Ecosystem Services from Agriculture: Looking Beyond the Usual Suspects (original) (raw)

Significance and value of non-traded ecosystem services on farmland

PeerJ, 2015

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

Editorial: Optimizing the Delivery of Multiple Ecosystem Goods and Services in Agricultural Systems

Frontiers in Ecology and Evolution

Editorial on the Research Topic Optimizing the Delivery of Multiple Ecosystem Goods and Services in Agricultural Systems Agricultural land is subjected to a variety of societal pressures, as demands for food, animal feed, and biomass production increase, with an added requirement to simultaneously maintain natural areas, and mitigate climatic and environmental impacts globally (Tilman et al., 2002; Pretty, 2008; Wang and Swallow, 2016). The biotic elements of agricultural systems interact with the abiotic environment to generate a number of ecosystem functions that offer services benefiting humans across many scales of time and space (Swinton et al., 2007; Power, 2010). The intensification of agriculture, particularly of that founded on fossil-fuel derived inputs, generally reduces biodiversity, including soil biodiversity (Tsiafouli et al., 2015) and impacts negatively upon a number of regulating and supporting ecosystem services (Zhang et al., 2007). There is a global need toward achieving sustainable agricultural systems, highlighted also in the UNs' Sustainable Development Goals, where among their targets they state that by 2030 we should globally "ensure sustainable food production systems and implement resilient agricultural practices that increase productivity and production, that help maintain ecosystems, that strengthen capacity for adaptation to climate change, extreme weather, drought, flooding and other disasters and that progressively improve land and soil quality" (UN-DESA/DSD, 2014). There is hence an evident need for management regimes that enhance both agricultural production and the provision of multiple ecosystem services. The articles of this Research Topic enhance our knowledge of how management practices applied to agricultural systems affect the delivery of multiple ecosystem services and how trade-offs between provisioning, regulating, and supporting ecosystem services can be handled both above-and below-ground, and across multiple scales of space and time. They also show the diversity of topics that need to be considered within the framework of ecosystem services delivered by agricultural systems, from knowledge on basic concepts and newly-proposed frameworks (§1), to a focus on specific ecosystem types such as grasslands and high nature-value farmlands (§2), pollinator habitats (§3), and soil habitats (§4).

The role of supporting ecosystem services in conventional and organic arable farmland

Ecological Complexity, 2010

Natural and modified ecosystems support human life through ecosystem services (ES) or nature's services (Daily, 1997). These are the life-support systems of the planet (Myers, 1996; Daily, 1997; Daily et al., 1997) and it is evident that human life cannot exist without them. However, human activity is rapidly changing the ability of ecosystems to provide ES (Naeem et al., 1997; Kremen, 2005; Reid et al., 2005). Natural landscapes have been substantially altered by humans to derive more and different benefits from ecosystems (Daily, 1997; Vitousek et al., 1997; Palmer et al., 2004). The expansion and intensification of agriculture have contributed to the provision of food and fibre for the growing world population but have led to a change in the ability of ecosystems to provide ES (Matson et al., 1997; Tilman, 1999). Modern agriculture is feeding more than six billion people worldwide (but with 800 million under-nourished; UN, 2005) but at the same time the 'external costs' of agriculture are of great concern (Pretty et al., 2000; Tegtmeier and Duffy, 2004). Such costs include damage to water, air, soil, biodiversity, landscapes and human health. In the next 50 years, the human population is projected to grow to nine billion and global grain demands will double (Pimentel and Wilson, 2004). The key challenge therefore is to meet the food demands of a growing population by maintaining and enhancing the productivity of agricultural systems without further damaging (and ideally, enhancing) their ES provision (Tilman et al., 2002; Robertson and Swinton, 2005). The need to address the threats to ES is more acute in agriculture than in other ecosystems (Robertson and Swinton, 2005) so that agricultural land can increase the rate at which it provides vital multiple ES in addition to the production of food and fibre. Key recent work has estimated the value of global ecosystem goods and services (Costanza et al., 1997; de Groot et al., 2002; Millennium Ecosystem Assessment, 2003), generating increased awareness of their classification, description, economic evaluation and enhancement (Gurr et al., 2004). To date, ES value has been assessed using a 'top-down' approach, i.e., the economic value of 17 ES in 16 biomes was calculated by Costanza et al. (1997) to be in the range of US 16−54trillionyearAˋ1,withanannualmeanofUS16-54 trillion year À1 , with an annual mean of US 16−54trillionyearAˋ1,withanannualmeanofUS33 trillion. This assessment was based on published studies and used 'value transfer' techniques (Wilson Ecological Complexity 7 (2010) 302-310

