Agronomy for Sustainable Development - Virtual Issue

First Virtual Issue Available: 'Agroecological Engineering'

We are very pleased to inform you that the first Virtual Issue of Agronomy for Sustainable Development: AGROECOLOGICAL ENGINEERING is available as a special service for you. Our Virtual Issues are compiled in close collaboration with the Editor-in-Chief and focus on cutting-edge topics. They present key articles which have been published in the journal over the course of the last years.

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Earth has recently entered the new era of the Anthropocene, during which the rise of human activities are impacting for the first time ecosystems and climate on the global scale. Since the 1960s the green revolution has improved food production in quantity using industrially-designed agriculture, which has led to global pollution by pesticides and losses of food quality, biodiversity and soil carbon. As a consequence there is a need to implement agroecological practices in order to produce food safely and in a sustainable way. This virtual issue presents principles and applications of agroecological engineering, exemplified in 19 selected review articles from the journal Agronomy for Sustainable Development, one of the most recognized journals in Agronomy. Practical examples of agroecological engineering include ecological pest control, intercropping, multiple cropping systems, biofertilisation, or the management of important components of agroecosystems such as ditches in landscapes, weeds and bees, and soil biodiversity. On the whole, this virtual issue covers a large range of topics and systems in temperate and tropical environments.

• Editorial: Agroecological Engineering (pdf, 1.6 MB) (this opens in a new tab)

Positioning and societal challenges

• Agroecology as a science, a movement and a practice. A review (this opens in a new tab)
• Agroecologically efficient agricultural systems for smallholder farmers: contributions to food sovereignty (OPEN ACCESS) (this opens in a new tab)
• Agroecology and the design of climate change-resilient farming systems (this opens in a new tab)

Conceptual and methodological frameworks

• Integrating ecological engineering and ecological intensification from management practices to ecosystem services into a generic framework: a review (this opens in a new tab)
• How to implement biodiversity-based agriculture to enhance ecosystem services: a review (OPEN ACCESS) (this opens in a new tab)
• Designing agroecological transitions; A review (OPEN ACCESS) (this opens in a new tab)
• A trait-based approach to comparative functional plant ecology: concepts, methods and applications for agroecology. A review (this opens in a new tab)

Modelling

• Modular structure of web-based decision support systems for integrated pest management. A review (this opens in a new tab)
• Food web-based simulation for agroecology (this opens in a new tab)
• Deliberative processes for comprehensive evaluation of agroecological models. A review (this opens in a new tab)
• Metaheuristics for agricultural land use optimization. A review (this opens in a new tab)

Management levers

• Management of crop water under drought: a review (this opens in a new tab)
• Agroecological management of cucurbit-infesting fruit fly: a review (this opens in a new tab)
• Ecological principles underlying the increase of productivity achieved by cereal-grain legume intercrops in organic farming. A review (this opens in a new tab)
• Multiple cropping systems as drivers for providing multiple ecosystem services: from concepts to design (this opens in a new tab)
• Managing ditches for agroecological engineering of landscape. A review (this opens in a new tab)
• Effects of anaerobic digestion on soil carbon and nitrogen turnover, N emissions, and soil biological activity. A review (this opens in a new tab)
• Weeds for bees? A review (this opens in a new tab)
• Understanding and managing soil biodiversity: a major challenge in agroecology (this opens in a new tab)