Harpinder Sandhu | University of South Australia (original) (raw)

Papers by Harpinder Sandhu

Economic and Political Weekly, Jan 4, 2014

Ecosystem services (ES) in agriculture are vital for the supply of food and fibre. However, the p... more Ecosystem services (ES) in agriculture are vital for the supply of food and fibre. However, the provision of some of the ES by these ecosystems has traditionally been considered to be at a low level. Earlier studies attributed very low value of ES to farmland worldwide per annum but the authors recognize that this was a severe underestimate because of the paucity of data available at the time. These assessments were based on published studies that used ‘value transfer’ techniques, supported by a few original calculations. In contrast to these studies, the current work proposes a framework and a ‘bottom-up’ approach to asses ES experimentally at field level. It elaborates on the conceptual framework of ES in agro-ecosystems providing field scale assessments citing examples from Denmark and New Zealand. This work demonstrates that there is a very wide range of ES provision, with organic arable cropping delivering many times the ES value of that provided by conventional farming. This s...

This review assesses existing data, models, and other knowledge-based methods for valuing the eff... more This review assesses existing data, models, and other knowledge-based methods for valuing the effects of sustainable land management including the cost of land degradation on a global scale. The overall development goal of sustainable human well-being should be to obtain social, ecologic, and economic viability, not merely growth of the market economy. Therefore new and more integrated methods to value sustainable development are needed. There is a huge amount of data and methods currently available to model and analyze land management practices. However, it is scattered and requires consolidation and reformatting to be useful. In this review we collected and evaluated databases and computer models that could be useful for analyzing and valuing land management options for sustaining natural capital and maximizing ecosystem services. The current methods and models are not well equipped to handle large scale transdisciplinary analyses and a major conclusion of this synthesis paper is that there is a need for further development of the integrated approaches, which considers all four types of capital (human, built, natural, and social), and their interaction at spatially explicit, multiple scales. This should be facilitated by adapting existing models and make them and their outcomes more accessible to stakeholders. Other shortcomings and caveats of models should be addressed by adding the ‘human factor’, for instance, in participatory decision-making and scenario testing. For integration of the models themselves, a more participatory approach to model development is also recommended, along with the possibility of adding advanced gaming interfaces to the models to allow them to be “played” by a large number of interested parties and their trade-off decisions to be accumulated and compared.

AMBIO: A Journal of the Human Environment, 2009

Agricultural ecosystems produce food, fiber, and nonmarketed ecosystem services (ES). Agriculture... more Agricultural ecosystems produce food, fiber, and nonmarketed ecosystem services (ES). Agriculture also typically involves high negative external costs associated with, for example, fossil fuel use. We estimated, via fieldscale ecological monitoring and economic value-transfer methods, the market and nonmarket ES value of a combined food and energy (CFE) agro-ecosystem that simultaneously produces food, fodder, and bioenergy. Such novel CFE agro-ecosystems can provide a significantly increased net crop, energy, and nonmarketed ES compared with conventional agriculture, and require markedly less fossil-based inputs. Extrapolated to the European scale, the value of nonmarket ES from the CFE system exceeds current European farm subsidy payments. Such integrated food and bioenergy systems can thus provide environmental value for money for European Union farming and nonfarming communities.

PLOS ONE, 2015

The light brown apple moth, Epiphyas postvittana is a key pest of wine grapes in Australia. Two p... more The light brown apple moth, Epiphyas postvittana is a key pest of wine grapes in Australia. Two parasitoids, Dolichogenidea tasmanica and Therophilus unimaculatus, attack the larval stage of this pest. D. tasmanica is dominant in vineyards, whereas T. unimaculatus is mainly active in native vegetation. We sought to understand why they differ in their use of habitats. Plants are a major component of habitats of parasitoids, and herbivore-infested plants influence parasitoid foraging efficiency by their architecture and emission of volatile chemicals. We investigated how different plant species infested by E. postvittana could affect the foraging success of the two parasitoid species in both laboratory and field experiments. Four common host-plant species were selected for this study. In paired-choice experiments to determine the innate foraging preferences for plants, both parasitoid species showed differences in innate search preferences among plant species. The plant preference of D. tasmanica was altered by oviposition experience with hosts that were feeding on other plant species. In a behavioral assay, the two parasitoid species allocated their times engaged in various types of behavior differently when foraging on different plant species. For both parasitoids, parasitism on Hardenbergia violacea was the highest of the four plant species. Significantly more larvae dropped from Myoporum insulare when attacked than from the other three host-plant species, which indicates that parasitism is also affected by interactions between plants and host insects. In vineyards, parasitism by D. tasmanica was significantly lower on M. insulare than on the other three host-plant species, but the parasitism rates were similar among the other three plant species. Our results indicate that plants play a role in the habitat preferences of these two parasitoid species by influencing their foraging behavior, and are likely to contribute to their distributions among habitats.

