Search results
Results From The WOW.Com Content Network
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.
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.
Sustainable agriculture consists of environment friendly methods of farming that allow the production of crops or livestock without causing damage to human or natural systems. It involves preventing adverse effects on soil, water, biodiversity, and surrounding or downstream resources, as well as to those working or living on the farm or in ...
Despite this, all agricultural practices have been found to have a variety of effects on the environment to some extent. Animal agriculture, in particular meat production, can cause pollution, greenhouse gas emissions, biodiversity loss, disease, and significant consumption of land, food, and water.
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]
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]
Regenerative agriculture is a conservation and rehabilitation approach to food and farming systems. It focuses on topsoil regeneration, increasing biodiversity, [1] improving the water cycle, [2] enhancing ecosystem services, supporting biosequestration, [3] increasing resilience to climate change, and strengthening the health and vitality of farm soil.
Agriculture, Ecosystems and Environment 118: 273-284 Professor Sir John Beddington (2013) Research project: Conservation farming - Testing the delivery of conservation schemes for farmland birds at the farm-scale during winter, in Southern lowland England.