BES Facebook groupAgricultural Ecology
Secretary: Barbara Smith
Aims
- To be a forum for exchange of information between ecologists, conservationists, agricultural researchers, land managers and policy makers
- To consider conservation in the farmed landscape, using ecological theory to address agricultural problems, economic and ecological sustainability of current farming systems, and the implications of agricultural policies.
- To do this: a) through meetings, workshops, field visits, an email bulletin board and a website; b) through contact with other societies.
Upcoming Meetings:
Agri-environment schemes - what have they achieved and where do we go from here?
A three day meeting in collaboration with the Association of Applied Biologists .
To be held at the University of Leicester, Oadby, UK, 27-29 April 2010
View The Association of Applied Biologists website
Agri-environment schemes have now been in operation for over two decades, and a range of different approaches are adopted across Europe. Many changes have taken place in the types of schemes supported and the approaches adopted to monitoring and evaluation. Past evaluations have highlighted both successes and perceived failures, and there has on occasion been controversy about the value of the agri-environment approach to environmental conservation on farmland. Nevertheless, such schemes continue to be the major vehicle for achieving environmental objectives in the agricultural context, and budgets are now higher than ever before. Major changes have occurred following the most recent CAP reforms, and monitoring and evaluation data are now becoming available giving early indications of performance. At the same time, new prescriptions continue to be developed and incorporated as schemes are reviewed and revised.
Themes to be explored at this conference will include the development of agri-environment policy, the rationale behind the current schemes, the science underpinning the options, implementation at field, farm and landscape scales, the assessment and evaluation of the outcomes, and the implications for future developments. A particular emphasis will be placed on the collection and assessment of evidence for success (or otherwise) of agri-environment schemes in achieving their objectives, and how this could be improved. Of specific interest will be the nature and early results from evaluation of new agri-environment schemes established following the 2005 CAP reform, but the scope will also include earlier AES and comparisons between them. Both monitoring of direct benefits and socio-economic evaluations may be included. In addition, papers describing underpinning research will also be welcomed. Keynote speakers will be invited to set the policy context.
Showcasing and testing Resources for Farmers, Agronomists and Ecologists to Increase Biodiversity on Farm
To be held at the NIAB, Cambridge, UK, 15 July 2010
Contact: Lydia Smith
Managing risk in agro-ecosystems
To be held at Rothamsted, UK, 12 October 2010
Contact: Jonathan Storkey
Recent changes in agricultural land use and crop husbandry have largely occurred with little prior analysis to determine the impact of these changes on the abundance and diversity of biota that are adapted to the farmed landscape. As a result, there has been no contingency for mitigation of the negative effects of the increasing intensification and homogenisation of the cropping landscape. The attempted restoration of the resulting degraded agro-ecosystem now accounts for a significant proportion of the public money invested in the rural economy. The invention of genetically modified crops has had the beneficial effect of focusing the mind of policy makers and the public on the issue of risk assessment in agricultural systems. However, the introduction of GMOs is just one of the potential future changes that may impact farmland biota and the ecosystem services they deliver. Other imminent threats include changes in cropping patterns (including the loss of set-aside, reduction in area of sugar beet grown or large scale planting of bio-energy crops), new pesticide legislation and climate change. Much intellectual energy has been spent already debating the potential impact of particular land use changes. In contrast, this meeting will focus on generic approaches to risk assessment that have the potential to assess the potential impact of a number of these factors in parallel and so equip policy makers with tools for trading-off alternative land use options.
Background to the Group
Agriculture is the predominant land use in Britain and the developed world. The pervasiveness of this type of land use and the fact that it involves fundamental changes in ecological processes means agricultural science is a very important subject in Britain and worldwide.
Because agricultural systems are both an economic and environmental resource agricultural research covers several subject areas which have traditionally remained quite separate. These include population, community and ecosystems ecology, conservation ecology, weed control, crop science, grassland production and forestry production.
There has long been a need for a forum for workers involved in these different areas to exchange information on subjects of mutual concern. The Agricultural Ecology Group aims to bridge the gap between ecologists working in agricultural systems, conservationists with an interest in agricultural systems, crop, grassland and forest scientists working on increasing economic production, weed scientists, and agricultural policy makers. It will integrate very different approaches (ecology, economic production, conservation) to agricultural systems to address common issues. Finally, it will enhance communication among scientists and others working on agricultural systems using meetings, workshops, BES Bulletin reports and an email forum.
Contact:
Barbara Smith
Game & Wildlife Conservation Trust
Burgate Manor
Fordingbridge, Hampshire
SP6 1EF, UK
agricultural@britishecologicalsociety.org