PeerJ, 2015

Background. Ecosystem services (ES) generated within agricultural landscapes, including field bou... more Background. Ecosystem services (ES) generated within agricultural landscapes, including field boundaries, are vital for the sustainable supply of food and fibre. However, the value of ES in agriculture has not been quantified experimentally and then extrapolated globally. Methods. We quantified the economic value of two key but contrasting ES (biological control of pests and nitrogen mineralisation) provided by non-traded non-crop species in ten organic and ten conventional arable fields in New Zealand using field experiments. The arable crops grown, same for each organic and conventional pair, were peas (Pisum sativum), beans (Phaseolus vulgaris), barley (Hordeum vulgare), and wheat (Triticum aestivum). Organic systems were chosen as comparators not because they are the only forms of sustainable agriculture, but because they are subject to easily understood standards. Results. We found that organic farming systems depended on fewer external inputs and produced outputs of energy and crop dry matter generally less than but sometimes similar to those of their conventional counterparts. The economic values of the two selected ES were greater for the organic systems in all four crops, ranging from US$ 68-200 ha −1 yr −1 for biological control of pests and from US$ 110-425 ha −1 yr −1 for N mineralisation in the organic systems versus US$ 0 ha −1 yr −1 for biological control of pests and from US$ 60-244 ha −1 yr −1 for N mineralisation in the conventional systems. The total economic value (including market and non-market components) was significantly greater in organic systems, ranging from US$ 1750-4536 ha −1 yr −1 , with US$ 1585-2560 ha −1 yr −1 in the conventional systems. The non-market component of the economic value in organic fields was also significantly higher than those in conventional fields. Discussion. To illustrate the potential magnitude of these two ES to temperate farming systems and agricultural landscapes elsewhere, we then extrapolate these experimentally derived figures to the global temperate cropping area of the same arable crops. We found that the extrapolated net value of the these two services provided by non-traded species could exceed the combined current global costs of pesticide and How to cite this article Sandhu et al. (2015), Significance and value of non-traded ecosystem services on farmland. PeerJ 3:e762; DOI 10.7717/peerj.762

PLOS ONE, 2015

The light brown apple moth, Epiphyas postvittana is a key pest of wine grapes in Australia. Two p... more The light brown apple moth, Epiphyas postvittana is a key pest of wine grapes in Australia. Two parasitoids, Dolichogenidea tasmanica and Therophilus unimaculatus, attack the larval stage of this pest. D. tasmanica is dominant in vineyards, whereas T. unimaculatus is mainly active in native vegetation. We sought to understand why they differ in their use of habitats. Plants are a major component of habitats of parasitoids, and herbivore-infested plants influence parasitoid foraging efficiency by their architecture and emission of volatile chemicals. We investigated how different plant species infested by E. postvittana could affect the foraging success of the two parasitoid species in both laboratory and field experiments. Four common host-plant species were selected for this study. In paired-choice experiments to determine the innate foraging preferences for plants, both parasitoid species showed differences in innate search preferences among plant species. The plant preference of D. tasmanica was altered by oviposition experience with hosts that were feeding on other plant species. In a behavioral assay, the two parasitoid species allocated their times engaged in various types of behavior differently when foraging on different plant species. For both parasitoids, parasitism on Hardenbergia violacea was the highest of the four plant species. Significantly more larvae dropped from Myoporum insulare when attacked than from the other three host-plant species, which indicates that parasitism is also affected by interactions between plants and host insects. In vineyards, parasitism by D. tasmanica was significantly lower on M. insulare than on the other three host-plant species, but the parasitism rates were similar among the other three plant species. Our results indicate that plants play a role in the habitat preferences of these two parasitoid species by influencing their foraging behavior, and are likely to contribute to their distributions among habitats.

