided. Some of the impacts of agriculture on wider ecosystems are introduced.