Ecology in Agriculture

Ecology in Agriculture PDF

Author: Louise E. Jackson

Publisher: Academic Press

Published: 1997-09-14

Total Pages: 487

ISBN-13: 0080530680

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Agricultural crops are prominent features of an increasing number of variously perturbed ecosystems and the landscapes occupied by these ecosystems. Yet the ecology of agricultural-dominated landscapes is only now receiving the scientific attention it has long deserved. This attention has been stimulated by the realization that all agriculture must become sustainable year after year while leaving nearby ecosystems unaffected. Ecology in Agriculture focuses exclusively on the ecology of agricultural ecosystems. The book is divided into four major sections. An introduction establishes the unique ties between agricultural and ecological sciences. The second section describes the community ecology of these sorts of ecosystems, while the final section focuses on the processes that operate throughout these agricultural landscapes. Contains an ecological perspective on agricultural production and resource utilization Includes in-depth reviews of major issues in crop ecology by active researchers Covers a range of topics in agricultural ecophysiology, community ecology, and ecosystems ecology Provides examples of ecological approaches to solving problems in crop management and environmental quality

Political Ecology of Agriculture

Political Ecology of Agriculture PDF

Author: Omar Felipe Giraldo

Publisher: Springer

Published: 2019-02-28

Total Pages: 150

ISBN-13: 303011824X

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This study discusses an original proposal aimed at critically analyzing the power relations that exist in contemporary agriculture. The author endeavors herein to clarify some of the strategies that industrial agribusiness, in collusion with the state and multilateral structures, sets in motion in order to functionalize the lives of millions of farmers, so that their bodies, enunciations, and sensibilities can be repurposed in accordance with the dynamics of capital accumulation. The argument is based on the idea that agro-extractivism cannot be thought of exclusively as an economic-political and technological system, but as a complex interweaving of cultural meanings, aesthetics, and affections, which, amalgamated under the abstract name of "development", act as a support for the whole system's scaffolding. The book also explores the other side of the coin, describing how, and under what conditions, social movements are responding to the calamities generated by this model. The central thesis is that many ongoing agroecological processes are providing one of the most interesting guidelines at present for visualizing transitions towards post-development, post-extractivism, and the construction of multiple worlds beyond the sphere of capital. Political ecology of agriculture joins the calls that question the cultural project of modernity and the predatory sense imposed by the globalized food empire, and invites recognition of the importance of agroecology in the context of the end of the fossil-fuel era and the likely collapse of our industry-based civilization.

The Ecology of Agroecosystems

The Ecology of Agroecosystems PDF

Author: John Vandermeer

Publisher: Jones & Bartlett Learning

Published: 2011

Total Pages: 404

ISBN-13: 0763771538

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Agroecology is the science of applying ecological concepts and principles to the design, development, and management of sustainable agricultural systems. The Ecology of Agroecosystems highlights a collection of alternative agricultural methodologies and philosophies and provides an interdisciplinary approach that bridges the sociopolitical and historical context of agriculture. It includes the technical issues in a serious and ecological fashion and captures the complex merging of ecology, agriculture, politics and economics in both a historical and contemporary context. Readers will learn not only about the ethical and moral elements related to producing food of questionable quality while possibly impairing the environment, but also about the soil chemistry involved.

Behavioral Ecology and the Transition to Agriculture

Behavioral Ecology and the Transition to Agriculture PDF

Author: Douglas J. Kennett

Publisher: Univ of California Press

Published: 2006-01-02

Total Pages: 409

ISBN-13: 0520932455

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This innovative volume is the first collective effort by archaeologists and ethnographers to use concepts and models from human behavioral ecology to explore one of the most consequential transitions in human history: the origins of agriculture. Carefully balancing theory and detailed empirical study, and drawing from a series of ethnographic and archaeological case studies from eleven locations—including North and South America, Mesoamerica, Europe, the Near East, Africa, and the Pacific—the contributors to this volume examine the transition from hunting and gathering to farming and herding using a broad set of analytical models and concepts. These include diet breadth, central place foraging, ideal free distribution, discounting, risk sensitivity, population ecology, and costly signaling. An introductory chapter both charts the basics of the theory and notes areas of rapid advance in our understanding of how human subsistence systems evolve. Two concluding chapters by senior archaeologists reflect on the potential for human behavioral ecology to explain domestication and the transition from foraging to farming.

