Researching the agroecosystem/environmental interface

This special issue of Agriculture, Ecosystems and Environment recognizes the important contribution of Dr. J.W. Sturrock to agroecosystem and environmental research through his long-term role as Editor-in-Chief (1982–2000). An historical overview of agroecosystem and environmental research is provided to illustrate the continued growth of scientific endeavor in this area, and to show its importance for a better understanding of ecological interactions within agroecosystems and especially at the agroecosystem/environmental interface. The papers collected in this special issue are selected to illustrate the breadth and diversity of agroecosystem and environmental research. They can be placed in the following four areas: the environmental impact of farming systems; the management of organic resources, the link between the ecology of farming systems and the environment; and the ecological interactions that occur within or between agricultural systems. Intensification of food production, population growth, technological change, changing land-use patterns, and global change will further impact the structure and functional properties of agroecosystems, and intensify the interaction between agriculture and the environment, and will present a major continuing need for research in the 21st century.     

Food security and global environmental change: emerging challenges

Most research linking global environmental change and food security focuses solely on agriculture: either the impact of climate change on agricultural production, or the impact of agriculture on the environment, e.g. on land use, greenhouse gas emissions, pollution and/or biodiversity. Important though food production is, many other factors also need to be considered to understand food security. A recent international conference on “Environmental Change and Food Security: Bridging Science, Policy and Development for Adaptation” included a range of papers that embraced the multiple dimensions of the food systems that underpin food security. The major conclusion from the conference was that technical fixes alone will not solve the food security challenge. Adapting to the additional threats to food security arising from major environmental changes requires an integrated food system approach, not just a focus on agricultural practices. Six key issues emerged for future research: (i) adapting food systems to global environmental change requires more than just technological solutions to increase agricultural yields; (ii) tradeoffs across multiple scales among food system outcomes are a pervasive feature of globalized food systems; (iii) within food systems, there are some key underexplored areas that are both sensitive to environmental change but also crucial to understanding its implications for food security and adaptation strategies; (iv) scenarios specifically designed to investigate the wider issues that underpin food security and the environmental consequences of different adaptation options are lacking; (v) price variability and volatility often threaten food security; and (vi) more attention needs to be paid to the governance of food systems.     

Invasive species policy and climate change: social perceptions of environmental change in the Mediterranean

Climate change is raising significant issues for European invasive species policy. As natural and anthropogenic systems experience changing climatic conditions, opportunities for the distribution and establishment of invasive exotic plant species are projected to increase. Such environmental changes will provide significant challenges for the strategic planning and management of natural, agricultural and urban spaces. In this study, the perceptions of the impacts of invasive exotic plant species are examined and compared to perceptions of other environmental issues on the islands of Mallorca, Sardinia and Crete. A survey of key stakeholders was undertaken on the Mediterranean islands with the use of questionnaires and in-depth interviews. While there is a widespread tolerance of environmental change associated with the establishment of invasive species on the islands, local stakeholders raise concerns about specific impacts and the policies in place to respond to future risk. To build resilience within natural and anthropogenic systems to the changing climatic circumstances, a need exists for integrative environmental policy that supports local capacity to manage invasive species within Mediterranean landscapes.     

Adapting food systems of the Indo-Gangetic plains to global environmental change: key information needs to improve policy formulation

The Indo-Gangetic plain (IGP; including regions of Pakistan, India, Nepal, and Bangladesh) is generally characterised by fertile soils, favourable climate and an abundant supply of water. Nevertheless, the challenge of increasing food production in the IGP in line with demand grows ever greater; any perturbation in agriculture will considerably affect the food systems of the region and increase the vulnerability of the resource-poor population. Increasing regional production is already complicated by increasing competition for land resources by non-agricultural sectors and by the deterioration of agri-environments and water resources. Global environmental change (GEC), especially changes in climate mean values and variability, will further complicate the agricultural situation and will therefore, have serious implications for food systems of the region. Strategies to reduce the vulnerability of the region's food systems to GEC need to be based on a combination of technical and policy options, and developed in recognition of the concurrent changes in socioeconomic stresses. Adaptation options need to be assessed with regard to their socioeconomic and environmental efficacy, but a greater understanding of the interactions of food systems with GEC is needed to be able to do this with confidence. This paper discusses information needs relating to resource management and policy support to guide the development of research planning for increasing the robustness of IGP food systems to GEC. Further information is needed to develop a range of adaptation strategies including augmenting production and its sustainability, increasing income from agricultural enterprises, diversification from rice–wheat systems, improving land use and natural resource management, and instigating more flexible policies and institutions.     

