Taking departure in the theory of resilience in social-ecological systems, we present an analysis and discussion of how resilience theory can be applied to agroecosystems. Building on the premise that agroecosystems are too complex for resilience to be measured in any precise manner, we delineate behavior-based indicators of resilience within agroecosystems. Based on a review of relevant litera...

The challenge of managing agroecosystems on a landscape scale and the novel structure of soil communities in agroecosystems both provide reason to focus on in-field management practices, including cover crop adoption, reduced tillage, and judicial pesticide use, to promote soil community diversity. Belowground and epigeal arthropods, especially exotic generalist predators, play a significant ro...

1. Humans as Parts of Forest and Grassland Ecosystems 1.1 Human Subsistence in Forests and Grasslands Based on Gathering and Hunting 1.2 Transition of Natural Communities into Seminatural Communities 2. The Development of Agroecosystems—Agroforestry was the Origin 2.1. The Transition from Food Collection to Food Production 2.2. Agroforestry—What Does it Mean and How Does it Work? 2.3. Nutrient ...

Glossary Agroecology The application of ecological concepts and principles to the design and management of sustainable agroecosystems. Agroecosystems Agricultural ecosystems including biophysical and human components and their interactions. Biodiversity The variation of life in all forms from genes, to species, to communities, to whole ecosystems. Ecosystem service providers Organisms, guilds, ...

Increasingly research suggests that the level of internal regulation of function in agroecosystems is largely dependent on the level of plant and animal biodiversity present. In agroecosystems, biodiversity performs a variety of ecological services beyond the production of food, including recycling of nutrients, regulation of microclimate and local hydrological processes, suppression of undesir...

Social wasp colonies can be transferred to agroecosystems in order to control pest populations. Some failures of such transfers are common because wasps may abandon the nest immediately after the colony’s transfer. Knowing the nesting habits of wasps in agroecosystems could improve the success of colony transfer during wasp management. Thus, we recorded social wasp nests in a eucalyptus plantat...

This study describes the foraging ecology of birds during summer and winter in two different types of coffee agroecosystems in Chiapas, Mexico. Avian foraging behavior is documented in two agroecosystems of differing management intensity, structurally similar but with different levels of floristic diversity, during summer and winter seasons. The distribution of tree species used by birds was mo...

As human populations expand, there is increasing demand and pressure for land. Under this scenario, behavioural flexibility and adaptation become important processes leading to the persistence of large carnivores in human-dominated landscapes such as agroecosystems. A growing interest has recently emerged on the outcome of the coexistence between wolves and humans in these systems. It has been ...

The expansion and intensification of agroecosystems worldwide has significantly affected the environment at multiple spatial scales (Matson et al., 1997). Agroecosystem effects on atmospheric constituents have altered local, regional, and global environmental quality through windblown soil (Zhang et al., 2001) and emission of particulate matter, reactive N (e.g., NH3 and NOx), volatile organic ...

efficient use of inputs and energy resources is one of the most important principals of sustainable agriculture. for this purpose, water and energy productivity of irrigated agroecosystems of major crops in kermanshah province were evaluated. the data was collected via questionnaire through face to face interview of 180 farmers of this province during summer 2010. results showed that water prod...