Efnisyfirlit

• Cover
• Half Title
• Series Page
• Title Page
• Copyright Page
• Table of Contents
• Foreword
• Preface 1
• Preface 2
• Authors
• Recommendations for Using This Textbook
• Section I Pathway to Agroecology
• 1 The case for fundamental change in agriculture
• Practices of Industrial Agriculture
• Intensive tillage
• Monoculture
• Application of synthetic fertilizer
• Irrigation
• Chemical pest and weed control
• Manipulation of plant and animal genomes
• Smart farming
• Factory farming of animals
• The Consequences of Industrial Agriculture
• Soil degradation
• Overuse of water and damage to hydrological systems
• Pollution of the environment
• Destruction of natural habitat
• Dependence on external inputs and nonrenewable resources
• Production of greenhouse gases and loss of carbon sinks
• Loss of agrobiodiversity
• Loss of the most knowledgeable land stewards
• Increasing vulnerability and risk
• Harmful Effects on Society of the Current Food System
• A gulf between growing food and eating it
• Negative impacts on human health
• Distressed rural communities
• Global inequality
• The Path toward Food System Transformation
• Food for thought
• Internet resources
• Recommended readings
• 2 Alternatives to industrial agriculture
• Responses to the Industrialization of Agriculture in the Early 20th Century
• Biodynamic agriculture
• Organic agriculture
• Early regenerative agriculture
• Conservation agriculture
• Alternatives Linked to the Environmental Movement
• Permaculture
• Standards-based organic agriculture
• Regenerative agriculture
• Agroecology
• Potential for Transforming the Food System
• The co-optation of organic agriculture
• Ongoing co-optation
• Agroecology as unifier
• Food for thought
• Internet resources
• Recommended readings
• 3 The agroecosystem concept
• Structure of Natural Ecosystems
• Levels of organization
• Structural properties of communities
• Species Diversity
• Dominance and Relative Abundance
• Vegetative Structure
• Trophic Structure
• Resistance and Resilience
• Functioning of Natural Ecosystems
• Energy flow
• Nutrient cycling
• Regulation of populations
• Ecosystem change
• Ecological complexity
• Agroecosystems
• Natural ecosystems and agroecosystems compared
• The agroecosystem as a unit of analysis
• Sustainable agroecosystems
• Agroecosystems and the landscape
• Agroecosystems in Context: The Agri-Food System
• Food for thought
• Internet resources
• Recommended readings
• Section II Agricultural Organisms and their Environment
• 4 The plant: nutrition, growth, and response to the environment
• Plant Nutrition
• Photosynthesis
• C3 Photosynthesis
• C4 Photosynthesis
• CAM Photosynthesis
• The Photosynthetic Pathways Compared
• Carbon partitioning
• Nutritional needs
• Nitrogen
• Phosphorus
• Potassium
• Other Macronutrients
• Micronutrients
• Transpiration
• The Plant in Its Interaction with the Environment
• The environment as a suite of factors
• A plant’s place in the environment
• Types of responses to factors of the environment
• Triggered Responses
• Dependent Responses
• Independent Responses
• Responses of plants to temperature
• Adaptations to Extremes of Heat
• Adaptations to Extremes of Cold
• Thermoperiod in Plants
• Vernalization
• Crop plants as the fundamental components of agroecosystems
• Food for thought
• Internet resources
• Recommended readings
• 5 Light
• Solar Radiation
• The electromagnetic spectrum
• The atmosphere as filter and reflector
• The Ecological Significance of Light on Earth
• Ultraviolet light
• Photosynthetically active radiation
• Infrared light
• Characteristics of Visible Light Exposure
• Quality
• Intensity
• Duration
• Determinants of Variations in the Light Environment
• Seasonality
• Latitude
• Altitude
• Topography
• Air quality
• Vegetation canopy structure
• Photosynthetic Rate
• Photosynthetic efficiency and factors of the environment
• Differences in photosynthetic pathways
• Measurement of photosynthetic rate
• Other Forms of Response to Light
• Germination
• Growth and development
• Establishment
• Plant Growth
• Phototropism
• Photoperiod
• Production of the harvestable portion of the plant
• Managing the Light Environment in Agroecosystems
• Crop selection
• Cropping diversity and canopy structure
• Temporal management
• Light capture and sustainability
• Food for thought
• Internet resources
• Recommended readings
• 6 Climatic factors affecting plants
• Climatic Processes at the Global Scale
• Insolation
• Atmospheric movement
• The hydrological cycle
• Water in the atmosphere
