Nature and Farming: Sustaining Biodiversity in Agricultural Landscapes.

E.C. Lefroy

doi:10.1071/pc140405

Nature and Farming: Sustaining Biodiversity in Agricultural Landscapes.

Pacific Conservation Biology ◽

10.1071/pc140405 ◽

2014 ◽

Vol 20 (4) ◽

pp. 405

Author(s):

E.C. Lefroy

Keyword(s):

Case Studies ◽

Production Systems ◽

Farming Systems ◽

Agricultural Landscapes ◽

Government Programs ◽

Remnant Vegetation ◽

Agricultural Matrix ◽

Historic Record ◽

Farming Landscapes ◽

The Voice

THIS book is a valuable historic record of the practices employed by land managers, government programs and community groups to ensure a place for nature in farming landscapes. Its strength lies in the 16 case studies of individual properties and the 14 examples of general approaches to integrating conservation into production systems. Those two very practical sections, plus another describing programs such as Landcare, carbon credits and offsetting, make up just under half the book. This practical, real world middle section is sandwiched between two sections that are quite different in tone and character to the sympathetic description of local heroes in the book’s heart. At the beginning are six chapters that introduce the concepts of landscape and community ecology to establish the scientific case for conservation. This includes analysis of types of farming systems, patterns of remnant vegetation distribution, and the functional properties of the agricultural matrix from the perspective of biodiversity. At the end are four chapters reflecting on the case studies and their implications. In both the introductory and concluding sections, the voice is that of the concerned ecologist, looking over the farm fence and wondering aloud ‘is this really going to be enough?’ Right towards the end is the warning that unless things change, “…the biodiversity train wreck lying ahead could exceed even our worse fears.”

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The biodiversity values of farming systems and agricultural landscapes

Pacific Conservation Biology ◽

10.1071/pc040080 ◽

2004 ◽

Vol 10 (2) ◽

pp. 80 ◽

Cited By ~ 4

Author(s):

E. C. Lefroy ◽

F. P. Smith

Keyword(s):

Farming Systems ◽

Agricultural Landscapes ◽

Conservation Priorities ◽

Current Effort ◽

Perennial Plant ◽

Remnant Vegetation ◽

Farm Scale ◽

Ecological Science ◽

Regional Conservation

The current effort in Australia to increase the proportion of perennial vegetation in agricultural landscapes to manage dryland salinity presents opportunities to improve the viability of remnant vegetation and its dependant biota. At this intersection of ecology and agriculture, many questions arise concerning interpretations of biodiversity from the perspectives of landowners and conservationists, the conservation priorities in agricultural landscapes, and the role of ecological science in understanding the functional contribution of emerging perennial-plant based farming systems to the viability of the native biota. This paper provides the background for the four papers that follow, presented originally at a workshop at Rutherglen in Victoria in October 2003 to discuss the issue of biodiversity values in agricultural landscapes. It then puts forward an approach to research into the biodiversity value of perennial land use systems based on three principles; understanding regional conservation priorities, appreciating farm scale priorities and constraints from the perspective of the landholder, and identifying response functions to establish the role of revegetation in maintaining the viability of the native biota.

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Megadrought and Collapse

10.1093/oso/9780199329199.001.0001 ◽

2017 ◽

Cited By ~ 14

Keyword(s):

Climate Change ◽

Decision Making ◽

Case Studies ◽

Agricultural Landscapes ◽

15Th Century ◽

Societal Collapse ◽

The Face ◽

Time Periods ◽

Paleoclimate Proxy ◽

Habitat Tracking

This is the first book to treat the major examples of megadrought and societal collapse, from the late Pleistocene end of hunter–gatherer culture and origins of cultivation to the 15th century AD fall of the Khmer Empire capital at Angkor, and ranging from the Near East to South America. Previous enquiries have stressed the possible multiple and internal causes of collapse, such overpopulation, overexploitation of resources, warfare, and poor leadership and decision-making. In contrast, Megadrought and Collapse presents case studies of nine major episodes of societal collapse in which megadrought was the major and independent cause of societal collapse. In each case the most recent paleoclimatic evidence for megadroughts, multiple decades to multiple centuries in duration, is presented alongside the archaeological records for synchronous societal collapse. The megadrought data are derived from paleoclimate proxy sources (lake, marine, and glacial cores; speleothems, or cave stalagmites; and tree-rings) and are explained by researchers directly engaged in their analysis. Researchers directly responsible for them discuss the relevant current archaeological records. Two arguments are developed through these case studies. The first is that societal collapse in different time periods and regions and at levels of social complexity ranging from simple foragers to complex empires would not have occurred without megadrought. The second is that similar responses to megadrought extend across these historical episodes: societal collapse in the face of insurmountable climate change, abandonment of settlements and regions, and habitat tracking to sustainable agricultural landscapes. As we confront megadrought today, and in the likely future, Megadrought and Collapse brings together the latest contributions to our understanding of past societal responses to the crisis on an equally global and diverse scale.

