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Cultivating Biodiversity to Transform Agriculture

Agriculture is the primary human activity: it involves 1.3 billion people, nearly a quarter of the worldỚ"s population and half of its labour force. The cultivated area, i.e., the area where humans plan and directly control the vegetation cover, now represents over 20% of the landmass. Faced w...

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Bibliographic Details
Corporate Author: SpringerLink (Online service)
Other Authors: Hainzelin, ©0tienne. (Editor)
Format: Electronic
Language:English
Published: Dordrecht : Springer Netherlands : Imprint: Springer, 2013.
Subjects:
Life sciences.
Agriculture.
Ecosystems.
Plant ecology.
Nature conservation.
Sustainable development.
Life Sciences.
Sustainable Development.
Nature Conservation.
Plant Ecology.
Online Access:View fulltext via EzAccess
Table of Contents:
  • Foreword
  • Introduction
  • 1. Biodiversity has always been at the heart of agricultural activity
  • 2. The challenges of agricultural transformation
  • 3. Intensifying ecological processes to transform agricultural performance
  • 4. Agrobiodiversity, the main lever of this ecological intensification
  • 5. Ecological intensification, a strategic priority for CIRAD
  • 6. A book with six viewpoints
  • 7. Bibliographical references
  • Chapter 1 The diversity of living organisms: the engine for ecological functioning
  • 1. Diversity and unity of living organisms: the successive revolutions of the biological sciences
  • 2. A history closely linked to manỚ"s
  • 3. Documented risks of erosion of agrobiodiversity
  • 4. Why Ớ<U+00dc>cultivateỚ" biodiversity?
  • 5. What is the best way of understanding the extraordinary complexity of living organisms and agroecosystems?
  • 6. Agrobiodiversity: a development issue?
  • 7. Conclusion
  • 8. Bibliographical references
  • Chapter 2 From artificialization to the ecologization of cropping systems
  • 1. The impasses in the artificialization of cropping systems
  • 2. Opportunities and limitations of cropping systems that promote biodiversity
  • 3. Towards new Ớ<U+00dc>ecologically innovativeỚ" cropping systems
  • 4. Conclusion
  • 5. Bibliographical references
  • Chapter 3 Rethinking plant breeding
  • 1. Plant breeding: the past and the present
  • 2. Recent changes and developments
  • 3. The challenges of ecologically intensive agriculture
  • 4. Mechanisms to help meet the challenges of ecological intensification5. Conclusion
  • 6. Bibliographical references
  • Chapter 4 Ecological interactions within the biodiversity of cultivated systems
  • 1. Biodiversity and pest control
  • 2. Hidden soil diversity: what potential for agriculture?
  • 3. Biodiversity and agriculture-livestock interactions
  • 4. Conclusion
  • 5. Bibliographical references
  • Chapter 5 Conserving and cultivating agricultural genetic diversity: transcending established divides
  • 1. History of the conservation of genetic resources in agriculture
  • 2. International strategies and policies in favour of mobilizing genetic diversity
  • 3. Need for in situ conservation and complementarities with ex situ conservation
  • 4. Conclusion: hybridization or co-evolution of conservation models
  • 5. Bibliographical references
  • Chapter 6 Towards biodiverse agricultural systems: reflecting on the technological, social and institutional changes at stake
  • 1. Co-evolution between technical dynamics and social dynamics: an analysis which starts upstream of agriculture
  • 2. Recent changes in agriculture and food systems: market dynamics and new directions
  • 3. Conclusion
  • 4. Bibliographical references
  • List of authors.

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