Since the United Nations Conference on Environment and Development in 1992 in Rio de Janeiro, sustainable development became an important issue. Sustainable development often focuses on a single ...sector or parameter such as tourism, energy supply, water management, different aspects of nature conservation, or economy. In this paper, we provide a comprehensive picture of the development of a region since the Middle Ages and discuss whether this development can be evaluated as socially, economically and ecologically sustainable. We carried out a combined qualitativeâquantitative assessment where we use quantitative data and indicators when available, as well as literature sources and expert knowledge from the region for a qualitative assessment. We judge that generally a sustainable development in the Allgäu region can be found, although also some critical points and contentious issues exist. An overall good economic and income situation for most people, the good ecological conditions and rich biodiversity, the relatively well-established social structure, as well as the identity of the people with the region and comparatively low social discrepancy, can be positively stated. In contrast, different actual and future threats exist such as new or planned infrastructure, increasing traffic or tourism activities in certain areas that degrade habitats and reduce species richness, intensification of agriculture in certain areas, but also abandonment of agriculture in other areas, loss of traditions and customs, and declining numbers of smallholders. The objective for the region would be to minimise these negative impacts and reinforce positive trends to assure the sustainable development of the Allgäu.
The enhancement of pest regulation service in crops depends for a large part on the capacity of agroecological practices to increase the presence of key species or functional traits in arthropod ...communities within fields.
We investigated the effects of undestroyed strips of winter cover crops in maize fields on carabid community composition, and on the distribution of three ecological traits: diet, wing status and body size.
We found that the community composition and the distribution of ecological traits in the in‐field cover crop strips had commonalities with both adjacent cropped areas and field margins. Some species were recorded mostly or only in the strips indicating that strips could support carabid species and help increase local diversity from the first year of establishment.
The activity‐density of Poecilus cupreus and Pterostichus melanarius was higher in the cropped proximity of the strip, and the body size was influenced by the distance from the strip.
Our results suggest that carabid communities are shaped by the habitat type, but the influence of such agroecological infrastructures on communities of adjacent crops is minor beyond a distance of 10 m. However, overall species abundance was increased and thus potentially provided enhanced pest regulation.
Artificial ponds are increasingly created for the services they provide to humans. While they have the potential to offer habitats for freshwater biodiversity, their contribution to regional ...diversity has hardly been quantified. In this study, we assess the relative contribution of five types of artificial ponds to regional biodiversity of five different regions, studying amphibians, water beetles and freshwater snails. This biodiversity is also compared with that observed in natural ponds from three of the investigated regions. Our results indicate that artificial ponds host, on average, about 50% of the regional pool of lentic species. When compared to natural ponds, the artificial ponds always supported a substantially lower alpha richness (54% of the natural pond richness). The invertebrate communities presented high values of beta diversity and were represented by a restricted set of widely distributed species, and by numerous rare species. There were discrepancies among the taxonomic groups: overall, amphibians benefited most from the presence of artificial ponds, since 65% of the regional lentic species pools for this group was found in artificial ponds, whereas 43% and 42% was observed in the case of beetles and snails, respectively. However, each invertebrate group was promptly the most benefited animal group in a single pond type. Therefore, artificial pond types were complementary among them in terms of contribution to regional diversity of the three animal groups. Based on these results, we forecast that future human-dominated landscapes in which most ponds are artificial will be particularly impoverished in terms of freshwater biodiversity, underlining the need to conserve existing natural ponds and to create new “near-natural” ponds. However, if properly designed and managed, artificial ponds could make a substantial contribution to support freshwater biodiversity at a regional scale. Furthermore, the number and diversity of artificial ponds must be high in each considered landscape.
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•Artificial ponds will replace natural ponds in our future human-dominated landscapes.•We assess the relative contribution of different types of artificial and natural ponds to regional biodiversity.•Artificial ponds hosted on average about 50% of the regional species pool, then making a moderate contribution.•Natural ponds supported higher alpha richness than artificial ones, especially in the case of freshwater snails.•Conservation strategies should focus on conserving existing natural ponds and creating new “near-natural” ponds.
Agroecology is identified as an important solution to increase the sustainability of agricultural and food systems. Despite the increasing number of publications assessing the socio-economic outcomes ...of agroecology, very few studies have consolidated the scattered results obtained on various case studies. This paper provides new insights by consolidating evidence on the varied socio-economic effects of agroecology across a large number of cases at a global level. To this purpose, we used a rapid review methodology, screening more than 13,000 publications to retrieve evidence on the socio-economic outcomes of the implementation of agroecological practices. The results of the review indicate that (1) agroecological practices are associated more often with positive socio-economic outcomes across the broad range of evaluated metrics (51% positive, 30% negative, 10% neutral, and 9% inconclusive outcomes); (2) the socio-economic metrics associated with financial capital represent the vast majority of evaluated metrics (83% of total) and are affected positively in a large share of cases (53%), due to favourable outcomes on income, revenues, productivity and efficiency; (3) human capital metrics (16%) are associated with a larger number of negative outcomes (46% versus 38% positive), due to higher labour requirements and costs that are however partly compensated by an overall greater number of positive outcomes on labour productivity (55%); and (4) the results vary depending on the agroecological practice assessed; e.g. for agroforestry, we identify 53% positive outcomes while for cropping system diversification 35%. These results indicate an overall favourable potential for farms to benefit from a positive socio-economic performance with the use of agroecological practices. Yet, the magnitude, temporal aspects, and success factors related to these outcomes, as well as the trade-offs between them, and the system-level effects of an agroecological transition are to be further assessed, since they can have an important influence on the performance of individual farms.