PloS one, 2015

Land use and management intensity can influence provision of ecosystem services (ES). We argue th... more Land use and management intensity can influence provision of ecosystem services (ES). We argue that forest/agroforestry production systems are characterized by relatively higher C:O/C:N and ES value compared to arable production systems. Field investigations on C:N/C:O and 15 ES were determined in three diverse production systems: wheat monoculture (Cwheat), a combined food and energy system (CFE) and a beech forest in Denmark. The C:N/C:O ratios were 194.1/1.68, 94.1/1.57 and 59.5/1.45 for beech forest, CFE and Cwheat, respectively. The economic value of the non-marketed ES was also highest in beech forest (US$ 1089 ha-1 yr-1) followed by CFE (US$ 800 ha-1 yr-1) and Cwheat (US$ 339 ha-1 yr-1). The combined economic value was highest in the CFE (US$ 3143 ha-1 yr-1) as compared to the Cwheat (US$ 2767 ha-1 yr-1) and beech forest (US$ 2365 ha-1 yr-1). We argue that C:N/C:O can be used as a proxy of ES, particularly for the non-marketed ES, such as regulating, supporting and cultural s...

Journal Title, 2010

Abstract: Økosystemerne i jordbruget producerer føde, fibre og ikke-markedsomsatte økosystemydels... more Abstract: Økosystemerne i jordbruget producerer føde, fibre og ikke-markedsomsatte økosystemydelser. Jordbruget er typisk forbundet med høje negative eksterne omkostninger, fx i forbindelse med anvendelsen af fossilt brændstof. Ved hjælp af økologisk monitorering på markniveau samt økonomiske værdisætningsmetoder har vi estimeret værdien af markedsomsatte og more

Bulletin of entomological research, Jan 9, 2015

Two generalist parasitoids, Dolichogenidea tasmanica (Cameron) (Hymenoptera: Braconidae) and Ther... more Two generalist parasitoids, Dolichogenidea tasmanica (Cameron) (Hymenoptera: Braconidae) and Therophilus unimaculatus (Turner) (Hymenoptera: Braconidae) attack early instars of tortricid moths, including the light brown apple moth, Epiphyas postvittana (Walker) (Lepidoptera: Tortricidae). The two parasitoids co-exist in natural habitats, while D. tasmanica is dominant in vineyards, whereas T. unimaculatus occurs mainly in adjacent native vegetation. This difference suggests possible competition between the two species, mediated by habitat. Here, we report on the extent of interspecific differences in host discrimination and the outcome of interspecific competition between the two parasitoids. The parasitoids did not show different behavioural responses to un-parasitized hosts or those that were parasitized by the other species. Larvae of D. tasmanica out-competed those of T. unimaculatus, irrespective of the order or interval between attacks by the two species. The host larvae that ...

Dependence of rural poor on local ecosystems for livelihood has potential to accelerate loss of e... more Dependence of rural poor on local ecosystems for livelihood has potential to accelerate loss of ecosystem services. In this study, we use ecosystem services concept to investigate poverty and ecosystem interactions in the Darjeeling district, West Bengal, India which is a part of the eastern Himalayan biodiversity hotspot. First, we assessed multidimensional poverty in six villages (57 households) in the region using household surveys. Chronic poverty existed in all the six villages in the study area and the cash income per capita per day was US$ 0.16-0.34 which is far below the international standards of defining poverty on income basis. Second, we identified five direct and three indirect drivers of ecosystem change through semi-structured interviews with the head of the households. Then we identified linkages between ecosystem services and basic human needs. These linkages were used to identify measures to improve livelihood of rural poor. The major outcome of this study is in highlighting the ecosystem-based approach to improve livelihood of rural poor.

