Special Issue "Environmentally-Friendly Agricultural Practices For Achieving Sustainable Ecosystem Services"

A special issue of Sustainability (ISSN 2071-1050). This special issue belongs to the section "Sustainable Agriculture".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: 30 April 2022.

Special Issue Editors

Dr. José Manuel Mirás-Avalos
E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Centro de Investigación y Tecnología Agroalimentaria de Aragón (CITA), Unidad de Suelos y Riegos (asociada a EEAD-CSIC), Av. Montañana, Zaragoza, Spain
Interests: irrigation; crop modeling; sustainable agriculture; plant ecophysiology; soil management and quality; viticulture; fruit trees; crop water requirements; biodiversity; ecology
Special Issues and Collections in MDPI journals
Dr. Emily Silva Araujo
E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Laboratory of Entomology Professor Ângelo Moreira da Costa Lima, Department of Basic Pathology, Federal University of Paraná, Av. Cel. Francisco H. dos Santos, s/n, Curitiba 81531-980, Paraná, Brazil
Interests: integrated pest management; organic agriculture; biological control; insect population dynamics; taxonomy

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Ecosystem services are the many and varied benefits to humans provided by the natural environment. These include the natural pollination of crops, clean air, climate change mitigation, etc. In the current context of global change, and in order to achieve the long-term sustainability of agroecosystems, these services must be promoted. Indeed, establishing environmentally friendly management practices might help in sustaining these services and enhance the health of agroecosystems. The framework of many policies, including the European Green Deal, focuses on the promotion of a more ecofriendly agriculture. In this context, the role of ecosystem services, provisioning (such as the production of food and water), regulating (such as pest control and climate regulation), supporting (nutrient cycles and oxygen production) and cultural (spiritual and recreational benefits), is becoming incredibly relevant and of paramount importance.

This Special Issue aims at collecting original and quantitative research on the effects that agricultural and forest practices exert on ecosystem services, and how this management can be employed to promote some of these services, including:

  • Research on climate change mitigation/adaptation through the use of environmentally friendly agricultural practices.
  • Studies about the use of green infrastructures for promoting biodiversity within agroecosystems.
  • Methodological research on the quantification of ecosystem services.
  • Studies on the effects that agricultural management has on pollinators and natural biological control agents (such as predators, parasitoids and fungi).
  • Research on the advantages of soil management through cover crops in comparison with tillage practices: effects on soil health, crop production and biodiversity.
  • Work using novel techniques at different application scales (orchards and watersheds), through remote-sensing technologies.

The topics proposed can be considered from many viewpoints, and we encourage authors working on crop modelling to submit their manuscripts for consideration.

This Special Issue may contribute to highlighting the relevance of ecosystem services for achieving sustainable agricultural systems.

Thank you very much for your contributions.

Dr. José Manuel Mirás-Avalos
Dr. Emily Silva Araujo
Guest Editors

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All papers will be peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Sustainability is an international peer-reviewed open access semimonthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 1900 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

  • biodiversity
  • functional groups
  • cover crops
  • conservation
  • integrated pest management
  • soil health
  • modelling
  • climate-change adaptation
  • agricultural diversification

Published Papers (2 papers)

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Research

Article
Agro-Industrial Symbiosis and Alternative Heating Systems for Decreasing the Global Warming Potential of Greenhouse Production
Sustainability 2021, 13(16), 9040; https://doi.org/10.3390/su13169040 - 12 Aug 2021
Viewed by 312
Abstract
Greenhouses require large amounts of energy, which is the dominant factor making greenhouses more emission intensive than open-field cultivation. Alternative heating systems, such as combined heat and power (CHP), biogas, and industrial waste heat, are continuously being researched for reducing the environmental impacts [...] Read more.
Greenhouses require large amounts of energy, which is the dominant factor making greenhouses more emission intensive than open-field cultivation. Alternative heating systems, such as combined heat and power (CHP), biogas, and industrial waste heat, are continuously being researched for reducing the environmental impacts of greenhouses. This paper assesses utilizing industrial waste heat and CO2 enrichment in greenhouses as an example to propose “agro-industrial symbiosis” (AIS), to refer to a symbiotic co-operation between agricultural and industrial partners. The global warming potentials (GWPs) of greenhouse production using different heating systems are inadequately compared in the literature, which is the research gap addressed herein. Additionally, potential emission reductions of greenhouse production with industrial waste heat are yet to be assessed via lifecycle assessment (LCA). A comparative LCA of Finnish greenhouse tomato and cucumber production using various heating systems was conducted. Naturally, replacing fossil fuels with bioenergy and renewables significantly decreases the GWP. CHP systems result in decreased GWP only when using biogas as the energy source. Additionally, utilizing industrial waste heat and CO2 resulted in a low GWP. These results are applicable worldwide to guide political decision-making and clean energy production in the horticultural sector. Full article
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Article
Developing Farm-Level Social Indicators for Agri-Environment Schemes: A Focus on the Agents of Change
Sustainability 2021, 13(14), 7820; https://doi.org/10.3390/su13147820 - 13 Jul 2021
Viewed by 491
Abstract
Most monitoring and evaluation programmes for agri-environment schemes focus on understanding the environmental outcomes and the cost-effectiveness of these schemes. Evaluation of the social dimensions of agri-environment schemes, particularly the socio-cultural factors that might influence the quality of engagement with the schemes and [...] Read more.
Most monitoring and evaluation programmes for agri-environment schemes focus on understanding the environmental outcomes and the cost-effectiveness of these schemes. Evaluation of the social dimensions of agri-environment schemes, particularly the socio-cultural factors that might influence the quality of engagement with the schemes and the social wellbeing impact of scheme engagement, is limited. This is a critical gap in knowledge as there is growing recognition that without more explicit consideration of the farmers involved in land management as agents of change, the required environmental improvements will not be achieved. The aim of this paper was to undertake a systematic literature review to inform the development of a set of social indicators that can be used to measure the level of farmers’ engagement with their scheme agreement and the social sustainability outcomes from participation. Following the literature review and a short-listing ranking exercise with two sets of experts, 20 high-level (composite) social indicators and associated sub-level (component) indicators were identified. A series of scale or ranking questions that can be used to capture the indicator data were also developed and tested. This paper presents the first stage in the development of a robust set of social indicators for agri-environment schemes that will also provide a good indicator of long-term environmental outcomes. Full article
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