• Patterns of Temperature Variation at the Earth’s Surface
• Latitudinal variation
• Altitudinal variation
• Seasonal variation
• Maritime vs. Continental influence
• Topographic variation
• Describing temperature variation
• Patterns of Precipitation on the Earth
• Types of rainfall
• Convective Rainfall
• Orographic Rainfall
• Cyclonic Rainfall
• Determinants of rainfall patterns
• Describing rainfall patterns
• Wind Patterns
• The Earth’s Climate Regions
• How the Climate Is Changing
• Agricultural Adaptations to Precipitation Variation
• Agroecosystems adapted to a long wet season
• Agroecosystems adapted to alternating wet–dry seasons in the tropics
• Agroecosystems adapted to seasonal rainfall
• Dryland farming
• Water harvesting systems in arid regions
• Grazing systems
• Modifying the Agricultural Microclimate
• Microclimatic profile
• Canopy vegetation
• Non-living canopies
• Soil surface cover
• Greenhouses and shade houses
• Methods of preventing frost damage
• Modifying the Wind Environment
• Windbreaks
• Other techniques
• Climatic Factors and Sustainability
• Food for thought
• Internet resources
• Recommended readings
• 7 Biotic factors and interactions among organisms
• Heterotrophs as Factors Affecting Crop Plants
• Herbivory by insects and other invertebrates
• Herbivory by grazing and non-grazing vertebrates
• Parasitism and facilitation by fungi
• Pollination
• Predation on and parasitism of herbivores
• The Organism–Organism Perspective on Interactions
• The Organism–Environment–Organism Perspective on Interactions
• Removal interferences
• Competition
• Parasitism
• Herbivory
• Addition interferences
• Epiphytism
• Symbioses
• Allelopathy
• Comparison of types of interference
• Interferences at work in agroecosystems
• Allelopathic Modification of the Environment
• Demonstrating allelopathy
• Allelopathic effects of weeds
• Allelopathic effects of crops
• Cover Crops
• Organic Mulches Derived from Crops
• Crop Inhibition of Weeds
• Growth stimulation
• The Importance of Interactions among Organisms
• Food for thought
• Internet resources
• Recommended readings
• 8 The soil ecosystem
• Processes of Soil Formation and Development
• Formation of regolith
• Chemical weathering
• Biotic processes
• Soil Structure and Characteristics
• Horizons and the soil profile
• Physical properties
• Texture
• Structure
• Color
• Chemical characteristics
• Cation Exchange Capacity
• Soil pH
• Salinity
• Components of Healthy Soil
• Nutrients
• Organic matter
• Soil biota
• Soil moisture
• Movement of Water in the Soil
• Infiltration
• Percolation
• Evaporation
• Transpiration
• Hydraulic redistribution
• Plants’ Uptake of Soil Moisture
• Soil moisture availability
• Capillary movement of water
• Extension of roots into the soil
• Excess Water in the Soil
• Negative effects of excess water
• Drainage systems
• Wetland-adapted crops
• Agroecosystem-level adaptation to excess soil water
• Soil Water Deficiency
• Effects of Irrigation on Soil
• Salt buildup
• Ecological changes
• Soil Management
• Goals
• Building Soil Organic Matter
• Enhancing Biotic Activity
• Optimizing Use of the Water Resource
• Practices and strategies
• Adding Organic Matter to the Soil
• Covering the Soil Surface
• Changing Management and Cropping Practices
• Soil in perspective
• Food for thought
• Internet resources
• Recommended Readings
• 9 The environmental complex
• The Environment as a Complex of Factors
• Factoring the environment
• Complexity of interaction
• Heterogeneity of the Environment
• Spatial heterogeneity
• Dynamic change
• Interaction of Environmental Factors
• Compensating factors
• Multiplicity of factors
• Factor predisposition
• Managing Complexity
• Food for thought
• Internet resources
• Recommended readings
• Section III System-Level Interactions
• 10 Population ecology of agroecosystems
• Principles of Population Ecology and Plant Demography
• Population growth
• Colonization of new areas
• Stages of Colonization
• Factors Affecting Success of Colonization
• Life history strategies
• r- and K-Selection Theory
• Applications of r- and K-Selection Theory in Agriculture
• Stress/Disturbance-Intensity Theory
• Ecological Niche
• Conceptualizations of niche
• Niche amplitude
• Ecological specialization and niche diversity
• Applications of Niche Theory to Agriculture
• Promoting or inhibiting establishment of weedy species
• Classical biological control of insect pests
• Design of intercropping systems
• Population Ecology—A Crop Perspective
• Food for thought
• Internet resources
• Recommended readings
• 11 Genetic resources in agroecosystems
