TY - JOUR
T1 - Comparative Energy-Landscape Integrated Analysis (ELIA) of past and present agroecosystems in North America and Europe from the 1830s to the 2010s
AU - Marull, Joan
AU - Cattaneo, Claudio
AU - Gingrich, Simone
AU - de Molina, Manuel González
AU - Guzmán, Gloria I.
AU - Watson, Andrew
AU - MacFadyen, Joshua
AU - Pons, Manel
AU - Tello, Enric
N1 - Funding Information:
This work has been supported by the international Partnership Grant SSHRC-895-2011-1020 on ‘Sustainable farm systems: long-term socio-ecological metabolism in western agriculture’ funded by the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada and the Spanish research project HAR2015-69620-C2 .
Publisher Copyright:
© 2019 Elsevier Ltd
PY - 2019/10
Y1 - 2019/10
N2 - Along the last century there has been an unprecedented growth in both global food production and related socioecological impacts. The objective of this paper is to analyse the effects of long-term metabolic patterns of agrarian systems on land use and cover changes (LUCC). We have developed an Energy-Landscape Integrated Analysis (ELIA) of agroecosystems to measure the energy storage (E) and the information (I) represented by the complexity of internal energy cycles, in order to correlate both with the energy imprint in the landscape functional-structure (L) that sustains biodiversity. ELIA values are used to assess the agro-ecological landscape transitions in different case studies analysed in North America (Canada and USA) and Europe (Austria and Spain), demonstrating their sensitivity and robustness for case study comparisons on farm-driven environmental change. The results show two stages of the socio-metabolic transition: a first period (from 1830 to 1956) characterized by a non-significant decrease in energy reinvestment (E) and a decrease in energy redistribution (I); and a second period (from 1956 to 2000) with a significant loss of E·I optimal values and associated landscape patterns (L). To overcome the socioecological degradation that these trends implied requires a low external input strategy based on an innovative enhancement of cultural knowledge kept by rural populations, which may help to empower farm communities in the markets and in the public arena. Further research could help to reveal how and why different strategies of agroecosystem management lead to key turning points in the relationship between energy flows, landscape functioning and biodiversity. This research will be very useful for public policies aimed to promote more climate and socioecological resilience of agricultural landscapes and food systems worldwide.
AB - Along the last century there has been an unprecedented growth in both global food production and related socioecological impacts. The objective of this paper is to analyse the effects of long-term metabolic patterns of agrarian systems on land use and cover changes (LUCC). We have developed an Energy-Landscape Integrated Analysis (ELIA) of agroecosystems to measure the energy storage (E) and the information (I) represented by the complexity of internal energy cycles, in order to correlate both with the energy imprint in the landscape functional-structure (L) that sustains biodiversity. ELIA values are used to assess the agro-ecological landscape transitions in different case studies analysed in North America (Canada and USA) and Europe (Austria and Spain), demonstrating their sensitivity and robustness for case study comparisons on farm-driven environmental change. The results show two stages of the socio-metabolic transition: a first period (from 1830 to 1956) characterized by a non-significant decrease in energy reinvestment (E) and a decrease in energy redistribution (I); and a second period (from 1956 to 2000) with a significant loss of E·I optimal values and associated landscape patterns (L). To overcome the socioecological degradation that these trends implied requires a low external input strategy based on an innovative enhancement of cultural knowledge kept by rural populations, which may help to empower farm communities in the markets and in the public arena. Further research could help to reveal how and why different strategies of agroecosystem management lead to key turning points in the relationship between energy flows, landscape functioning and biodiversity. This research will be very useful for public policies aimed to promote more climate and socioecological resilience of agricultural landscapes and food systems worldwide.
KW - Agroecosystem complexity
KW - Energy return on investment
KW - Landscape agroecology
KW - Long-term socioecological metabolism
KW - Low external input strategy
KW - Sustainable farm systems
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85066113663&partnerID=8YFLogxK
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/citedby.url?scp=85066113663&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1016/j.agsy.2019.05.011
DO - 10.1016/j.agsy.2019.05.011
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:85066113663
SN - 0308-521X
VL - 175
SP - 46
EP - 57
JO - Agricultural Systems
JF - Agricultural Systems
ER -