Trade‐Offs between Cattle Production and Bird Conservation in an Agricultural Frontier of the Gran Chaco of Argentina

Intensification of food production in tropical landscapes in the absence of land‐use planning can pose a major threat to biological diversity. Decisions on whether to spatially integrate or segregate lands for production and conservation depend in part on the functional relations between biological diversity and agricultural productivity. We measured diversity, density, and species composition of birds along a gradient of production intensification on an agricultural frontier of the Argentine Chaco, where dry tropical forests are cleared for cattle production. Bird species diversity in intact forests was higher than in any type of cattle‐production system. Bird species richness decreased nonlinearly as cattle yield increased. Intermediate‐intensity silvopastoral systems, those in which forest understory is selectively cleared to grow pastures of non‐native plants beneath the tree canopy, produced 80% of the mean cattle yield obtained in pastures on cleared areas and were occupied by 70–90% of the number of bird species present in the nearest forest fragments. Densities of >50% of bird species were significantly lower in open pastures than in silvopastoral systems. Therefore, intermediate‐intensity silvopastoral systems may have the greatest potential to sustain cattle yield and conserve a large percentage of bird species. However, compared with low‐intensity production systems, in which forest structure and extent were intact, intermediate‐intensity silvopastoral systems supported significantly fewer forest‐restricted bird species and fewer frugivorous birds. These data suggest that the integration of production and conservation through intermediate‐intensity silvopastoral systems combined with the protection of forest fragments may be required to maintain cattle yield, bird diversity, and conservation of forest‐restricted species in this agricultural frontier. Compromisos entre la Producción de Ganado y la Conservación de Aves en una Frontera Agrícola del Gran Chaco de Argentina     

Paradigms for parasite conservation

Parasitic species, which depend directly on host species for their survival, represent a major regulatory force in ecosystems and a significant component of Earth's biodiversity. Yet the negative impacts of parasites observed at the host level have motivated a conservation paradigm of eradication, moving us farther from attainment of taxonomically unbiased conservation goals. Despite a growing body of literature highlighting the importance of parasite‐inclusive conservation, most parasite species remain understudied, underfunded, and underappreciated. We argue the protection of parasitic biodiversity requires a paradigm shift in the perception and valuation of their role as consumer species, similar to that of apex predators in the mid‐20th century. Beyond recognizing parasites as vital trophic regulators, existing tools available to conservation practitioners should explicitly account for the unique threats facing dependent species. We built upon concepts from epidemiology and economics (e.g., host‐density threshold and cost‐benefit analysis) to devise novel metrics of margin of error and minimum investment for parasite conservation. We define margin of error as the risk of accidental host extinction from misestimating equilibrium population sizes and predicted oscillations, while minimum investment represents the cost associated with conserving the additional hosts required to maintain viable parasite populations. This framework will aid in the identification of readily conserved parasites that present minimal health risks. To establish parasite conservation, we propose an extension of population viability analysis for host–parasite assemblages to assess extinction risk. In the direst cases, ex situ breeding programs for parasites should be evaluated to maximize success without undermining host protection. Though parasitic species pose a considerable conservation challenge, adaptations to conservation tools will help protect parasite biodiversity in the face of an uncertain environmental future.     

The world agricultural system and ethical considerations relating to the rural environment: Some perspectives on cause and effect in underdeveloped countries

Food is a basic human need and therefore a basic human right. While food output has increased to a level where there is enough food produced to feed the world, still millions starve. Using the concept of capitalist world economy as a framework, this paper provides a structural analysis of the food production and distribution system within monopoly capitalism and its implications for countries of the underdeveloped world. Focusing on the impact of a dominant world food supply system on indigenous systems (particularly through the rise of science, technology, and monopoly capital), considerations relating to environmental use and food production and distribution are raised. Finally a call is made for a new agricultural ethic.     

Review and appraisal of concept of sustainable food production systems

Environmental degradation, competition for resources, increasing food demands, and the integration of agriculture into the international economy threaten the sustainability of many food production systems. Despite these concerns, the concept of sustainable food production systems remains unclear, and recent attempts to appraise sustainability have been hampered by conceptual inconsistencies and the absence of workable definitions. Six perspectives are shown to underpin the concept. Environmental accounting identifies biophysical limits for agriculture. Sustained yield refers to output levels that can be maintained continuously. Carrying capacity defines maximum population levels that can be supported in perpetuity. Production unit viability refers to the capacity of primary producers to remain in agriculture. Product supply and security focuses on the adequacy of food supplies. Equity is concerned with the spatial and temporal distribution of products dervied from resource use. Many studies into sustainable agriculture cover more than one of these perspectives, indicating the concept is complex and embraces issues relating to the biophysical, social, and economic environments. Clarification of the concept would facilitate the development of frameworks and analytical systems for appraising the sustainability of food production systems. LRRC Contribution No. 90–46.     

