Agroecology: The Ecology of Sustainable Food Systems, Second Edition

Providing the theoretical and conceptual framework for this continually evolving field, Agroecology: The Ecology of Sustainable Food Systems, Second Edition explores environmental factors and complexities affecting agricultural crops and animals. Completely revised, updated, and reworked, the second edition contains new data, new readings, new issues and case studies, and new options. It includes two completely new chapters, one on the role of livestock animals in agroecosystems and one on the cultural and community aspects of sustainable food systems. The author clearly delineates the importance of using an ecosystem framework for determining if a particular agricultural practice, input, or management decision contributes or detracts from sustainability. He explains how the framework provides the ecological basis for the functioning of the chosen management strategy over the long-term. He also examines system level interactions, stressing the need for understanding the emergent qualities of populations, communities, and ecosystems and their roles in sustainable agriculture. Using examples of farming systems in a broad array of ecological conditions, the book demonstrates how to use an ecosystem approach to design and manage agroecosystems for sustainability.

Table of Contents:
INTRODUCTION TO AGROECOLOGY The Need for Sustainable Food Production Systems The Agroecosystem Concept PLANTS AND ENVIRONMENTAL FACTORS The Plant Light Temperature Humidity and Rainfall Wind Soil Water in the Soil Fire Biotic Factors The Environmental Complex SYSTEM-LEVEL INTERACTIONS The Population Ecology of Agroecosystems Genetic Resources in Agroecosystems Species Interactions in Crop Communities Agroecosystem Diversity and Stability Disturbance, Succession, and Agroecosystem Management The Energetics of Agroecosystems Animals in Agroecosystems THE TRANSITION TO SUSTAINABILITY Converting to Ecologically Based Management Indicators of Sustainability Landscape Diversity and Agroecosystem Management Community, Culture, and Sustainability From Sustainable Agroecosystems to Sustainable Food Systems Glossary Index

Review :
The author has had extensive international experience in tropical and temperate agriculture, and numerous farming systems. This experience has provided him with a wealth of material that has found its way into this book. The author clearly is an authority in the field of agro-ecology and teaches on the subject. ... agronomists and biologists, as well as general scholars and people interested by sustainability as an attitude or life style will learn about how to put principles into (cropping and whole food chain) practice. All in all: a good read! -Patrick Van Damme, University of Gent, Belgium, in Economic Botany