PeerJ, 2015

Background. Ecosystem services (ES) generated within agricultural landscapes, including field bou... more Background. Ecosystem services (ES) generated within agricultural landscapes, including field boundaries, are vital for the sustainable supply of food and fibre. However, the value of ES in agriculture has not been quantified experimentally and then extrapolated globally. Methods. We quantified the economic value of two key but contrasting ES (biological control of pests and nitrogen mineralisation) provided by non-traded non-crop species in ten organic and ten conventional arable fields in New Zealand using field experiments. The arable crops grown, same for each organic and conventional pair, were peas (Pisum sativum), beans (Phaseolus vulgaris), barley (Hordeum vulgare), and wheat (Triticum aestivum). Organic systems were chosen as comparators not because they are the only forms of sustainable agriculture, but because they are subject to easily understood standards. Results. We found that organic farming systems depended on fewer external inputs and produced outputs of energy and crop dry matter generally less than but sometimes similar to those of their conventional counterparts. The economic values of the two selected ES were greater for the organic systems in all four crops, ranging from US$ 68-200 ha −1 yr −1 for biological control of pests and from US$ 110-425 ha −1 yr −1 for N mineralisation in the organic systems versus US$ 0 ha −1 yr −1 for biological control of pests and from US$ 60-244 ha −1 yr −1 for N mineralisation in the conventional systems. The total economic value (including market and non-market components) was significantly greater in organic systems, ranging from US$ 1750-4536 ha −1 yr −1 , with US$ 1585-2560 ha −1 yr −1 in the conventional systems. The non-market component of the economic value in organic fields was also significantly higher than those in conventional fields. Discussion. To illustrate the potential magnitude of these two ES to temperate farming systems and agricultural landscapes elsewhere, we then extrapolate these experimentally derived figures to the global temperate cropping area of the same arable crops. We found that the extrapolated net value of the these two services provided by non-traded species could exceed the combined current global costs of pesticide and How to cite this article Sandhu et al. (2015), Significance and value of non-traded ecosystem services on farmland. PeerJ 3:e762; DOI 10.7717/peerj.762

Wratten/Ecosystem Services in Agricultural and Urban Landscapes, 2013

Ecosystem services (ES) in agriculture are vital for the supply of food and fibre. However, the p... more Ecosystem services (ES) in agriculture are vital for the supply of food and fibre. However, the provision of some of the ES by these ecosystems has traditionally been considered to be at a low level. Earlier studies attributed very low values of ES to farmland world-wide per annum but the authors recognize that this was a severe underestimate because of the paucity of data available at the time. These assessments were based on published studies that used 'value transfer' techniques, supported by a few original calculations. In contrast to these studies, the current work proposes a framework and a ' bottom-up' approach to asses ES experimentally at field level. It elaborates on the conceptual framework of ES in agroecosystems providing field-scale assessments, citing examples from Denmark and New Zealand. This work demonstrates that there is a very wide range of ES provision, with organic arable cropping delivering many times the ES value of that provided by conventional farming. This study also provides scenarios for balancing production and ES in agroecosystems that can be explored to maintain and improve farm sustainability and achieve food security.

Soil Microbiology and Sustainable Crop Production, 2010

Wratten/Ecosystem Services in Agricultural and Urban Landscapes, 2013

Ecosystems sustain human life through the provision of four types of ecosystem services (ES) -a c... more Ecosystems sustain human life through the provision of four types of ecosystem services (ES) -a central tenet of the United Nations' Millennium Development Goals (MDGs). These categories are, with examples: supporting (water and nutrient cycling), provisioning (food production, fuel wood), regulating (water purification, erosion control), and cultural (aesthetic and spiritual values). A recent trend has been a decline in ES globally, largely due to ignorance of their value to human well-being and inadequate socioeconomic valuation mechanisms that encourage individuals/governments to invest in maintaining them. Engineered ecosystems from farmland and cities are the most important providers of ES for the world population. However, they are largely left outside the decision-making process in managing agriculture and urban areas, due to the general low awareness of how the ES associated with these systems can and have been quantified. As nearly half of the world population is dependent on agriculture for its livelihood and cities are expanding at a faster rate than ever before, it is vital to understand, measure and incorporate ES into decision making and planning of agriculture and cities. This chapter discusses the concept of ES, their valuation methods, the types of engineered systems and how ES can be adopted by them to enhance them and ensure an equitable and sustainable future.