中国生态农业与绿色食品

本文从农业环境问题和食品安全性出发，阐述了中国生态农业的兴起及特点，绿色食品生产的要求，生态农业与绿色食品的关系。介绍了几种可用于开发绿色食品的优化生态模式。     

“Food Metaphors and Ethics: Towards More Attention for Bodily Experience”

Official Dutch food information apparently tries to avoid images but is implicitly shaped by the metaphor that food is fuel. The image of food as fuel and its accompanying view of the body as a machine are not maximally helpful for integrating two important human desires: health and pleasure. At the basis of the split between health and pleasure is the traditional mind–body dichotomy, in which the body is an important source of evil and bodily pleasure is sinful and dangerous. In the search for alternatives, new metaphors are proposed that integrate mind and body as well as pleasure and health. The relevance of metaphors for ethics is at least twofold. (1) Moral thought and theory are at least partly shaped by metaphors. In the light of this growing recognition, the analysis of morality needs innovation. (2) With regard to food, new metaphors, such as slow food, or the image of enjoyment as an art, enable a new search for morally responsible forms of hedonism, based on more love and respect for human as well as animal bodies. But new metaphors are specific and selective, just like old ones. I argue that a search for the best overall metaphor would be misguided, but that more diverse forms of attention to bodily aspects of life, including experiences related to food, will result in richer vocabularies of the body, the mind, and body–mind relations. This holds a promise of moral progress.     

Interannual Changes in the C:N:P Ratios of Seston and Zooplankton of a High Mountain Lake in Sierra Nevada,Spain

We investigated the carbon, nitrogen and phosphorus content inthe seston and the zooplankton of a high-mountain lake duringthree years of contrasting physical and chemical conditions.Carbon in seston was ten times higher in 1995 than in 1996 and1997. Phosphorus content in seston was variable for the studyperiod, increasing gradually towards late summer in 1995, butpeaking abruptly in 1996 and 1997, reflecting atmosphericdepositions. Seston C:P were high and did not fit any definitepattern in 1995, and were particularly low after the thaw, increasing towards mid-summer in 1996 and 1997. As the seasonprogressed, major decreases in these ratios occurred coincidingwith important atmospheric inputs in the lake area. ZooplanktonN:P and C:P were negatively associated to the appearance ofrotifers and copepod nauplii in 1995, but positively correlatedto the ontogenetic development of the most abundant species,Mixodiaptomus laciniatus, in 1996. Seasonal variations inzooplankton N:P and C:P ratios showed limited interannual, butlarge intraannual variability. The comparison between the bulkcarbon in seston and zooplankton demands for this elementindicated that zooplankton were above food-quantity thresholdsfor maximum growth in 1995, 1996 and mid-season of 1997,therefore suffering only from food-quantity constraints afterthe thaw (nauplii dominance) and towards late season (adultdominance) in the latter year. The high C:P ratios in sestonrelative to zooplankton in 1995 imply that the zooplankton mayhave faced severe food-quality constraints (in terms ofphosphorus) during this year. Differences between bulkzooplankton and seston elemental nutrients are also discussed inrelation to the competitive abilities of species, andparticularly of Daphnia.     

都西庙水库生物群落的牧食链结构与渔业利用

都西庙水库初级生产者只有浮游植物,它对太阳能年总辐射量的利用率为0.07%,生态学效率分别为10.5%、0.26%、6.40%,综合鱼产力为17.8g/m~2,各种经济鱼类对浮游植物的能量利用率为0.55%,表明牧食链中能量流动与分配不合理。本文对科学利用和保护该库饵料资源提出了建议。     

More Productivity with Fewer External Inputs: Central American Case Studies of Agroecological Development and their Broader Implications

A study of the impact of two agroecological development programs in central America was conducted in 1994, five years and fifteen years after the programmes had ended. Yields of maize and beans being achieved by those farmers involved in each program were, on the average, more than seven times the yields being achieved at the time of program initiation. Increases in yields and incomes were achieved through the use of a large number of innovations, involving especially soil retention measures, purchased organic matter, intercropped green manure/cover crops, natural pest control, crop diversification and crop rotations. Use of chemical fertilizer was reduced, herbicides avoided almost entirely, and several substitutes for pesticides are now used. These technologies, plus more recent innovations such as microscale water harvesting and precision planting, should enable small farmers around the world to increase productivity enough that the world can avoid major hunger over the next 30 years, without increasing substantially, if at all, the world's use of chemical inputs.     

Delivering on the Promise of Agroforestry

Agroforestry – the traditional practice of growing trees on farms for the benefit of the farm family and for the environment – was brought from the realm of indigenous knowledge into the forefront of agricultural research less than two decades ago. It was promoted widely as a sustainability-enhancing practice that combines the best attributes of forestry and agriculture. Based on principles of natural resource management and process-oriented research, agroforestry is now recognized as an applied science, that is instrumental in assuring food security, reducing poverty and enhancing ecosystem resilience at the scale of thousands of smallholder farmers in the tropics.Trees on farms provide both products and services: they yield food, fuelwood, fodder, timber and medicines, which farm families can use at home or take to market to bring in much-needed cash; they replenish organic matter and nutrient levels in soils and they help control erosion and conserve water. The International Centre for Research in Agroforestry, and its partners, are working to integrate the functions of trees with policy and institutional improvements that aim at facilitating wide-scale adoption by farmers.Two examples described in this paper are replenishing soil fertility in sub-Saharan Africa using short-term improved tree and shrub fallows and the results of agroforestry research to support significant land tenure policy in southeast Asia.Although just one option in sustainable land-use, science-based agroforestry has the potential to produce economically, socially and environmentally sound results for the billions of people who depend on this ancient practice and modern science.