Identifying high-yield low-emission pathways for the cereal production in South Asia

Increasing agricultural production to meet the growing demand for food whilst reducing agricultural greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions is the major challenge under the changing climate. To develop long-term policies that address these challenges, strategies are needed to identify high-yield low-emission pathways for particular agricultural production systems. In this paper, we used bio-physical and socio-economic models to analyze the impact of different management practices on crop yield and emissions in two contrasting agricultural production systems of the Indo-Gangetic Plain (IGP) of India. The result revealed the importance of considering both management and socio-economic factors in the development of high-yield low-emission pathways for cereal production systems. Nitrogen use rate and frequency of application, tillage and residue management and manure application significantly affected GHG emissions from the cereal systems. In addition, various socio-economic factors such as gender, level of education, training on climate change adaptation and mitigation and access to information significantly influenced the adoption of technologies contributing to high-yield low-emission pathways. We discussed the policy implications of these findings in the context of food security and climate change.     

新型农村集约化养殖业发展中环境问题及管理对策

随着人们生活水平的提高,肉、蛋、奶等畜禽食品的消费量日趋上升,极大的刺激了畜禽养殖业的发展。这一发展使畜禽养殖特点发生了如下的变化,即由过去的分散经营,饲养头数少,主要分布在农区转变成现在的集中经营,饲养头数多,分布在城市郊区或新城区。本文分析了新型农村集约化养殖业发展中的环境问题,并针对这些问题提出了新型农村集约化养殖业的管理对策。     

国外环境保护发展历程说明“环保风暴”必然理性回归

从国外环境保护发展历程可以说明,发达国家在经济发展的过程中没有环保风暴,建立长效机制是根本的选择。随着时代的发展,气候变化问题给我国造成了巨大的压力,在新的形势下应当建立相应的机制。长效机制完善了,何须环保风暴。     

Environmental supply chain dynamics

This paper investigates the circumstances under which “environmental supply chain dynamics” (ESCD) emerge. ESCD are a phenomenon where environmental innovations diffuse from a customer firm to a supplier firm. Its relevance is based on the argument that systemic approaches are needed to understand the environmental implications of industrial systems, of which supply chains are a key component. Furthermore, buyer–supplier relationships play a critical role in the decision-making processes of most suppliers, which in turn has the potential to stimulate environmental change within the supply chain. Based on case studies in the British and Japanese food retail sector and the British aerospace industry, it will be shown that ESCD emerge if there is a channel leader with sufficient channel power over their suppliers, technical competencies, and are themselves under specific environmental pressure.     

居民食物消费变化引致的环境足迹测算

首先对比分析了2014～2020年城乡居民食物消费结构的变化特征,其次测算了人口规模、城镇化率、人均食物消费量和食物消费结构变化对土地-水-碳足迹变化的影响程度,最后设计了食物现状消费结构S0、发展消费结构S1和更趋近膳食指南的最优消费结构S2三种情景,测算了2025年和2030年3种情景下居民食物消费引致的环境足迹.结果表明:人均食物消费量和消费结构逐渐成为影响环境足迹的主要因素,2018～2020年城镇(农村)居民人均食物消费量和消费结构对环境足迹的平均贡献率分别为51.1%(51.6%)和-17.4%(-13.1%); S1和S2下居民食物消费引致的环境足迹均小于在S0下的值.在S2下环境足迹的减少更明显.在2025年城镇(农村)居民在S2下食物消费引致的土地、水、碳足迹比在S0下减少10.5%(11.5%)、19.6%(17.2%)、12.6%(13.7%);在2030年将减少11.6%(11.9%)、21.0%(16.8%)、13.6%(14.7%).基于分析结果,提出了如何减少食物消费引致的环境足迹的建议.     

