Biotic indicators for biodiversity and sustainable agriculture—introduction and background

Büchs, Wolfgang

doi:10.1016/s0167-8809(03)00068-9

Cited by 71 publications

(58 citation statements)

References 51 publications

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“…The society then reacts through the changes with environmental and economical policies and programs, which intend to prevent or to decrease pressures. The methodology's components according to Patlitzianas et al (2008) and Buchs (2003) are described as follows: Pressure: It describes direct and indirect pressures of human activities that are applied in the environment. (What is causing the environmental conditions to change?)…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

A Model for Incorporated Measurement of Sustainable Development Comprising Remote Sensing Data and Using the Concept of Biodiversity

Petrosyan¹

2010

JSD

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The central point of the paper is on concern of how to utilize indicators to observe sustainable development in an applicable and valuable way. The aim of the work was to propose a model for achieving a composite sustainable development index using the concept of Biodiversity in order to track incorporated information on social, economic and environmental dimension of the municipality with time periods, according to: 1) Social (Population); 2) Economic (Agriculture, Tourism, Agricultural Goods and Industry); 3) Environmental (output of remote sensing data using Fragstat software). An attractive approach is suggested for the environmental dimension. The calculated metrics become an input to the model like Environmental Indicators. In addition, the concepts of Biodiversity are kept for Environmental Indicators in the following way: Ecosystem = Landscape Level and Species = Class Level. Finally, the results, discussions and conclusions are provided for each existing theme, each dimension and CSDI.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

A Model for Incorporated Measurement of Sustainable Development Comprising Remote Sensing Data and Using the Concept of Biodiversity

Petrosyan¹

2010

JSD

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“…Nevertheless, many more taxonomic groups than plants depend on farmland and require specific promotion (Büchs, 2003). For example, as our data showed, spider and bee diversity were promoted by habitat diversity and small-scale heterogeneity.…”

Section: Can General Recommendations For Species Diversity Be Derivedmentioning

confidence: 56%

“…Goals might be to promote as many species as possible and to preserve rare species (Gaston, 1996). Given that a comprehensive assessment of species diversity at the farm level is not feasible, a single metric is unlikely to be sufficient (Büchs, 2003). (iv) Farms are economic rather than ecological units and they differ in size and spatial arrangement.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Appropriate metrics to inform farmers about species diversity

Lüscher

Schneider

Turnbull

et al. 2014

Environmental Science & Policy

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Farmers are key players in actions to halt biodiversity loss from farmland. However, if farmers are to sustain biodiversity, they must first be adequately informed about biodiversity and understand its drivers. Measuring biodiversity at the farm scale is difficult because of the structural complexity of many farms, and because different aspects of diversity can be considered desirable, e.g. species richness or rarity. In this study we examined 19 grassland farms in Central Switzerland, and sampled plants, earthworms, spiders and bees using a stratified sampling design. We considered several metrics of species diversity, but found two particularly useful at farm scale: average richness (area-weighted) and farm uniqueness in terms of species identity. Average richness reflects the expected species richness in a random sample taken on the farm, and farm uniqueness is the contribution of a farm to the total species richness of all farms under study. Average richness and farm uniqueness are complementary and reflect different aspects of biodiversity. We demonstrate how combining these metrics enables tailored recommendations for enhancing species diversity on the farm. AbstractFarmers are key players in actions to halt biodiversity loss from farmland. However, if farmers are to sustain biodiversity, they must first be adequately informed about biodiversity and understand its drivers. Measuring biodiversity at the farm scale is difficult because of the structural complexity of many farms, and because different aspects of diversity can be considered desirable, e.g. species richness or rarity. In this study we examined 19 grassland farms in Central Switzerland, and sampled plants, earthworms, spiders and bees using a stratified sampling design. We considered several metrics of species diversity, but found two particularly useful at farm scale: average richness (area-weighted) and farm uniqueness in terms of species identity. Average richness reflects the expected species richness in a random sample taken on the farm, and farm uniqueness is the contribution of a farm to the total 2 species richness of all farms under study. Average richness and farm uniqueness are complementary and reflect different aspects of biodiversity. We demonstrate how combining these metrics enables tailored recommendations for enhancing species diversity on the farm.

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“…Girardin et al 1999;Riley 2001;Nortcliff 2002;Büchs 2003). Indicators have been designed to capture ecological, economic and social dimensions of sustainability for different systems and scales (Meyer et al 1992;Girardin et al 1999;Smith et al 2000;Büchs 2003).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Reference states have been defined by critical limits, margins of tolerance (Gomez et al 1996;Arshad and Martin 2002) or by a reference system (Abbona et al 2007). Yet, there is a lack of generality related to the choice and specification of the reference state (Girardin et al 1999;Arshad and Martin 2002;Büchs 2003). An example of a conceptual problem is the comparison of an 'unsustainable' reference state with a 'more sustainable' alternative, which would demonstrate some improvement in sustainability, but could hardly be viewed as 'sustainable'.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Assessing the sustainability of wheat-based cropping systems using simulation modelling: sustainability = 42?

et al. 2013

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Concepts of agricultural sustainability and possible roles of simulation modelling for characterising sustainability were explored by conducting, and reflecting on, a sustainability assessment of rain-fed wheat-based systems in the Middle East and North Africa region. We designed a goal-oriented, model-based framework using the cropping systems model Agricultural Production Systems sIMulator (APSIM). For the assessment, valid (rather than true or false) sustainability goals and indicators were identified for the target system. System-specific vagueness was depicted in sustainability polygons-a system property derived from highly quantitative data-and denoted using descriptive quantifiers. Diagnostic evaluations of alternative tillage practices demonstrated the utility of the framework to quantify key bio-physical and chemical constraints to sustainability. Here, we argue that sustainability is a vague, emergent system property of often wicked complexity that arises out of more fundamental elements and processes. A 'wicked concept of sustainability' acknowledges the breadth of the human experience of sustainability, which cannot be internalised in a model. To achieve socially desirable sustainability goals, our model-based approach can inform reflective evaluation processes that connect with the needs and values of agricultural decision-makers. Hence, it can help to frame meaningful discussions, from which actions might emerge.

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Biotic indicators for biodiversity and sustainable agriculture—introduction and background

Cited by 71 publications

References 51 publications

A Model for Incorporated Measurement of Sustainable Development Comprising Remote Sensing Data and Using the Concept of Biodiversity

A Model for Incorporated Measurement of Sustainable Development Comprising Remote Sensing Data and Using the Concept of Biodiversity

Appropriate metrics to inform farmers about species diversity

Assessing the sustainability of wheat-based cropping systems using simulation modelling: sustainability = 42?

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