دانلود رایگان مقاله انگلیسی طراحی منظره های زراعتی برای خدمات اکوسیستمی مبتنی بر گوناگونی زیستی - الزویر 2017

Abstract

Sustainable and resilient agricultural systems are needed to feed and fuel a growing human population. However, the current model of agricultural intensification which produces high yields has also resulted in a loss of biodiversity, ecological function, and critical ecosystem services in agricultural landscapes. A key consequence of agricultural intensification is landscape simplification, where once heterogeneous landscapes contain increasingly fewer crop and non-crop habitats. Landscape simplification exacerbates biodiversity losses which leads to reductions in ecosystem services on which agriculture depends. In recent decades, considerable research has focused on mitigating these negative impacts, primarily via management of habitats to promote biodiversity and enhance services at the local scale. While it is well known that local and landscape factors interact, modifying overall landscape structure is seldom considered due to logistical constraints. I propose that the loss of ecosystem services due to landscape simplification can only be addressed by a concerted effort to fundamentally redesign agricultural landscapes. Designing agricultural landscapes will require that scientists work with stakeholders to determine the mix of desired ecosystem services, evaluate current landscape structure in light of those goals, and implement targeted modifications to achieve them. I evaluate the current status of landscape design, ranging from fundamental ecological principles to resulting guidelines and socioeconomic tools. While research gaps remain, the time is right for ecologists to engage with other disciplines, stakeholders, and policymakers in education and advocacy to foster agricultural landscape design for sustainable and resilient biodiversity services.

Conclusions

Multiple studies from around the world clearly show that agricultural intensification leads to landscape simplification and loss of biodiversity. In turn, biodiversity losses lead to losses of ecosystem function, compromise the delivery of ecosystem services, and likely reduce the resilience of these systems to disturbance. Given the importance of agriculture for human well-being, it is critical that ecologists continue to study these relationships. For example, a majority of the studies elucidating the relationship of biodiversity to ecosystem function and ecosystem service have come from Europe, North America, and Australia. Similar studies need to be extended to all agricultural regions of the globe (Mailafiya 2015). Research to develop tools for early warning of impending tipping points in agricultural landscapes is also critically needed; in particular, in those places where landscape heterogeneity has not been lost. We also need to refine our understanding of what elements of design will yield the greatest impact on sustainability in particular landscapes so that clear recommendations can emerge. However, research alone is unlikely to promote needed changes at the landscape scale, and ecologists also need to engage in education.