Economic and Political Weekly, Jan 4, 2014

Ecosystem services (ES) in agriculture are vital for the supply of food and fibre. However, the p... more Ecosystem services (ES) in agriculture are vital for the supply of food and fibre. However, the provision of some of the ES by these ecosystems has traditionally been considered to be at a low level. Earlier studies attributed very low value of ES to farmland worldwide per annum but the authors recognize that this was a severe underestimate because of the paucity of data available at the time. These assessments were based on published studies that used ‘value transfer’ techniques, supported by a few original calculations. In contrast to these studies, the current work proposes a framework and a ‘bottom-up’ approach to asses ES experimentally at field level. It elaborates on the conceptual framework of ES in agro-ecosystems providing field scale assessments citing examples from Denmark and New Zealand. This work demonstrates that there is a very wide range of ES provision, with organic arable cropping delivering many times the ES value of that provided by conventional farming. This s...

This review assesses existing data, models, and other knowledge-based methods for valuing the eff... more This review assesses existing data, models, and other knowledge-based methods for valuing the effects of sustainable land management including the cost of land degradation on a global scale. The overall development goal of sustainable human well-being should be to obtain social, ecologic, and economic viability, not merely growth of the market economy. Therefore new and more integrated methods to value sustainable development are needed. There is a huge amount of data and methods currently available to model and analyze land management practices. However, it is scattered and requires consolidation and reformatting to be useful. In this review we collected and evaluated databases and computer models that could be useful for analyzing and valuing land management options for sustaining natural capital and maximizing ecosystem services. The current methods and models are not well equipped to handle large scale transdisciplinary analyses and a major conclusion of this synthesis paper is that there is a need for further development of the integrated approaches, which considers all four types of capital (human, built, natural, and social), and their interaction at spatially explicit, multiple scales. This should be facilitated by adapting existing models and make them and their outcomes more accessible to stakeholders. Other shortcomings and caveats of models should be addressed by adding the ‘human factor’, for instance, in participatory decision-making and scenario testing. For integration of the models themselves, a more participatory approach to model development is also recommended, along with the possibility of adding advanced gaming interfaces to the models to allow them to be “played” by a large number of interested parties and their trade-off decisions to be accumulated and compared.

AMBIO: A Journal of the Human Environment, 2009

Agricultural ecosystems produce food, fiber, and nonmarketed ecosystem services (ES). Agriculture... more Agricultural ecosystems produce food, fiber, and nonmarketed ecosystem services (ES). Agriculture also typically involves high negative external costs associated with, for example, fossil fuel use. We estimated, via fieldscale ecological monitoring and economic value-transfer methods, the market and nonmarket ES value of a combined food and energy (CFE) agro-ecosystem that simultaneously produces food, fodder, and bioenergy. Such novel CFE agro-ecosystems can provide a significantly increased net crop, energy, and nonmarketed ES compared with conventional agriculture, and require markedly less fossil-based inputs. Extrapolated to the European scale, the value of nonmarket ES from the CFE system exceeds current European farm subsidy payments. Such integrated food and bioenergy systems can thus provide environmental value for money for European Union farming and nonfarming communities.

PLOS ONE, 2015

The light brown apple moth, Epiphyas postvittana is a key pest of wine grapes in Australia. Two p... more The light brown apple moth, Epiphyas postvittana is a key pest of wine grapes in Australia. Two parasitoids, Dolichogenidea tasmanica and Therophilus unimaculatus, attack the larval stage of this pest. D. tasmanica is dominant in vineyards, whereas T. unimaculatus is mainly active in native vegetation. We sought to understand why they differ in their use of habitats. Plants are a major component of habitats of parasitoids, and herbivore-infested plants influence parasitoid foraging efficiency by their architecture and emission of volatile chemicals. We investigated how different plant species infested by E. postvittana could affect the foraging success of the two parasitoid species in both laboratory and field experiments. Four common host-plant species were selected for this study. In paired-choice experiments to determine the innate foraging preferences for plants, both parasitoid species showed differences in innate search preferences among plant species. The plant preference of D. tasmanica was altered by oviposition experience with hosts that were feeding on other plant species. In a behavioral assay, the two parasitoid species allocated their times engaged in various types of behavior differently when foraging on different plant species. For both parasitoids, parasitism on Hardenbergia violacea was the highest of the four plant species. Significantly more larvae dropped from Myoporum insulare when attacked than from the other three host-plant species, which indicates that parasitism is also affected by interactions between plants and host insects. In vineyards, parasitism by D. tasmanica was significantly lower on M. insulare than on the other three host-plant species, but the parasitism rates were similar among the other three plant species. Our results indicate that plants play a role in the habitat preferences of these two parasitoid species by influencing their foraging behavior, and are likely to contribute to their distributions among habitats.