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Feminist Cyber-Artivism, Musicing, and Music Teaching and Learning

The Oxford Handbook of Social Media and Music Learning ◽

10.1093/oxfordhb/9780190660772.013.18 ◽

2020 ◽

pp. 291-312

Author(s):

Marissa Silverman

Keyword(s):

Social Media ◽

Music Education ◽

Case Studies ◽

Teaching And Learning ◽

The Body ◽

The Internet ◽

Philosophical Investigation ◽

Music Teaching ◽

Music Making ◽

The Voice

This chapter asks an important, yet seemingly illusive, question: In what ways does the internet provide (or not) activist—or, for present purposes “artivist”—opportunities and engagements for musicing, music sharing, and music teaching and learning? According to Asante (2008), an “artivist (artist + activist) uses her artistic talents to fight and struggle against injustice and oppression—by any medium necessary. The artivist merges commitment to freedom and justice with the pen, the lens, the brush, the voice, the body, and the imagination. The artivist knows that to make an observation is to have an obligation” (p. 6). Given this view, can (and should) social media be a means to achieve artivism through online musicing and music sharing, and, therefore, music teaching and learning? Taking a feminist perspective, this chapter interrogates the nature of cyber musical artivism as a potential means to a necessary end: positive transformation. In what ways can social media be a conduit (or hindrance) for cyber musical artivism? What might musicing and music sharing gain (or lose) from engaging with online artivist practices? In addition to a philosophical investigation, this chapter will examine select case studies of online artivist music making and music sharing communities with the above concerns in mind, specifically as they relate to music education.

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Homegarden agroecosystems managed by Salar people on Qinghai-Tibet Plateau

Journal of Ethnobiology and Ethnomedicine ◽

10.1186/s13002-021-00448-x ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 17 (1) ◽

Author(s):

Mingjing Zhu ◽

Binsheng Luo ◽

Ben La ◽

Ruijie Chen ◽

Fenggui Liu ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Plant Species ◽

Rural Areas ◽

Production Systems ◽

Farming Systems ◽

Field Investigation ◽

Tibet Plateau ◽

Ecosystem Functions ◽

Structured Interviews ◽

Services Research ◽

Qinghai Tibet Plateau

Abstract Background Salar is a Turkic-speaking Islamic ethnic group in China living mainly in Xunhua Salar Autonomous County (Xunhua or Xunhua County), Qinghai-Tibet Plateau. Salar people are skilled in horticulture and their homegarden (HG) management. They are regarded as the first people on the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau to practice horticulture, especially manage their HGs, traditional farming systems, and supplementary food production systems. Traditional knowledge of Salar people associated with their HGs always contributes significantly to the local livelihood, food security, ornamental value, and biodiversity conservation. The cultivation of different plants in HGs for self-sufficiency has a long tradition in China’s rural areas, especially in some mountainous areas. However, Salar traditional HGs have not been described. The present paper aims to report the features of Salar HGs mostly based on agrobiodiversity and its ecosystem services. Methods The methods used in this work included semi-structured interviews and participatory observation. A total of 60 households in three townships, 9 villages were surveyed. There are 4–12 family members in each household, aged from 20 to 86 years old. The homestead size is between 200 and 1200 m2. Plant species cultivated in Salar HGs were identified according to Flora of China. Based on a comprehensive survey of Salar HGs and related to background data, we identified and characterized the most important services and functions provided by Salar HGs. Results According to primary production systems, there are 4 different types of Salar HGs, including ornamental focus, product focus, dual-purpose and multi-purpose. In total, 108 (excluding weeds and bonsai) plant species were recorded in Salar HGs, within 43 plant families. The most important and frequently used plants are Rosa chinensis, Armeniaca vulgar, Prunus salicina, and Ziziphus jujuba. About 4 to 32 plant species were recorded in each homegarden. We found that the Salar HGs, as a typical agroecosyste, prossess multiple servcices and functions that directly benefit households according to the field investigation. Conclusion This paper reveals the floristic diversity of Salar HGs. It presents useful information in the homegarden agroecosystem of Salar people, such as HG types and species diversity in Salar HGs. Ecosystem functions and services research suggested that the Salar HG agroecosystem provides agroecosystem services mainly related to supply and culture services. Salar HGs are important as food supplement resources, aesthetics symbol, and cultural spaces.

