Can biodiversity improve soil fertility resilience in agroecosystems?
New Medit, vol 11, n.4, suppl. (December 2012), pp. 11-18
Language: EN
The search for self-sustaining, low-input, diversified, and energy-efficient agricultural systems is now a major concern of many researchers, farmers, and policymakers worldwide. A key strategy in sustainable agriculture is to restore functional biodiversity of the agricultural landscape. Biodiversity performs key ecological services and if correctly assembled in time and space can lead to agroecosystems capable of sponsoring their own soil fertility, crop protection and productivity. There is consensus that at least some minimum number of species is essential for ecosystem functioning under constant conditions and that a larger number of species is probably essential for maintaining the stability of ecosystem processes in changing environments. Determining which species have a significant impact on which processes in which ecosystems, however, remains an open empirical question.
functional biodiversity, sustainability, suppressivity, humification