Agricultural Ecology

Agricultural Ecology PDF

Author: H.D.Kumar

Publisher: APH Publishing

Published: 2006

Total Pages: 334

ISBN-13: 9788176489942

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Rooted firmly in the principles of econology, the agricultural enterprise, even though having been exposed to the impact of environmental problems arising from land degradation, soil erosion, groundwater depletion and pollution and loss of biological diversity, has so far stood firm and survived to meet the food requirements of the growing population, so much so that there have been some striking instances of food glut in several countires, including some that used to sufer famiens only half a century ago.

Agricultural Ecology

Agricultural Ecology PDF

Author: Joy Tivy

Publisher: Routledge

Published: 2014-10-13

Total Pages: 297

ISBN-13: 1317885058

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This book analyses the nature of the relationships between crops, livestock and the bio-physical environment, and the extent to which man has managed and modified the products and environment to suit his/her own particular needs.

Agricultural Ecology and Environment

Agricultural Ecology and Environment PDF

Author: B.R. Stinner

Publisher: Elsevier

Published: 2012-12-02

Total Pages: 645

ISBN-13: 0444597956

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The increased use of chemical fertilizers and pesticides in crop production has adversely affected both the environment and the agricultural economy. Not only has it led to environmental pollution, but also the increasing costs of chemical inputs and the low prices received for agricultural products have contributed to economic unprofitability and instability.The International Symposium on Agricultural Ecology and Environment was organised in order to discuss ways of achieving the goals of economically and environmentally sustainable agriculture. It is apparent that a truly multidisciplinary effort is required and for this reason the meeting was attended by authors from many different disciplines and geographical locations. Although their papers reflect a wide diversity of agroecosystem types and examples, several common themes emerge: the increased importance of biotic control of ecosystem processes in lower input systems; the key role of soil organic matter in stabilizing nutrient cycling; the importance of agricultural landscape diversity and complexity; the importance of studying ecological processes in natural and agricultural ecosystems; the critical need to integrate socio-economic and ecological approaches.

Spatial Data Analysis in Ecology and Agriculture Using R

Spatial Data Analysis in Ecology and Agriculture Using R PDF

Author: Richard E. Plant

Publisher: CRC Press

Published: 2012-03-07

Total Pages: 651

ISBN-13: 1439819130

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Assuming no prior knowledge of R, Spatial Data Analysis in Ecology and Agriculture Using R provides practical instruction on the use of the R programming language to analyze spatial data arising from research in ecology and agriculture. Written in terms of four data sets easily accessible online, this book guides the reader through the analysis of each data set, including setting research objectives, designing the sampling plan, data quality control, exploratory and confirmatory data analysis, and drawing scientific conclusions. Based on the author’s spatial data analysis course at the University of California, Davis, the book is intended for classroom use or self-study by graduate students and researchers in ecology, geography, and agricultural science with an interest in the analysis of spatial data.

Agricultural Resilience

Agricultural Resilience PDF

Author: Sarah M. Gardner

Publisher: Cambridge University Press

Published: 2019-05-02

Total Pages: 407

ISBN-13: 1107067626

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Offers an interdisciplinary exploration of resilience in agriculture, and implications for producers seeking to adapt to change and uncertainty.

Ecology, Capitalism and the New Agricultural Economy

Ecology, Capitalism and the New Agricultural Economy PDF

Author: Gilles Allaire

Publisher: Routledge

Published: 2018-11-29

Total Pages: 294

ISBN-13: 1351210025

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With increasing pressure on resources, the looming spectre of climate change and growing anxiety among eaters, ecology and food are at the heart of the political debates surrounding agriculture and diet. This unique contribution unravels agri-environmental issues at different spatial levels, from local to global, documenting the major shifts in agriculture from a long-term perspective. The book begins by exploring the changes in the industrialisation and socialisation of agriculture over time, through the lens of institutional economics including The French Regulation School and Conventions Theory. Building on Polanyi’s ‘Great Transformation’, the chapters in this volume analyse long-term and contemporary changes in agriculture and food systems that have occurred throughout the last few centuries. Key chapters focus on the historical changes in provisioning and the social relations of production, consumption, and regulation of food in different socio-political contexts. The future of agriculture is addressed through an analysis of controversial contemporary political claims and their engagement with strategies that aim to improve the sustainability of agriculture and food consumption. To shed light on ongoing changes and the future of food, this book asks important environmental and social questions and analyses how industrial agriculture has played out in various contexts. It is recommended supplementary reading for postgraduates and researchers in agricultural studies, food studies, food policy, the agri-food political economy and political and economic geography.