Agriculture as a Mimic of Natural Ecosystems

Herausgegeben:Lefroy, E. C.; Hobbs, R. J.; O'Connor, M. H.; Pate, J. S.

• Broschiertes Buch

Produktbeschreibung

This book critically examines the idea that the sustainability of agriculture could be improved by mimicking the structure and processes occurring in natural ecosystems. Researchers from around the world present comparative studies of multi-species farming systems, natural ecosystems and conventional agriculture. Case studies from Europe, Africa, Asia, Australia, and North and South America examine the implications of increasing the complexity of farming systems on water and nutrient cycling, productivity and resilience. Theoretical issues discussed include the role of biodiversity in agriculture, the trade-off between perenniality and productivity, the choice to integrate or segregate production and conservation in an agricultural landscape, and the social and economic challenges to adopting complex farming systems. One section is devoted to the application of this concept in southern Australia, where 15 million hectares of land are expected to be affected by salinity by the middle of the next century unless there is a significant change in agricultural practice.

Produktdetails

• Current Plant Science and Biotechnology in Agriculture 37
• Verlag: Springer / Springer Netherlands
• Artikelnr. des Verlages: 978-90-481-5319-0
• Softcover reprint of hardcover 1st ed. 1999
• Seitenzahl: 512
• Erscheinungstermin: 28. Oktober 2010
• Englisch
• Abmessung: 240mm x 160mm x 28mm
• Gewicht: 768g
• ISBN-13: 9789048153190
• ISBN-10: 9048153190
• Artikelnr.: 32016569

Inhaltsangabe

1. Introduction; E.C. Lefroy, et al. Part 1: Consulting the genius of
place. 2. Developing high seed-yielding perennial polycultures as a mimic
of mid-grass prairie; W. Jackson, L. Jackson. 3. From genomes to ecosystems
to human communities; W. Jackson. Part 2: The ecosystem mimic concept. 4.
Natural systems as models for the design of sustainable systems of land
use; J.J. Ewel. 5. How much biodiversity is enough? A.R. Main. 6. Moving
from descriptive to prescriptive ecology; R.J. Hobbs, S.R. Morton. Part 3:
Case studies of multi-species systems. 7. The dehesa system of southern
Spain and Portugal as a natural ecosystem mimic; R. Joffre, et al. 8.
Multispecies cropping systems in India: Predictions of their productivity,
stability, resilience, and ecological sustainability; B.R. Trenbath. 9. Why
tree-crop interactions in agroforestry appear at odds with tree-grass
interactions in tropical savannahs; C.K. Ong, R.R.B. Leakey. 10. Can the
ecosystem mimic hypotheses be applied to farms in African savannahs? M. van
Noordwijk, C.K. Ong. 11. Soil community composition in ecosystem processes:
Comparing agricultural with natural ecosystems; D.A. Neher. 12. The problem
of irrigated horticulture: matching the biophysical efficiency with the
economic efficiency; R.J. Stirzaker. Part 4: Application of the ecosystem
mimic concept to southern Australian agriculture. 13. Towards achieving
functional ecosystem mimicry with respect to water cycling in southern
Australian agriculture; T.J. Hatton, R.A. Nulsen. 14. Nutrient cycling and
growth in forest ecosystems of South Western Australia: relevance to
agricultural landscapes; P.F. Grierson, M.A. Adams. 15. Assessing the
performance of woody plants in uptake and utilisation of carbon, water and
nutrients; J.S. Pate, T.E. Dawson. 16. Agroforestry for water management in
the cropping zone of Southern Australia; E.C. Lefroy, R.J. Stirzaker. 17.
Application of the ecosystem mimic concept to the `species-rich' Banksia
woodlands of South Western Australia; J.S. Pate, T.L. Bell. 18. Can
agricultural management emulate natural ecosystems in recharge control in
South Eastern Australia? F.X. Dunnin, et al. 19. Designing mimics from
incomplete data sets: salmon gum woodland and heathland ecosystems in South
Western Australia; R.J. O'Connor, M.H. O'Connor. Part 5: Implications of
the mimic concept. 20. Social and economic challenges in the development of
complex farming systems; D.J. Pannell. 21. Can we bring about a perennially
peopled and productive countryside? J.B. Passioura. 22. What can
agriculture learn from natural ecosystems? E.C. Lefroy, et al.