• Genetic Change in Nature and the Production of Genetic Diversity
• Adaptation
• Variation and natural selection
• Directed Selection and Domestication
• Traits selected for in crop plants and livestock animals
• Methods of directed selection in plants
• Mass Selection
• Pure Line Selection
• Production of Synthetic Varieties
• Hybridization
• Induced Polyploidy
• Transgenic Modification and Other Forms of Genetic Engineering
• Consequences of Trends in the Use of Genetic Resources
• Loss of genetic diversity
• Greater genetic uniformity in crop varieties
• Genetic vulnerability
• Increased dependence on human intervention
• Loss of other genetic resources
• Preserving Agrobiodiversity
• Off-site conservation of plant genetic resources
• On-site selection and conservation of plant genetic resources
• Preserving minor crops and non-crop resources
• Valuing genetic diversity in livestock
• Ongoing Agrobiodiversity Generation
• Breeding for durable resistance in crop plants
• Decentralized participatory breeding
• Genetics and Sustainability
• Food for thought
• Internet resources
• Recommended readings
• 12 Species interactions in crop communities
• Interference at the Community Level
• Complexity of interactions
• Coexistence
• Mutualisms
• Mutually Beneficial Interferences at Work in Agroecosystems
• Beneficial interferences of cover crops
• Beneficial interferences of weeds and other non-crop species
• Modification of the Cropping System Environment
• Control of Insect Pests by Promotion of Beneficial Insects
• Intercropping
• Using Species Interactions for Sustainability
• Food for thought
• Internet resources
• Recommended readings
• 13 Agroecosystem diversity
• Whole-System Approaches and Opportunities
• Managing the whole system
• Building on diversity
• Ecological Diversity
• Diversity in natural ecosystems
• Scale of Diversity
• Successional Processes and Changes in Diversity
• Diversity, Resilience, and Robustness
• Ecological diversity in agroecosystems
• The Value of Agroecosystem Diversity
• Methods of Increasing Diversity in Agricultural Systems
• Managing Diverse Agroecosystems
• Enterprise Diversification
• Evaluating Agroecosystem Diversity and Its Benefits
• Indices of species diversity
• Assessing the benefits of intercrop diversity
• The Land Equivalent Ratio
• Application and Interpretation of the Land Equivalent Ratio
• Colonization and Diversity
• Island biogeography theory
• Agricultural applications
• Diversity and Sustainability
• Increasing diversity in our agroecosystems
• Agroecosystem multifunctionality
• Food for thought
• Internet resources
• Recommended readings
• 14 Ecological pest, weed, and disease management
• Approaches to Pest Management
• Industrial pest management
• Organic pest management
• Integrated pest management
• Ecological pest management
• Ecological Management of Insects
• Crop plant resistance
• Intercropping
• Crop rotations and phenological asynchrony
• Conservation biological control
• Ecological Management of Weeds
• Crop–weed interference
• Management principles
• Management tools
• Rotations
• Cover Cropping
• Intercropping
• Mulching
• Introducing Livestock
• Mechanical Controls
• Transplanting
• Biological control of weeds
• Ecological Disease Management
• Nature of crop diseases
• Crop disease paradigms
• Host plant resistance
• Management strategies
• Growing Resistant Cultivars
• Maintaining Conditions Unfavorable to Pathogens
• Keeping Pathogens at Bay
• Ecological Pest Management as an Integral Part of Agroecology
• Food for thought
• Internet resources
• Recommended readings
• 15 Successional development and agroforestry
• Disturbance, Recovery, and Succession in Natural Ecosystems
• The nature of disturbance
• The recovery process
• Intermediate disturbance
• Applications for Management of Perennial Polycultures
• Allowing successional development
• A Model for Developing a Diversified Tree Crop System
• Ecological Changes during Succession
• Managing successionally developed agroecosystems
• Maximizing multifunctionality
• Agroforestry Systems
• The ecological role of trees in agroforestry
• Design and management of agroforestry systems
• Optimizing Positive Impacts of Trees
• Managing Interdependency
• Spatial Arrangement of Trees
• Diversifying Orchard Systems
• Alley Cropping
• Tropical home gardens
• High Diversity
• Multiple Uses and Functions
• Dynamic Change
• Links with the Social System
• Disturbance, Recovery, and Sustainability
• Food for thought
• Internet resources
• Recommended readings
• 16 Animals in agroecosystems