PeerJ, 2015

Background. Ecosystem services (ES) generated within agricultural landscapes, including field bou... more Background. Ecosystem services (ES) generated within agricultural landscapes, including field boundaries, are vital for the sustainable supply of food and fibre. However, the value of ES in agriculture has not been quantified experimentally and then extrapolated globally. Methods. We quantified the economic value of two key but contrasting ES (biological control of pests and nitrogen mineralisation) provided by non-traded non-crop species in ten organic and ten conventional arable fields in New Zealand using field experiments. The arable crops grown, same for each organic and conventional pair, were peas (Pisum sativum), beans (Phaseolus vulgaris), barley (Hordeum vulgare), and wheat (Triticum aestivum). Organic systems were chosen as comparators not because they are the only forms of sustainable agriculture, but because they are subject to easily understood standards. Results. We found that organic farming systems depended on fewer external inputs and produced outputs of energy and crop dry matter generally less than but sometimes similar to those of their conventional counterparts. The economic values of the two selected ES were greater for the organic systems in all four crops, ranging from US$ 68-200 ha −1 yr −1 for biological control of pests and from US$ 110-425 ha −1 yr −1 for N mineralisation in the organic systems versus US$ 0 ha −1 yr −1 for biological control of pests and from US$ 60-244 ha −1 yr −1 for N mineralisation in the conventional systems. The total economic value (including market and non-market components) was significantly greater in organic systems, ranging from US$ 1750-4536 ha −1 yr −1 , with US$ 1585-2560 ha −1 yr −1 in the conventional systems. The non-market component of the economic value in organic fields was also significantly higher than those in conventional fields. Discussion. To illustrate the potential magnitude of these two ES to temperate farming systems and agricultural landscapes elsewhere, we then extrapolate these experimentally derived figures to the global temperate cropping area of the same arable crops. We found that the extrapolated net value of the these two services provided by non-traded species could exceed the combined current global costs of pesticide and How to cite this article Sandhu et al. (2015), Significance and value of non-traded ecosystem services on farmland. PeerJ 3:e762; DOI 10.7717/peerj.762

PLOS ONE, 2015

The light brown apple moth, Epiphyas postvittana is a key pest of wine grapes in Australia. Two p... more The light brown apple moth, Epiphyas postvittana is a key pest of wine grapes in Australia. Two parasitoids, Dolichogenidea tasmanica and Therophilus unimaculatus, attack the larval stage of this pest. D. tasmanica is dominant in vineyards, whereas T. unimaculatus is mainly active in native vegetation. We sought to understand why they differ in their use of habitats. Plants are a major component of habitats of parasitoids, and herbivore-infested plants influence parasitoid foraging efficiency by their architecture and emission of volatile chemicals. We investigated how different plant species infested by E. postvittana could affect the foraging success of the two parasitoid species in both laboratory and field experiments. Four common host-plant species were selected for this study. In paired-choice experiments to determine the innate foraging preferences for plants, both parasitoid species showed differences in innate search preferences among plant species. The plant preference of D. tasmanica was altered by oviposition experience with hosts that were feeding on other plant species. In a behavioral assay, the two parasitoid species allocated their times engaged in various types of behavior differently when foraging on different plant species. For both parasitoids, parasitism on Hardenbergia violacea was the highest of the four plant species. Significantly more larvae dropped from Myoporum insulare when attacked than from the other three host-plant species, which indicates that parasitism is also affected by interactions between plants and host insects. In vineyards, parasitism by D. tasmanica was significantly lower on M. insulare than on the other three host-plant species, but the parasitism rates were similar among the other three plant species. Our results indicate that plants play a role in the habitat preferences of these two parasitoid species by influencing their foraging behavior, and are likely to contribute to their distributions among habitats.

