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Author: Devra Ivy Jarvis
Publisher: Columbia University Press
Published: 2007
Total Pages: 520
ISBN-13: 9780231136488
DOWNLOAD EBOOKDescribes how farmers manage, maintain, and benefit from biodiversity in agricultural production systems. Includes the most recent research and developments in the maintenance of local diversity at the genetic, species, and ecosystem levels.
Author: Paul Gepts
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Published: 2012-02-23
Total Pages:
ISBN-13: 110737667X
DOWNLOAD EBOOKThe introduction of plant and animal agriculture represents one of the most important milestones in human evolution. It contributed to the development of cities, alphabets, new technologies, and ultimately to civilizations, but it has also presented a threat to both human health and the environment. Bringing together research from a range of fields including anthropology, archaeology, ecology, economics, entomology, ethnobiology, genetics and geography, this book addresses key questions relating to agriculture. Why did agriculture develop and where did it originate? What are the patterns of domestication for plants and animals? How did agroecosystems originate and spread from their locations of origin? Exploring the cultural aspects of the development of agricultural ecosystems, the book also highlights how these topics can be applied to our understanding of contemporary agriculture, its long-term sustainability, the co-existence of agriculture and the environment, and the development of new crops and varieties.
Author: Gero Benckiser
Publisher: CRC Press
Published: 2006-07-19
Total Pages: 472
ISBN-13: 9781574445893
DOWNLOAD EBOOKWhile modern science has always recognized the central role that biodiversity plays in the ecological processes that maintain the Earth's equilibrium, our increasing knowledge of nature has deepened our appreciation of this principle. Consequently, those involved with implementing and maintaining sustainable agriculture systems have begun to take a far more sophisticated approach to understanding and making use of the components and mechanics of biodiversity. Providing a comprehensive and highly practical exploration of the subject, Biodiversity in Agricultural Production Systems examines abiotic ecosystem diversity and biological complexity at every relevant level. Leading researchers detail subspecies diversity, covering ecotypes, lifecycles, genes, physiology, and behavior. They also discuss species richness and supraspecies diversity, which includes foodweb interactions and non-trophic relationships, as well as above- and belowground relationships. Exploring various facets of agricultural crops and cultivation practices, this inter-disciplinary volume- Gives an overview of the pore space dynamic in agroecosystems where most soil microorganisms reside, including bacteria, fungi, protozoa, nematodes, and Tardigrada Examines the highly diverse and prominent role played by earthworms Looks at the metabolic processes occurring in soils that result in the release of greenhouse gases Outlines principles and strategies of order between interacting molecules, cells, species and communities Looks at mechanisms of competition, exploring growth regulation, transformation, and feeding strategies, as well as toxin production, mutation, and biofilm formation Discusses matter recycling and the diversity of microbial metabolism in soils Shows how long-term observation plots are used to assess soil quality Biodiversity in Agricultural Production Systems provides important information for those involved with researching and implementing sustainable agricultural systems, as well as those addressing specific challenges related to soil degradation, water management, and climatic impacts. It also provides recent research and fresh perspectives to enhance the approaches of those working in horticulture, biology, and the environmental sciences.
Author: J. Perry Gustafson
Publisher: University of Missouri Press
Published: 2020-05-04
Total Pages: 425
ISBN-13: 0826274404
DOWNLOAD EBOOKThis timely collection of 15 original essays written by expert scientists the world over addresses the relationships between human population growth, the need to increase food supplies to feed the world population, and the chances for avoiding the extinction of a major proportion of the world's plant and animal species that collectively makes our survival on Earth possible. These relationships are highly intertwined, and changes in each of them steadily decrease humankind’s chances to achieve environmental stability on our fragile planet. The world population is projected to be nine to ten billion by 2050, signaling the need to increase world food production by more than 70 percent on the same amount of land currently under production—and this without further damaging our fragile environment. The essays in this collection, written by experts for laypersons, present the problems we face with clarity and assess our prospects for solving them, calling for action but holding out viable solutions.
Author: Wanda W. Collins
Publisher: CRC Press
Published: 1998-08-14
Total Pages: 352
ISBN-13: 9781420049244
DOWNLOAD EBOOKbetween the diversity of plant and animal species and host/dependent agricultural systems. Biodiversity in Agroecosystems shows how biodiversity can be thought of not only as the rich make-up of a great number of related and competing species within an ecologically defined community, but also as the robust behavior and resilience of those species over time and as the endurance of their eco-community. This book brings to the fore new research on biodiversity in agricultural ecosystems at both micro and macro levels, heretofore available only in journals and proceedings papers.
