Agriculture Reference
In-Depth Information
2
Farming for Ecosystem
Services
*
An Ecological Approach to
Production Agriculture
G. Philip Robertson, Katherine L. Gross,
Stephen K. Hamilton, Douglas A. Landis,
Thomas M. Schmidt, Sieglinde S. Snapp, and
Scott M. Swinton
Row-crop agriculture is one of the most extensive and closely coupled natural-
human systems and has extraordinary implications for human welfare and environ-
mental well-being. The continued intensification of row-crop agriculture provides
food for billions and, for at least the past 50 years, has slowed (but not stopped) the
expansion of cropping onto lands valued for conservation and other environmental
services. Nevertheless, intensification has also caused direct harm to the environ-
ment: The escape of reactive nitrogen and phosphorus from intensively managed
fields pollutes surface and coastal waters and contaminates groundwater, pesticides
kill nontarget organisms important to ecological communities and ecosystems
sometimes far away, soil loss threatens waterways and long-term cropland fertility,
accelerated carbon and nitrogen cycling contribute to climate destabilization, and
irrigation depletes limited water resources.
The search for practices that attenuate, avoid, or even reverse these harms has
produced a rich scientific literature and sporadic efforts to legislate solutions. That
these harms persist and, indeed, are growing in the face of increased global demands
for food and fuel underscores the challenge of identifying solutions that work in
ways that are attractive to farmers and responsive to global markets. On one hand
are farmers' needs for practices that ensure a sustained income in the face of market
*
Co-published as Robertson et al. (2014) BioScience 64:404-415.
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