Nested vulnerability: exploring cross-scale linkages and vulnerability teleconnections in Mexican and Vietnamese coffee systems

Analyses of the vulnerability of farm populations and food systems to exogenous change, whether in relation to climatic extremes, market shocks, epidemics or other concerns, have typically been approached through a focus on the place of food production or the specific sub-sector exposed to stress. Relatively little attention has been paid to the ways in which national institutions, history and social expectations transform the same signals of global change into very different outcomes in distinct geographic contexts. The channels that convey signals of change from the global to the local may also work in reverse, connecting the responses and choices of households in one geographic context to outcomes and choices of other households in quite distant places. We draw from recent case studies of farm-level vulnerability and livelihood security in Mexico and Vietnam to demonstrate that coffee smallholders’ independent responses to the risks and opportunities associated with global scale economic and environmental change, are teleconnected and thus can create feedbacks which in turn affect the present and future vulnerabilities of other smallholders around the globe.     

国外食物系统研究综述及借鉴

食物关系到国计民生,食物的高效供给取决于食物系统的高效运转。目前国内食物系统视角的研究不足,系统梳理国外研究进展对我国食物系统研究具有积极的借鉴意义。为了更好地把握食物系统的研究脉络,论文通过对国外食物系统研究文献进行研读,在总结分析食物系统研究相关理论和方法的基础上,着重对食物系统的全球化与本地化、食物系统规划、食物系统的资源环境效应、食物安全与政策研究等问题进行了系统梳理。在借鉴国外食物系统研究的基础上,结合已有的研究基础和社会需求,提出未来我国食物系统领域的研究展望,包括开展不同尺度的食物系统实证研究、开展跨学科多领域的共同研究、食物系统定量指标体系设计问题研究、食物系统的利益相关者研究以及加强技术创新对食物系统的影响研究等。     

城市食物系统演化的人地耦合启示及驱动力——以北京食物系统为例

为探明“城市化如何驱动食物系统变化”以及“食物系统变化蕴含何种人地耦合关系”的问题,本文以北京食物系统为例,研究了该食物系统自1978年以来的演变过程,揭示食物系统演变蕴含的人地耦合关系;并建立食物系统变化指标体系和城市化驱动力指标体系,运用驱动力评价、格兰杰因果关系检验、回归分析与网络分析相结合的方法研究北京食物系统演变的驱动力及作用机制。结果发现：近40多年来北京食物系统总体经历了本地农业生产不断弱化、食物消费需求持续增长、食物流通里程不断增加的演变过程。这种变化从地理学视角来看本质上是城市食物消费蕴含的人地耦合关系从邻近扩展到更远距离的过程——即食物系统近远程耦合的演化过程。在驱动该过程的影响因素中,居民收入增长是主要的初始驱动力,要素非农化是主要中间环节,人口集聚则具有最广泛的影响,最终导致外埠供应比例不断上升,食物里程持续增长。研究表明：蕴含在食物系统中的人地关系不只局限于特定的地点、特定的区域,而是以“流空间”与地点空间相互连接、相互渗透的形式呈现出来。因此,需要采取一种整合“流空间”与地点空间的理论视角及研究方法来认知此类开放系统中的人地耦合关系。     

Scarce water resources and priority irrigation schemes from agronomic crops

Global environmental change places unavoidable pressure on water resources and agronomic crop production systems. Irrigation development is a credible measure to alleviate the challenge of food safety under water shortages, but it needs sufficient basis. The aim of this study is to address the problem of balancing water scarcity with food requirements, which are the key components of water security in regions with population growth. Marginal water productivity (MWP) indices for irrigation water performance and productivity evaluation were established in the current study. Based on the analysis of the regional water-crop relationship and spatial differences of MWP in China, the priorities for developing irrigation areas in different types of regions are discussed in this study. The results show that high MWPs are mainly in semi-arid regions with precipitation (P) between 500 and 1000 mm, while low MWPs mostly occur in areas with P more than 1000 and less than 500 mm. The significance and spatial distribution patterns of MWP are different than those of conventional irrigation water use efficiency evaluation indices, so its role cannot be replaced for the real production capacity of irrigation water evaluation. The strategies for global environmental change adaptation suggested in this study are taking MWP for irrigation water productivity evaluation and the priority irrigation schemes for agronomic crop determination; increasing MWP by means of irrigation efficiency and crop variety improvement worldwide; and raising global food production through the expansion of irrigation area in the regions hold high MWP and abundant water resources.

