Agriculture Flashcards
What are the 3 types of agriculture?
- Extenstive agriculture
- Intenstive agriculture
- Pastoralism
Agriculture has been dominating the land surface of the globe for thousands of years, compared to foraging (decline)
How has crop production changed to meet population growth?
- Cereal production has seen a significant increase, aligning with population growth.
- Land use for cereal production has not increased dramatically due to improved yields.
- Increased yields are driven by intensification, including:
Greater use of mechanization.
Application of fertilizers and herbicides.
What factors contribute to food price volatility?
Reduced supply: e.g., climate change impacts like droughts and wildfires (e.g., 2010 Russian wildfires reduced yield by <5%, leading to a 50% price increase).
Commodity trading: Food viewed as a marketable commodity, with buying low and selling high driving fluctuations.
Volatile oil prices: Oil is essential for:
Agricultural machinery.
Transportation.
Production of synthetic chemicals like pesticides.
What are the key points about global food waste, and why is tackling it alone insufficient?
- 1/3 of all food produced is wasted.
- Developing countries: Waste due to late harvesting, improper storage, and poor infrastructure.
- Developed countries: Waste occurs in homes, restaurants, and supermarkets.
- But, Addressing waste is essential but insufficient to meet global food demand.
= Additional efforts are needed to improve production efficiency, distribution, and sustainability.
What are the impacts of urban expansion on global crop production and land use (Chen 2020)?
Urban expansion impacts croplands:
- ~55% of urban expansion will occur on current croplands.
- Global crop production is predicted to decline by 1-4%, equivalent to feeding 122-1389 million people annually for key crops.
Consequences:
- Increased pressure to clear natural vegetation for new farmland.
- Newly available land is often less fertile than the croplands lost to urbanization.
How do global food markets impact biodiversity, particularly in developing countries?
- The UK’s food supply often relies on produce from biodiversity hotspots in developing countries.
- In these regions, agricultural impacts are often severe and contribute to environmental degradation.
- Expansion of agriculture in these areas threatens important conservation areas, exacerbating biodiversity loss.
What are the impacts of agriculture on (esp bird) biodiversity?
- 20-25% of preagricultural bird numbers lost by 1990
- Agriculture biggest threat to globally endangered bird species and other groups (e.g 80% of threatened vertebrates)
- Declines in UK wild birds, arable plants butterflies and pollinators
What does evidence suggest about intensive farming and pollinators?
- Study: melon production requires a certain level of pollen deposition to generate fruit.
- Farms near natural areas had higher, natural pollen deposition rates.
- To meet pollen needs, domestic honey bee hives were required for fruit production.
Key conclusions:
- Conventional (intensive) farming doesn’t generate enough natural pollinators.
- Organic farming alone also doesn’t provide enough pollinators.
- Proximity to natural areas is crucial for effective pollination.
What did the study on livestock and wild ungulate interactions in tropical countries reveal?
Study findings:
- Wild ungulate populations were much greater inside protected national parks (free of livestock) than in areas where livestock had access.
- Livestock access significantly reduced the population sizes of wild ungulates.
Exception:
- Wild pigs were the only species that didn’t show this decline because they don’t share a diet with livestock (e.g., cattle).
What is the management conundrum in zebra conservation, and how do conservationists address it?
Conundrum:
- Conservationists aim to increase zebra populations, but also need to ensure there is enough food for people to gain support for conservation efforts.
- Without food security, there will be resistance to removing cattle from these ecosystems.
Proposed solution:
- Some argue that harvesting zebra for food could help meet local food demands while promoting conservation.
- Karl’s visit in the 90s: He found that this approach allowed ranchers to maximize native species on their land while supporting local food needs.
Solutions to the negative effects of farming
What are the pros/cons of switiching to eating wild animals?
Pros:
- Wild game better adapted than livestock
- Fewer inputs & less habitat modification
- Not just Africa, in Britain we have huge pops. of deer, rabbits etc.
Cons:
- Need policy and legislative change
- Cultural change
- Setting quotas
- Creates extra bushmeat demand?
- Enforcement?
How is certification a solution to the negative effects of farming? Give an example
- By certifying environmentally friendly produced food, you can create demand for it and sell at a slight premium that can compensate farmers for reduced yields
- Ensuring livelihoods are protected aswell as biodiversity
Example: Shade coffee
- Ancestral coffee grows under the canopy, needing shade and humidity but has low yields.
- Modern coffee is sun-tolerant, grown in intensive agriculture, and has high yields, causing deforestation.
- A group of North American conservationists promoted Shade Coffee, grown under the canopy, to help protect rainforests.
- Successful in attracting consumers concerned about declining bird populations.
- However, legislative issues with defining “canopy” led to some exploitation.
Describe how farming impacted Cirl Bunting bird pops in the UK
- 1989 massive range contraction = only present in Southern Devon
- Non migratory species but change habitat summer/winter, so habitats need to be 100ms distance
- Polarisation of farmland & increased herbicide, insecticide and fertilizer contributed to decline
- Recovery: due to scientists understanding habitat requirements, countryside stewardship scheme
Describe the UKs agri-environmental schemes
- 2005 Entry level Stewardship Handbook (high uptake, clear broad objectives, simple perscriptions)
- 2005 Higher level Stewardship Handbook (lower uptake, clear narrow objectives, complex perscriptions)
- Replaced by Environmental Land Management Schemes (ELMs), trail stage, sustainable farming incentive, local nature recovery
Do agri-environmental schemes work?
Kleijn et al. 2006
- 5 European countries, 202 paired fields
- Marginal - moderate benefits in all countries
- Common species benefit more than rare ones
- Red data book species rarely benefit
- More detailed tailoring of schemes required
What happens as organic fields increase in size
As organic fields increase in size : biodiversity gains increase - refugia but yield gaps increase too
Trade off between: biodiversity within the farm vs regional level biodiversity due to need for more farmland
What did the study “Reconciling Food Production and Biodiversity Conservation: Land Sharing and Land Sparing Compared” find regarding the impact of land sharing and land sparing on biodiversity?
Conducted in southwest Ghana and northern India, examining the effects of agricultural intensity on bird and tree species.
Key Findings:
- More species were negatively affected by agriculture than benefited from it.
- Species with small global ranges were particularly vulnerable.
- Land sparing was more effective in minimizing negative impacts on biodiversity than land sharing
Conclusion:
To reconcile food production with biodiversity conservation, protecting the largest possible area of natural habitats while growing food on the smallest area is recommended = land sparing
Why can low-intensity farming be essential for biodiversity?
- Low-intensity farming supports certain species that cannot thrive in intensive agricultural systems.
- 30 globally endangered bird species depend on low-intensity farming for their habitats and survival.
- Highlights the need for a balanced approach that incorporates both land sparing and low-intensity farming where appropriate.
Give some examples of land sharing farming techniques
- Argoforestry (integrating trees into croplands)
- Wildflower margins
- Crop rotations
- Conservation tillage
- Reduced pesticide/fertilizer use