• The Role of Animals in Ecosystems
• Shaping vegetation
• Enabling energy flow
• Cycling nutrients
• Influencing community dynamics
• Animals as Resources in Agricultural Production
• Physiology and growth of animals
• Production of Animal Biomass
• Nutritional Needs of Animals
• Key variations among animals used for production of food and fiber
• Co-evolution of Livestock Animals and Agriculture
• Grazing and pasture systems
• Mixed crop–livestock systems
• Integrated Farming Systems
• Examples of integrated systems
• Crop Rotations with a Grazed Forage Phase
• Agropastoral Systems
• Livestock in Agroforestry Systems
• Aquaculture and Crop Production
• Beneficial roles of animals on an integrated farm
• Producing Protein-Rich Food and Other Products
• Putting Crop Residue and By-products to Use
• Returning Nutrients to the Soil in Manure and Compost
• Improving Soil Health
• Providing Work
• Managing Vegetation and Controlling Weeds
• Increasing Subsequent Crop Yields in Rotations
• Providing Ecosystem Services
• Social and economic benefits of integration
• Diversifying enterprises and reducing economic vulnerability
• Alleviating poverty in developing countries
• Livestock and Food System Sustainability
• Elements of a more sustainable animal protein economy
• Production
• Consumption
• Distribution
• Challenging specialization in agriculture
• Food for thought
• Internet resources
• Recommended readings
• 17 Energetics of agroecosystems
• Energy and the Laws of Thermodynamics
• Capture of Solar Energy in Biomass
• Energy Inputs in Food Production
• Cultural energy inputs and harvest output
• Use of biological cultural energy
• Use of industrial cultural energy
• Energy Use in Agriculture as Social Metabolism
• Agrarian metabolism
• Agriculture in Spain, 1960–2008: a case study
• Sustainable agrarian metabolism
• Toward Sustainable and Climate-Friendly Use of Energy in Agroecosystems
• Problems with intensive fossil fuel use
• Future energy directions
• Food for thought
• Internet resources
• Recommended readings
• 18 Landscape diversity
• The Agricultural Landscape
• Landscape patterns
• Analyzing the landscape
• Management at the Level of the Landscape
• Habitat patches on the farm
• Farm borders and edges
• Creating Benefits for the Agroecosystem
• Protecting Adjacent Natural Ecosystems
• The ecology of patchiness
• Cropping areas as facsimiles of natural habitat
• The agricultural landscape as a provider of ecosystem services
• Agriculture, Land Use, and Sustainability
• Food for thought
• Internet resources
• Recommended readings
• Section IV Agroecological Farms and Communities
• 19 Sustainability and its assessment
• Learning from Existing Sustainable Systems
• Natural ecosystems as reference points
• Traditional agroecosystems as examples of sustainable function
• Benefits of Measuring Sustainability
• Sustainability Assessment
• Parameters and indicators
• Assessment of soil health
• The productivity index
• Ecological conditions of sustainable function
• Social conditions of sustainable function
• Research on Sustainability
• Using a transdisciplinary agroecological framework
• Quantifying sustainability indicators
• Whole-system, comparative, and integrative approaches
• Promoting sustainable consumer choices
• Enabling the Transition
• Food for thought
• Internet resources
• Recommended readings
• 20 Converting farms to ecologically based management
• Undergoing Farm Conversion
• Guiding principles
• Ecological changes prompted by conversion
• An illustrative case study
• Evaluating a Farm’s Conversion
• Beyond Farm Conversion: Additional Levels of Transition
• Farm Conversion and the Community Nexus
• Food for thought
• Internet resources
• Recommended readings
• 21 Bringing farmers and consumers closer together
• Alternative Food Networks
• Principles
• Agricultural Bioregionalism
• Shorter Food Supply Chains
• Food-based Community
• Democratic Information Exchange
• Shared Cost Burdens and Benefits
• Components of alternative food networks
• Farmers’ Markets
• Community-Supported Agriculture
• Home and Community Gardening
• Extended alternative food networks
• Alternative Food Culture and Community
• Promoting local food
• Facilitating informed consumer choice
• Food citizenship
• Supporting small-scale farms
• Building the Foundation for Change
• Food for thought
• Internet resources
• Recommended readings
• 22 Urban and peri-urban agriculture
• Urban Farms and Gardens of the Past
• Where Agriculture Happens in and around Cities Today
• The Ecology of Urban Agriculture