Author: Karl S. Zimmerer
Publisher: MIT Press
Published: 2023-10-31
Total Pages: 403
ISBN-13: 0262549697
DOWNLOAD EBOOKExperts discuss the challenges faced in agrobiodiversity and conservation, integrating disciplines that range from plant and biological sciences to economics and political science. Wide-ranging environmental phenomena—including climate change, extreme weather events, and soil and water availability—combine with such socioeconomic factors as food policies, dietary preferences, and market forces to affect agriculture and food production systems on local, national, and global scales. The increasing simplification of food systems, the continuing decline of plant species, and the ongoing spread of pests and disease threaten biodiversity in agriculture as well as the sustainability of food resources. Complicating the situation further, the multiple systems involved—cultural, economic, environmental, institutional, and technological—are driven by human decision making, which is inevitably informed by diverse knowledge systems. The interactions and linkages that emerge necessitate an integrated assessment if we are to make progress toward sustainable agriculture and food systems. This volume in the Strüngmann Forum Reports series offers insights into the challenges faced in agrobiodiversity and sustainability and proposes an integrative framework to guide future research, scholarship, policy, and practice. The contributors offer perspectives from a range of disciplines, including plant and biological sciences, food systems and nutrition, ecology, economics, plant and animal breeding, anthropology, political science, geography, law, and sociology. Topics covered include evolutionary ecology, food and human health, the governance of agrobiodiversity, and the interactions between agrobiodiversity and climate and demographic change.
Author: Stewart Lockie
Publisher: Earthscan
Published: 2010
Total Pages: 337
ISBN-13: 1849774374
DOWNLOAD EBOOKDebate about how best to ensure the preservation of agricultural biodiversity is caught in a counter-productive polemic between proponents and critics of market-based instruments and agricultural modernization. However, it is argued in this book that neither position does justice to the range of strategies that farmers use to manage agrobiodiversity and other livelihood assets as they adapt to changing social, economic, and environmental circumstances.
Author: Danny Hunter
Publisher: Routledge
Published: 2017-10-03
Total Pages: 692
ISBN-13: 1317753291
DOWNLOAD EBOOKThe world relies on very few crop and animal species for agriculture and to supply its food needs. In recent decades, there has been increased appreciation of the risk this implies for food security and quality, especially in times of environmental change. As a result, agricultural biodiversity has moved to the top of research and policy agendas. This Handbook presents a comprehensive overview of our current knowledge of agricultural biodiversity in a series of specially commissioned chapters. It draws on multiple disciplines including plant and animal genetics, ecology, crop and animal science, food studies and nutrition, as well as social science subjects which explore the socio-economic, cultural, institutional, legal and policy aspects of agricultural biodiversity. It focuses not only on the core requirements to deliver a sustainable agriculture and food supply, but also highlights the additional ecosystem services provided by a diverse and resilient agricultural landscape and farming practices. The book provides an indispensable reference textbook for a wide range of courses in agriculture, ecology, biodiversity conservation and environmental studies.
Author: Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations
Publisher: Food & Agriculture Org.
Published: 2018-06-26
Total Pages: 196
ISBN-13: 9251305293
DOWNLOAD EBOOKFarmers play a crucial role in the preservation and sustainable use of agrobiodiversity. In fact, the diversity of species that support our current agricultural production systems has been carefully managed and shaped by farming communities, over the course of the history of humankind. Farmers act as custodian of the Earth’s agrobiodiversity resources, and play a big part in preserving traditional plant and animal varieties, and the knowledge associated with these. FAO has long been working on promoting approaches to agriculture that enable both the sustainable use of biodiversity resources for food and agriculture, and their conservation, and on supporting farmers to make informed decisions on their farm management and production practices. This training manual fits in this broader commitment, to support a shift towards a paradigm of agricultural production that can sustain food and nutrition security while at the same time cause the least harm to natural ecosystems. The manual is intended as an introduction to agricultural biodiversity, and to its relevance to different aspects of agricultural production and management for smallholder farmers in Kenya. It includes eight different training modules, each covering a specific aspect related to agrobiodiversity. The modules are standalone and can be used independently one from the other, depending on the user’s or project’s aim. The materials were originally prepared within the FAO- Netherlands Partnership Programme (FNPP) and have been updated, revised and published under the second phase of the European Union-funded project “Capacity-building related to multilateral environmental agreements (MEAs) in Africa, Caribbean and Pacific (ACP) countries”.
Author: Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations
Publisher: Food & Agriculture Org.
Published: 2019-03-12
Total Pages: 576
ISBN-13: 9251312702
DOWNLOAD EBOOKThe State of the World's Biodiversity for Food and Agriculture presents the first global assessment of biodiversity for food and agriculture worldwide. Biodiversity for food and agriculture is the diversity of plants, animals and micro-organisms at genetic, species and ecosystem levels, present in and around crop, livestock, forest and aquatic production systems. It is essential to the structure, functions and processes of these systems, to livelihoods and food security, and to the supply of a wide range of ecosystem services. It has been managed or influenced by farmers, livestock keepers, forest dwellers, fish farmers and fisherfolk for hundreds of generations. Prepared through a participatory, country-driven process, the report draws on information from 91 country reports to provide a description of the roles and importance of biodiversity for food and agriculture, the drivers of change affecting it and its current status and trends. It describes the state of efforts to promote the sustainable use and conservation of biodiversity for food and agriculture, including through the development of supporting policies, legal frameworks, institutions and capacities. It concludes with a discussion of needs and challenges in the future management of biodiversity for food and agriculture. The report complements other global assessments prepared under the auspices of the Commission on Genetic Resources for Food and Agriculture, which have focused on the state of genetic resources within particular sectors of food and agriculture.
