Wild Biodiversity and Agricultural Production Systems
A special issue of Land (ISSN 2073-445X).
Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (17 May 2024) | Viewed by 699
Special Issue Editors
Interests: biodiversity monitoring and modelling in agricultural and livestock production landscapes; life cycle biodiversity impact assessment of agricultural and livestock systems; ecology of native and cultivated grasslands under a changing climate and land use
Interests: environmental performance of extensive and intensive livestock farming practices; land use life cycle assessment of livestock production systems and industries
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals
Special Issue Information
Dear Colleagues,
There is a growing need to understand the extent of interdependencies between agricultural production systems and wild biodiversity and associated risks and opportunities. Significant uncertainty exists regarding the contribution of the farming and livestock production systems and related land-use decisions to wild plant and animal biodiversity and their habitats across and beyond agricultural-producing landscapes. Gathering data on species from diverse taxonomic groups enables a more comprehensive picture of how agricultural and livestock farming practices interact with biodiversity as a whole, information that is critical to reaching biodiversity sustenance targets and sustainability goals for the agriculture sector under a changing climate and land use.
The agriculture sector is characterized by a diversity of extensive and intensive production systems that rely on a wide range of natural and cultivated land-use types. Habitat degradation and land conversion are considered the most pervasive effects of agriculture on wild biodiversity. However, it is also widely acknowledged that natural lands appropriately used for agricultural and livestock production maintain a much higher share of native species and habitats than cropped land and significantly contribute to creating biologically diverse farming landscapes that are essential for safeguarding agricultural systems from environmental changes and challenges. In addition, the agriculture sector can reduce its adverse effects on biodiversity by adapting environmentally beneficial farming practices throughout its production systems.
In this Special Issue, we invite the submission of original contributions (empirical and modelling studies and systematic reviews) that address and discuss these contrasting effects of agricultural and livestock production practices on wild biodiversity and habitats by reflecting one or more of the following:
- Agricultural and livestock production life cycle;
- Land-use footprints of farming production systems;
- Wild plant and animal biodiversity;
- Multi-species and multi-taxa biodiversity indicators;
- Quantitative, qualitative, or mixed biodiversity indicators;
- Terrestrial and aquatic habitats and biodiversity;
- Species and habitat monitoring, modelling, and mapping;
- Landscape heterogeneity and habitat suitability, configuration, and connectivity;
- Reference state, historic land use, and potential natural land cover and vegetation;
- Beneficial and detrimental effects of agricultural production across multiple scales;
- Land management and climate-resilient farming practices;
- Biodiversity assessment and performance of agricultural production systems;
- Biodiversity management policies and measures for agricultural sustainability and food security.
Dr. Majid Iravani
Prof. Dr. Tim A. McAllister
Guest Editors
Manuscript Submission Information
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Keywords
- farming production systems
- agricultural productivity
- land-use decisions
- habitat degradation
- land conversion
- native and invasive species
- biodiversity and habitat loss
- biodiversity conservation and restoration
- beneficial practices
- environmental changes
- environmental sustainability
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