• Ecological challenges and opportunities
• Ecosystem services provided by urban agriculture
• Habitat
• Hydrologic Function
• Heat Mitigation
• Nutrient Cycling
• Animals in urban agriculture
• Cultural ecosystem services
• Benefits and Opportunities for People
• Food security
• Food justice
• Education, training, and employment development
• The Future of Urban Agriculture
• Planning and designing for more urban food production
• Incorporating a food sovereignty perspective
• A unifying agroecological approach
• Continued resurgence of urban agriculture
• Food for thought
• Internet resources
• Recommended readings
• Section V Transforming the Global Food System
• 23 Achieving a just and sustainable food system
• The Biosphere Perspective
• An Earth less favorable for agriculture
• Metrics and concepts for goal setting and action
• The Equity Perspective
• Eating Sustainably
• Why food choices matter
• Lowering the human foodprint
• Principles for sustainable food choices
• Reducing food waste
• Links between sustainability and health
• A Vision for a Transformed Food System
• Progress toward Sustainability
• Food for thought
• Internet resources
• Recommended readings
• 24 Economic dynamics of the food system
• Core Business Strategies
• Externalize environmental and social costs
• Appropriate nature’s resources
• Exploit human labor
• De-humanize production of food
• Maximize yield
• Conditioning of Production and Consumption Factors
• Commodification of food
• Privatization of land
• Manipulation of consumer behavior
• Self-Reinforcement
• Path dependency for farmers
• Legitimizing narratives
• Public relations messaging as deflection and containment
• Societal buy-in
• Alliances with states and political elites
• Internal Dynamics
• Vertical integration and monopolization
• Globalization
• Infinite growth
• Economics and the Transformation of the Food System
• Food for thought
• Internet resources
• Recommended readings
• 25 Agriculture and the climate crisis
• The Agri-food System’s Contributions to Climate Change
• Emission sources
• Types of agricultural greenhouse gases
• Sources of the three GHGs in agriculture
• Industrial Meat and Dairy Production
• Industrial Food and Commodity Production
• Overproduction and Waste
• Impacts of Climate Change on Agriculture and Food Systems
• Climate pressures and hazards
• Higher Temperatures
• Temperature Extremes
• Increased Variability
• Droughts and Mega-droughts
• Severe Storms and Flooding
• Climate “Whiplash”
• Coastal Inundation and Saltwater Intrusion
• Impacts on agriculture and farmers
• Reduced Yields
• Single-Event Losses
• Higher Economic Costs
• Increase in Pest Pressure and Disease
• Beneficial Impacts
• Impacts on the food supply
• Disproportionality of climate change impacts
• Adaptation to Climate Change in Agriculture
• Agroecosystem adaptation
• Support for adaptation
• Policies for adaptation
• Climate Change Mitigation
• Reducing greenhouse gas emissions in the agri-food system
• Reducing Production and Consumption of Animal Products
• Reducing Commodity Food Production and the Use of Synthetic Fertilizers
• Addressing Food Waste
• Increasing carbon sequestration in agroecosystems
• Soil Management
• Agroforestry Systems
• Incentivizing mitigation actions in agriculture
• Adaptive mitigation and food system transformation
• A Path Forward on Policy and Action
• Food for thought
• Internet resources
• Recommended readings
• 26 Shaping the future in the present
• Barriers to Food-system Change
• Strategies for Transformation
• Change pathway 1: Design and incentivize diverse and sustainable food production
• Change pathway 2: Reconnect farmers and consumers to make them partners for food system change
• Change pathway 3: Use a rights-based approach grounded in equity and fairness
• Change pathway 4: Shift financial flows and build alternative food networks
• Change pathway 5: Build political power and transform systems of governance
• Change pathway 6: Unite social movements through networks that build political power
• Change pathway 7: Create a new narrative of food system transformation
• Change pathway 8: Institutionalize long-term thinking for transformative action
• Mechanisms of Transformation
• The transformative psychology of participating in alternatives
• Winning converts by solving real problems
• Exercise of democratic power
• Crisis as catalyst
• Synergistic scaling-out and feedback
• The Path to Just and Sustainable Food Systems
• Food for thought
• Internet resources
• Recommended readings
• Glossary
• References
• Index