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Agriculture, Ecosystems & Environment is an international peer-reviewed scientific journal published eighteen times per year by Elsevier. It covers research on the interrelationships between the natural environments and agroecosystems , and their effects on each other.
The environmental impact of agriculture is the effect that different farming practices have on the ecosystems around them, and how those effects can be traced back to those practices. [1] The environmental impact of agriculture varies widely based on practices employed by farmers and by the scale of practice.
Like other ecosystems, agroecosystems form partially closed systems in which animals, plants, microbes, and other living organisms and their environment are interdependent and regularly interact. They are somewhat arbitrarily defined as a spatially and functionally coherent unit of agricultural activity. [1]
Global agricultural practices are known to be one of the main reasons for environmental degradation. Animal agriculture worldwide encompasses 83% of farmland (but only accounts for 18% of the global calorie intake), and the direct consumption of animals as well as over-harvesting them is causing environmental degradation through habitat ...
The environmental pillar addresses climate change and focuses on agricultural practices that protect the environment for future generations. [92] The economic pillar discovers ways in which sustainable agriculture can be practiced while fostering economic growth and stability, with minimal disruptions to livelihoods. [ 92 ]
Agroecology is defined by the OECD as "the study of the relation of agricultural crops and environment." [2] Dalgaard et al. refer to agroecology as the study of the interactions between plants, animals, humans and the environment within agricultural systems. [3]
From an environmental perspective, fertilizing, overproduction and the use of pesticides in conventional farming has caused, and is causing, enormous damage worldwide to local ecosystems, soil health, [36] [37] [38] biodiversity, groundwater and drinking water supplies, and sometimes farmers' health and fertility.
One of the issues facing biodiversity in areas of industrial agriculture is the loss of heterogeneity, described by the loss of a biotic and abiotic diversity. [1] [3] Since 1966, the Green Revolution enhanced agricultural productivity through technological, economical, and political advancements in an effort to increase food security globally. [14]