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Development of profitable milk production systems for northern Australia: a field assessment of the productivity of five potential farming systems using farmlets

Animal Production Science ◽

10.1071/an09124 ◽

2010 ◽

Vol 50 (4) ◽

pp. 246 ◽

Cited By ~ 7

Author(s):

R. G. Chataway ◽

R. G. Walker ◽

M. N. Callow

Keyword(s):

Milk Production ◽

Production Systems ◽

Model Development ◽

Farming Systems ◽

Field Evaluation ◽

Nutrient Inputs ◽

Tropical Pastures ◽

Mating Period ◽

Learning Platform ◽

Forage Base

Farmlets, each of 20 cows, were established to field test five milk production systems and provide a learning platform for farmers and researchers in a subtropical environment. The systems were developed through desktop modelling and industry consultation in response to the need for substantial increases in farm milk production following deregulation of the industry. Four of the systems were based on grazing and the continued use of existing farmland resource bases, whereas the fifth comprised a feedlot and associated forage base developed as a greenfield site. The field evaluation was conducted over 4 years under more adverse environmental conditions than anticipated with below average rainfall and restrictions on irrigation. For the grazed systems, mean annual milk yield per cow ranged from 6330 kg/year (1.9 cows/ha) for a herd based on rain-grown tropical pastures to 7617 kg/year (3.0 cows/ha) where animals were based on temperate and tropical irrigated forages. For the feedlot herd, production of 9460 kg/cow.year (4.3 cows/ha of forage base) was achieved. For all herds, the level of production achieved required annual inputs of concentrates of ~3 t DM/animal and purchased conserved fodder from 0.3 to 1.5 t DM/animal. This level of supplementary feeding made a major contribution to total farm nutrient inputs, contributing 50% or more of the nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium entering the farming system, and presents challenges to the management of manure and urine that results from the higher stocking rates enabled. Mean annual milk production for the five systems ranged from 88 to 105% of that predicted by the desktop modelling. This level of agreement for the grazed systems was achieved with minimal overall change in predicted feed inputs; however, the feedlot system required a substantial increase in inputs over those predicted. Reproductive performance for all systems was poorer than anticipated, particularly over the summer mating period. We conclude that the desktop model, developed as a rapid response to assist farmers modify their current farming systems, provided a reasonable prediction of inputs required and milk production. Further model development would need to consider more closely climate variability, the limitations summer temperatures place on reproductive success and the feed requirements of feedlot herds.

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Composing Robot Production Systems: Japan as a Flexible Manufacturing System

Environment and Planning A Economy and Space ◽

10.1068/a250923 ◽

1993 ◽

Vol 25 (7) ◽

pp. 923-944 ◽

Cited By ~ 19

Author(s):

J Patchell

Keyword(s):

Case Studies ◽

Flexible Manufacturing ◽

Manufacturing System ◽

Flexible Manufacturing System ◽

Production Systems ◽

Division Of Labour ◽

Social Division ◽

Social Divisions ◽

Specific Skill

In this paper, case-study evidence of the composition of four robot production systems is provided to reveal the linkages between local, regional, and national social divisions of labour. The relation-specific skill epitomizes the sophisticated procedures used to compose production systems, and the four case studies provide evidence of the communalities and varieties of these procedures. The geography of the interrelationships of the vertical divisions of labour of design-supplied suppliers and of the horizontal division of labour of design-approved suppliers is discussed. The cooperation and competition within this social division of labour allows Japan to function as a flexible manufacturing system.

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Novel approaches to evaluate sustainability of pasture-based livestock systems

Advances in Animal Biosciences ◽

10.1017/s2040470016000108 ◽

2016 ◽

Vol 7 (2) ◽

pp. 185-190

Author(s):

A. Bernués

Keyword(s):

Ecosystem Services ◽

Public Goods ◽

Policy Design ◽

Economic Value ◽

Market Price ◽

Farming Systems ◽

Agricultural Landscapes ◽

Livestock Farming ◽

Livestock Farming Systems ◽

Livestock Systems

Pasture-based livestock systems, often located in High Value Nature farmland areas, hold the greatest potential to deliver public goods across European agricultural systems. They play an important role in preserving agricultural landscapes, farmland biodiversity, cultural heritage, and in sustaining rural development. However, many of these functions are ignored in evaluation frameworks because public goods do not have market price and are often ignored in policy design, so farmers do not get the appropriate incentives to provide them. Different conceptual frameworks can be utilized to evaluate the multiple functions or services of these systems: Multifunctional Agriculture, Ecosystem Services, and Total Economic Value. We analyze the common characteristics of these concepts (e.g. they place human benefits and societal demands at the core of their definitions), their specificities (e.g. use of different units of analysis and spatial-temporal scales), and how they can be embedded in the wider concept of sustainability. Finally, we illustrate how the different concepts can be combined to evaluate pasture-based livestock farming systems from a socio-cultural and economic perspective. The public goods (ecosystem services) provided by representative case studies in Mediterranean and Nordic regions are quantified (also in monetary terms) under different environmental/policy scenarios. The results show that there is a clear underestimation of the socio-cultural and economic values of ecosystem services provided by these farming systems. They also show that the social welfare loss linked to further abandonment of livestock farming, and the associated environmental degradation, is very large. From a societal perspective, it is necessary to jointly measure the biophysical, socio-cultural and monetary values of ecosystem services (market and nonmarket) in order to promote the sustainability of pasture-based livestock systems.