Fish pond systems are managed with different practices. Among them, a dry period with one year without water is applied in some cases to promote mineralization of the sediments and control the ...development of pathogenic bacteria. This dry period induces a drastic disturbance on the plant communities. The objective of this work was to study the influence of a one-year dry period applied every five to seven years on aquatic plant diversity and abundance. For this, we studied the aquatic plant community of 149 fish ponds during the first year after a dried period (Y1), and ponds with a dried period dating back two years (Y2), three years (Y3), four years (Y4) and five to seven years (Ysup5). According to Jackknife index, mean species richness was highest for Y1, with 29 species compared to the other years (24 species for Y2; 19 for Y3; 15 for Y4 and 17 for Ysup5). A total of 15 species were identified as species unique to Y1 and were competitive, fast colonizer and disturbance-tolerant species. Most of these Y1 species developed during the dry year and remain only one year after refilling. After Y1, the evolution of communities was linked to the phenomenon of nestedness based on a loss of several species but not on a complete turnover, with most of species present independently of time. We conclude that a periodic dry period maintains a cycle in plant succession and accommodates highest species richness at the beginning of the cycle.
Climate change is expected to strongly affect African farming systems. As vast proportions of African countries' populations rely on agriculture for livelihood and food security, there is a need to ...adapt current practices and develop new climate-resilient strategies and farming systems. Here, we inventory and review which agroecological practices currently implemented in semiarid and subhumid Africa can promote adaptation to climate change. This work was carried out through extensive literature research, plus interviews with 24 experts from different African and French NGOs active in agricultural development programs in Africa. We found that: (1) some inventoried practices may not specifically be implemented in response to climate change impacts, yet they aid in adapting to reduced or more variable rainfall and increased temperature, and/or enhance carbon sequestration; (2) other practices promote indirect adaptation by increasing resilience of cropping or livestock systems; (3) many farmers use combinations of different practices to increase overall farming system resilience and through this strategy can achieve efficient adaptation to climate changes, as single practices normally are not sufficient. Our review and evaluation show that a broad variety of agroecological practices provides high potential to adapt to climate change effects in semiarid and subhumid African farming systems.
Agriculture in Europe results in the production of food for both the European population and for the export sector. Significant environmental and social problems have emerged with the intensification ...of European agriculture. These include the loss of biodiversity, the contamination of soils, water, and food with pesticides, and the eutrophication of water bodies. Industrialized agricultural and food systems are also a major contributing factor in the decline of farm numbers, and the high use of antibiotics has led to serious human health problems. In this respect, agroecology can provide insights into important pathways and guide the design, development, and promotion of the transition towards sustainable farming and food systems. An analysis of the major challenges for the amplification of agroecology in Europe was carried out by 310 stakeholders in a World Café exercise and 23 sessions and workshops during the Agroecology Europe Forum 2017. The different challenges that were identified can be grouped into seven categories: (1) definition and concepts; (2) education, training, and knowledge sharing; (3) research approach and funding; (4) policies; (5) productivity and practices; (5) food systems and consumer awareness; and (6) co-optation. To address these challenges, the following key actions are recommended: (1) to develop a common understanding of agroecology; (2) to enhance education in agroecology and knowledge exchange; (3) to invest in agroecological research; (4) to develop policies enhancing agroecology; (5) to support new and existing agroecological practices; (6) to transform food systems; and (7) to strengthen communication and alliances. In this paper we present and discuss these recommendations for pathways and actions to develop sustainable agro-food systems in Europe through agroecology.
An ongoing decrease in habitat and species diversity is occurring in many areas across Europe, including in grasslands in mountain areas, calling for adapted biodiversity management and measures. In ...this context, we carried out 79 interviews with grassland farmers in five alpine mountain regions in Germany, France, Austria, Italy, and Switzerland. We analyzed farmers’ perceptions about the functions and services of their grasslands, how they qualify “good” grasslands, which grassland management practices have changed over the last 10 years, and proposals to increase species diversity on the farm. They related them primarily to cultural ecosystem services, secondly to provisioning services, and thirdly to regulating and supporting services. Good pastures or meadows were mostly related to composition, quality of forage and productivity, structural criteria, and certain characteristics of soils and topography. The measures for increasing biodiversity that were most frequently proposed were upgrading of forest edges, planting hedges or fruit trees, less or late grassland cutting, reduction or omission of fertilization, and more general extensification of farm productions. Factors hindering the implementation of these measures were mainly increased workload, insufficient time, and a lack of financial means or support to cover additional costs for biodiversity management. These factors have to be taken specifically into account for future policies for enhanced biodiversity management of grasslands, also beyond mountainous areas. Overall, we found that farmers have good but varying knowledge about biodiversity management of their grasslands, but also different perspectives on how to improve it. Here, local initiatives that bring together farmers and flora or fauna specialists to exchange knowledge could be designed and used in participatory pilot schemes to enhance the implementation of improved biodiversity management.
While top-down control plays an important role in shaping both natural and agricultural food webs, we lack insights into how top-down control effects vary across spatial scales. We used a multi-scale ...survey of top-down control of coffee pests and diseases by arboreal ants to examine if colony location creates a small-scale mosaic in top-down control around trees and if the strength of that control varies between sites at the landscape scale. We investigated pest and disease levels on coffee shrubs at different distances from shade trees with and without a Crematogaster spp. ant colony in 59 sites along a coffee management intensity gradient in southwestern Ethiopia. Within sites, ants significantly suppressed herbivory and coffee leaf rust at distances less than 10 m from nesting trees. Top-down control varied between sites, with stronger top-down control of free-feeding herbivory near ant colonies at sites with lower management intensity and stronger top-down control of a skeletonizer at sites with higher canopy cover. We conclude that the strength of top-down control by ants is highly heterogeneous across spatial scales, as a consequence of the biology of the predator at the small scale and herbivore density or changes in herbivore–ant interactions at the landscape scale.
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