     

深圳市排污收费系统的开发与研究

排污收费是环境保护工作中的重要内容,它直接体现了监管的力度和执法的效果。由于这项工作与其他业务部门,如建设项目审批、环境监督、环境监测、环境执法等部门联系密切,因而信息结构复杂。目前在我国投入使用的排污收费管理系统软件大多是FOXPRO数据库,难于实现收费信息共享。基于城市级环境信息管理系统的需求以及目前进行的污染物总量排污收费制度的试点,开发出一套WINDOWS环境采用SYBASE数据库的排污收费管理系统PWSF是十分必要的。      

The Dynamics of Rural Vulnerability to Global Change: The Case of southern Africa

Research on the agricultural impacts of global change frequently emphasizesthe physical and socioeconomic impacts of climate change, yet globalchanges associated with the internationalization of economic activity mayalso have significant impacts on food systems. Together, climate change andglobalization are exposing farmers to new and unfamiliar conditions.Although some farmers may be in a position to take advantage of thesechanges, many more are facing increased vulnerability, particularly in thedeveloping world. This paper considers the dynamics of agriculturalvulnerability to global change through the example of southern Africa. Wedemonstrate that the combination of global and national economic changesis altering the context under which southern African farmers cope withclimate variability and adapt to long-term change. We find that farmers whoformerly had difficulty adapting to climatic variability may become lessvulnerable to drought-related food shortages as the result of tradeliberalization. At the same time, however, removal of national credit andsubsidies may constrain or limit adaptation strategies of other farmers,leaving them more vulnerable to climate variability and change.     

笔谈:食物浪费

食物浪费是我们长期高度关注和社会发展迫切需要解决的问题,如何正确认识食物浪费并尽量减少食物浪费是研究的重点。文章认为食物浪费是一面折射社会文明的多棱镜,需要从多角度认识食物浪费产生的原因及后果,谨防减少食物浪费的努力变成更大的浪费,减少食物浪费要多管齐下,既要节约,又要推进健康饮食文化,借鉴国外研究方法和经验,填补中国食物浪费数据空白,构建资源智慧型食物系统。     

Does the Swedish consumer's choice of food influence greenhouse gas emissions?

Consumer's choice of food can influence the environment. In Sweden, in common with many other countries, consumers need to be given information so they can make environmentally informed shopping choices. However, what is the most advantageous dietary choice to lower greenhouse emissions? This study investigates the greenhouse gas emissions associated with food production for food consumed in Sweden annually. Specifically, this study compares greenhouse gas emissions associated with a nutritionally and environmentally sustainable diet with the average consumption of food in Sweden 1999. The study concludes that the change in energy use and greenhouse gas emission associated with this change of diet is negligible. Lowering greenhouse gas emissions by changing food production processes results in more profound changes than teaching consumers to make environmentally correct choices. There is a basic need for a reduction or a replacement of the use of fossil fuels to produce and distribute our food in order to reach any significant reduction in the emission of greenhouse gases. Swedish agricultural policy does not provide ways to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. In Sweden therefore there is an immediate need to design policy instruments with the primary aim of reducing the greenhouse effect.     

泰州市环境质量与经济的库茨涅兹曲线模拟研究

“环境库茨涅兹曲线”是指经济发展与环境质量之间的“倒U型”曲线关系,即随着经济发展和收入水平的提高,环境质量先恶化后好转。全文基于环境库茨涅兹曲线特征原理,根据泰州市2006年-2015年经济与环境变化的状况,重点分析了泰州市化学需氧量排放量、地表水中高锰酸盐指数、大气污染物二氧化硫排放量、二氧化硫浓度各指标与泰州市经济发展之间的拟合最佳模型。结果表明,前三者与人均GDP的变化规律符合环境库兹涅茨假设。空气中二氧化硫浓度对人均GDP之间的变化规律虽不符合环境库兹涅茨假设,但空气中二氧化硫浓度将呈下降趋势。     

广西海域优先关注问题甄别及对策探讨

《广西北部湾经济区发展规划》已获得国务院批准实施,广西沿海地区进入了快速发展时期。在经济快速发展过程中,海洋环境污染、海洋生态损害、海洋灾害、海洋物理条件改变、海洋环境管理等方面的问题都会存在。针对不同环境问题对食品安全、人群健康、海洋资源、生态系统健康、其他经济和社会价值（如文化价值）等方面的影响,通过采用表格法和权重法,甄别广西海洋优先关注问题,确定各类环境问题优先关注次序,针对这些问题,提出相应的对策。