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The Fatty Acid Profile of Meat from New Zealand White Rabbits Raised under Intensive and Extensive Production Systems

Animals ◽

10.3390/ani11113126 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 11 (11) ◽

pp. 3126

Author(s):

Tomasz Daszkiewicz ◽

Andrzej Gugołek ◽

Dorota Kubiak ◽

Krzysztof Kerbaum ◽

Ewa Burczyk

Keyword(s):

Fatty Acid ◽

New Zealand ◽

Production Systems ◽

Farming Systems ◽

Barley Grain ◽

Wire Mesh ◽

Free Standing ◽

Intensive Farming ◽

New Zealand White Rabbits ◽

Pelleted Diet

The aim of this study was to compare the fatty acid (FA) profile of meat from New Zealand White rabbits raised from 30 to 90 days of age under intensive (IPS) and extensive (EPS) production systems. In group IPS, the rabbits were housed in wire mesh cages with a slatted floor (16.7 animals/m2) and were fed a commercial pelleted diet. In group EPS, the rabbits were housed in free-standing cages on straw litter (2.5 animals/m2) and were fed a conventional farm-made diet (green fodder, barley grain, stale bread, hay). The FA profile of intramuscular fat (IMF) was analyzed in samples of Longissimus thoracis et lumborum (LTL) muscle. The analyzed production systems had no significant effect on the content of most FAs in IMF. However, the differences between group means contributed to more desirable values of the quality indicators of IMF (in particular in the LTL muscle) in group IPS. The study demonstrated that the claim that meat produced under less intensive farming systems is of superior quality could be an oversimplified generalization that should be validated in research.

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Improving water productivity in the Australian Grains industry—a nationally coordinated approach

Crop and Pasture Science ◽

10.1071/cp14019 ◽

2014 ◽

Vol 65 (7) ◽

pp. 583 ◽

Cited By ~ 53

Author(s):

J. A. Kirkegaard ◽

J. R. Hunt ◽

T. M. McBeath ◽

J. M. Lilley ◽

A. Moore ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Water Use ◽

Production Systems ◽

Water Productivity ◽

Management Strategies ◽

Wheat Yield ◽

Farming Systems ◽

Annual Rainfall ◽

Cost Ratio ◽

Ex Post ◽

Farm Scale

Improving the water-limited yield of dryland crops and farming systems has been an underpinning objective of research within the Australian grains industry since the concept was defined in the 1970s. Recent slowing in productivity growth has stimulated a search for new sources of improvement, but few previous research investments have been targeted on a national scale. In 2008, the Australian grains industry established the 5-year, AU$17.6 million, Water Use Efficiency (WUE) Initiative, which challenged growers and researchers to lift WUE of grain-based production systems by 10%. Sixteen regional grower research teams distributed across southern Australia (300–700 mm annual rainfall) proposed a range of agronomic management strategies to improve water-limited productivity. A coordinating project involving a team of agronomists, plant physiologists, soil scientists and system modellers was funded to provide consistent understanding and benchmarking of water-limited yield, experimental advice and assistance, integrating system science and modelling, and to play an integration and communication role. The 16 diverse regional project activities were organised into four themes related to the type of innovation pursued (integrating break-crops, managing summer fallows, managing in-season water-use, managing variable and constraining soils), and the important interactions between these at the farm-scale were explored and emphasised. At annual meetings, the teams compared the impacts of various management strategies across different regions, and the interactions from management combinations. Simulation studies provided predictions of both a priori outcomes that were tested experimentally and extrapolation of results across sites, seasons and up to the whole-farm scale. We demonstrated experimentally that potential exists to improve water productivity at paddock scale by levels well above the 10% target by better summer weed control (37–140%), inclusion of break crops (16–83%), earlier sowing of appropriate varieties (21–33%) and matching N supply to soil type (91% on deep sands). Capturing synergies from combinations of pre- and in-crop management could increase wheat yield at farm scale by 11–47%, and significant on-farm validation and adoption of some innovations has occurred during the Initiative. An ex post economic analysis of the Initiative estimated a benefit : cost ratio of 3.7 : 1, and an internal return on investment of 18.5%. We briefly review the structure and operation of the initiative and summarise some of the key strategies that emerged to improve WUE at paddock and farm-scale.

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