Dynamics of agricultural practices on ecosystem services : An overview

Agriculturei s a keycard cruiseo f the global economy.l t ropest he livelihoodsa nd subsistenceo f the Iargesnt umbero f peoplew orldwidea nd is vitalt o rural developmenat ndp overtya lleviation,a s well as food and nonfood productionA. bout 70%p opulationo f lndia dependsu pon this anciento ccupation.T he main challengef or the agricufturals ectori s to secure enoughh igh-qualitya grtcufturapl roductiont o meet demand:c onserveb iodiversity, susfaln ecosystem seruices and improve human health and well-being. As human populations grow, so do the resource demands imposed on ecosysfems and the impacts of our global footpint. Agricultural practices have environmentailm pactst hat affect a wide range of ecosysfems ervices,i ncludingw ater quality,p ollination,n utrient cycling, soil retention, carbon sequestration,a nd biodiversityc onseruation.l n turn, ecosysfem servicesa ffect agrtcufturapl roduativityT. herei s no single,g loballya pplicables ustainablem anagemenst olutionf or agiculture. This ls because agricultural practices depend on site-specific variables, such as climate, ecology, geography, demography, affluence and regulation Nonetheless, sustainability principles can be applied across different managements system y taking astute considerations of ecosystems services.

Ecosystem services in conventional farming systems. A review

Agronomy for Sustainable Development, 2022

Ecosystems worldwide are being disrupted under increased pressure from human activities. Nevertheless, most conservation studies and restoration efforts have so far focused on ecosystems of high heritage value related to their species diversity and/or the rarity of their habitats and/or species. However, "ordinary nature" (all the everyday, non-spectacular and non-protected landscapes, species and ecosystems) is also threatened by ecosystem disruption, which could affect major ecological functions and thus the supply of ecosystem services (ES). Conventional farming systems, which are mostly composed of agroecosystems characterised by ordinary nature, are already known to deliver some ES (e.g. pollination, carbon sequestration). Nevertheless, no systematic search has been done yet to determine which ES are identified and how there are studied in these conventional farming systems. We thus performed a first systematic evidence map (review of key articles to show, at a glance, the points that have been most studied, and highlight key gaps in the evidence base) to identify characterisation and measurement of ES provided by conventional agroecosystems from the review of 189 key international scientific articles. We excluded production for economic benefit, as this topic is already well documented in conventional agriculture systems. We found that most studies identified nutrient cycling (49.7%), carbon sequestration (46.6%), pest reduction (48.1%) or pollination (36.5%) as ES supplied by conventional agroecosystems. Correlations were also found between spatial scale and ES studied: for example, carbon storage was determined more at agricultural plot scale, while cultural services were determined more at landscape level. Our map also yielded 74 frequently used ES indicators, 50 of which are easily measurable and operational indicators of significant ES. Afterwards, one challenge that could be addressed in further studies is to determine for each indicator the range of measurement values that should be considered positive for ES provision, which is likely ecosystem-dependent.

Impact of agricultural practice on ecosystem services

victorquestpub.com

Agriculture produces much more than just crops. Agricultural practices have impact on a wide range of ecosystem services, including water quality, pollination, nutrient cycling, soil retention, carbon sequestration, and biodiversity conservation. In turn, ecosystem services affect agricultural productivity. Understanding the contribution of various agricultural practices to the range of ecosystem services would help inform choices about the most beneficial agricultural practices. Agriculture is one of the main drivers of environmental change. It is the source of many changes in land use and the origin of a broad range of pollutants. The relationship between agricultural practices and impact on ecosystem services is complex. Ecosystems deliver multiple types of services across widely varying spatial scales, so the patterns of agricultural use across many different scales also matter. Patterns of agricultural use affect the quantity and quality of services that they deliver. For example, one side Shifting cultivation, a primitive type of agriculture practiced in northeastern India and another side, modern agriculture in so-called green revolution states of north-western India both have their devastating and far-reaching consequences in degrading the environment and ecosystem services. Increasing food demands for burgeoning population has restricted the agriculture itself as an ecosystem providing mainly provisioning services for human well being at the cost of degradation of other services. Water scarcity, nutrient overloading, biodiversity loss, ocean over exploitation, climate change and habitat change are the major interconnected trends linked with agricultural practices to affect global ecosystems. Based on above-mentioned discussion, it can be concluded that in meeting demands and raising production, a significant number of ecosystems have been degraded. To co-create a sustainable future, we need to devise adequate means to value our natural assets and resources. This requires substantial changes in policy and practice of our agriculture.