PloS one, 2015

Land use and management intensity can influence provision of ecosystem services (ES). We argue th... more Land use and management intensity can influence provision of ecosystem services (ES). We argue that forest/agroforestry production systems are characterized by relatively higher C:O/C:N and ES value compared to arable production systems. Field investigations on C:N/C:O and 15 ES were determined in three diverse production systems: wheat monoculture (Cwheat), a combined food and energy system (CFE) and a beech forest in Denmark. The C:N/C:O ratios were 194.1/1.68, 94.1/1.57 and 59.5/1.45 for beech forest, CFE and Cwheat, respectively. The economic value of the non-marketed ES was also highest in beech forest (US$ 1089 ha-1 yr-1) followed by CFE (US$ 800 ha-1 yr-1) and Cwheat (US$ 339 ha-1 yr-1). The combined economic value was highest in the CFE (US$ 3143 ha-1 yr-1) as compared to the Cwheat (US$ 2767 ha-1 yr-1) and beech forest (US$ 2365 ha-1 yr-1). We argue that C:N/C:O can be used as a proxy of ES, particularly for the non-marketed ES, such as regulating, supporting and cultural s...

Journal Title, 2010

Abstract: Økosystemerne i jordbruget producerer føde, fibre og ikke-markedsomsatte økosystemydels... more Abstract: Økosystemerne i jordbruget producerer føde, fibre og ikke-markedsomsatte økosystemydelser. Jordbruget er typisk forbundet med høje negative eksterne omkostninger, fx i forbindelse med anvendelsen af fossilt brændstof. Ved hjælp af økologisk monitorering på markniveau samt økonomiske værdisætningsmetoder har vi estimeret værdien af markedsomsatte og more

Bulletin of entomological research, Jan 9, 2015

Two generalist parasitoids, Dolichogenidea tasmanica (Cameron) (Hymenoptera: Braconidae) and Ther... more Two generalist parasitoids, Dolichogenidea tasmanica (Cameron) (Hymenoptera: Braconidae) and Therophilus unimaculatus (Turner) (Hymenoptera: Braconidae) attack early instars of tortricid moths, including the light brown apple moth, Epiphyas postvittana (Walker) (Lepidoptera: Tortricidae). The two parasitoids co-exist in natural habitats, while D. tasmanica is dominant in vineyards, whereas T. unimaculatus occurs mainly in adjacent native vegetation. This difference suggests possible competition between the two species, mediated by habitat. Here, we report on the extent of interspecific differences in host discrimination and the outcome of interspecific competition between the two parasitoids. The parasitoids did not show different behavioural responses to un-parasitized hosts or those that were parasitized by the other species. Larvae of D. tasmanica out-competed those of T. unimaculatus, irrespective of the order or interval between attacks by the two species. The host larvae that ...

Dependence of rural poor on local ecosystems for livelihood has potential to accelerate loss of e... more Dependence of rural poor on local ecosystems for livelihood has potential to accelerate loss of ecosystem services. In this study, we use ecosystem services concept to investigate poverty and ecosystem interactions in the Darjeeling district, West Bengal, India which is a part of the eastern Himalayan biodiversity hotspot. First, we assessed multidimensional poverty in six villages (57 households) in the region using household surveys. Chronic poverty existed in all the six villages in the study area and the cash income per capita per day was US$ 0.16-0.34 which is far below the international standards of defining poverty on income basis. Second, we identified five direct and three indirect drivers of ecosystem change through semi-structured interviews with the head of the households. Then we identified linkages between ecosystem services and basic human needs. These linkages were used to identify measures to improve livelihood of rural poor. The major outcome of this study is in highlighting the ecosystem-based approach to improve livelihood of rural poor.

PeerJ, 2015

Background. Ecosystem services (ES) generated within agricultural landscapes, including field bou... more Background. Ecosystem services (ES) generated within agricultural landscapes, including field boundaries, are vital for the sustainable supply of food and fibre. However, the value of ES in agriculture has not been quantified experimentally and then extrapolated globally. Methods. We quantified the economic value of two key but contrasting ES (biological control of pests and nitrogen mineralisation) provided by non-traded non-crop species in ten organic and ten conventional arable fields in New Zealand using field experiments. The arable crops grown, same for each organic and conventional pair, were peas (Pisum sativum), beans (Phaseolus vulgaris), barley (Hordeum vulgare), and wheat (Triticum aestivum). Organic systems were chosen as comparators not because they are the only forms of sustainable agriculture, but because they are subject to easily understood standards. Results. We found that organic farming systems depended on fewer external inputs and produced outputs of energy and crop dry matter generally less than but sometimes similar to those of their conventional counterparts. The economic values of the two selected ES were greater for the organic systems in all four crops, ranging from US$ 68-200 ha −1 yr −1 for biological control of pests and from US$ 110-425 ha −1 yr −1 for N mineralisation in the organic systems versus US$ 0 ha −1 yr −1 for biological control of pests and from US$ 60-244 ha −1 yr −1 for N mineralisation in the conventional systems. The total economic value (including market and non-market components) was significantly greater in organic systems, ranging from US$ 1750-4536 ha −1 yr −1 , with US$ 1585-2560 ha −1 yr −1 in the conventional systems. The non-market component of the economic value in organic fields was also significantly higher than those in conventional fields. Discussion. To illustrate the potential magnitude of these two ES to temperate farming systems and agricultural landscapes elsewhere, we then extrapolate these experimentally derived figures to the global temperate cropping area of the same arable crops. We found that the extrapolated net value of the these two services provided by non-traded species could exceed the combined current global costs of pesticide and How to cite this article Sandhu et al. (2015), Significance and value of non-traded ecosystem services on farmland. PeerJ 3:e762; DOI 10.7717/peerj.762

Wratten/Ecosystem Services in Agricultural and Urban Landscapes, 2013

Ecosystem services (ES) in agriculture are vital for the supply of food and fibre. However, the p... more Ecosystem services (ES) in agriculture are vital for the supply of food and fibre. However, the provision of some of the ES by these ecosystems has traditionally been considered to be at a low level. Earlier studies attributed very low values of ES to farmland world-wide per annum but the authors recognize that this was a severe underestimate because of the paucity of data available at the time. These assessments were based on published studies that used 'value transfer' techniques, supported by a few original calculations. In contrast to these studies, the current work proposes a framework and a ' bottom-up' approach to asses ES experimentally at field level. It elaborates on the conceptual framework of ES in agroecosystems providing field-scale assessments, citing examples from Denmark and New Zealand. This work demonstrates that there is a very wide range of ES provision, with organic arable cropping delivering many times the ES value of that provided by conventional farming. This study also provides scenarios for balancing production and ES in agroecosystems that can be explored to maintain and improve farm sustainability and achieve food security.

Soil Microbiology and Sustainable Crop Production, 2010

Wratten/Ecosystem Services in Agricultural and Urban Landscapes, 2013

Ecosystems sustain human life through the provision of four types of ecosystem services (ES) -a c... more Ecosystems sustain human life through the provision of four types of ecosystem services (ES) -a central tenet of the United Nations' Millennium Development Goals (MDGs). These categories are, with examples: supporting (water and nutrient cycling), provisioning (food production, fuel wood), regulating (water purification, erosion control), and cultural (aesthetic and spiritual values). A recent trend has been a decline in ES globally, largely due to ignorance of their value to human well-being and inadequate socioeconomic valuation mechanisms that encourage individuals/governments to invest in maintaining them. Engineered ecosystems from farmland and cities are the most important providers of ES for the world population. However, they are largely left outside the decision-making process in managing agriculture and urban areas, due to the general low awareness of how the ES associated with these systems can and have been quantified. As nearly half of the world population is dependent on agriculture for its livelihood and cities are expanding at a faster rate than ever before, it is vital to understand, measure and incorporate ES into decision making and planning of agriculture and cities. This chapter discusses the concept of ES, their valuation methods, the types of engineered systems and how ES can be adopted by them to enhance them and ensure an equitable and sustainable future.