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Organic and conservation agriculture promote ecosystem multifunctionality

Wittwer, Raphaël A. ; Bender, S. Franz ; Hartman, Kyle ; Hydbom, Sofia LU ; Lima, Ruy A.A. ; Loaiza, Viviana ; Nemecek, Thomas ; Oehl, Fritz ; Olsson, Pål Axel LU and Petchey, Owen , et al. (2021) In Science Advances 7(34).
Abstract

Ecosystems provide multiple services to humans. However, agricultural systems are usually evaluated on their productivity and economic performance, and a systematic and quantitative assessment of the multifunctionality of agroecosystems including environmental services is missing. Using a long-term farming system experiment, we evaluated and compared the agronomic, economic, and ecological performance of the most widespread arable cropping systems in Europe: Organic, conservation, and conventional agriculture. We analyzed 43 agroecosystem properties and determined overall agroecosystem multifunctionality. We show that organic and conservation agriculture promoted ecosystem multifunctionality, especially by enhancing regulating and... (More)

Ecosystems provide multiple services to humans. However, agricultural systems are usually evaluated on their productivity and economic performance, and a systematic and quantitative assessment of the multifunctionality of agroecosystems including environmental services is missing. Using a long-term farming system experiment, we evaluated and compared the agronomic, economic, and ecological performance of the most widespread arable cropping systems in Europe: Organic, conservation, and conventional agriculture. We analyzed 43 agroecosystem properties and determined overall agroecosystem multifunctionality. We show that organic and conservation agriculture promoted ecosystem multifunctionality, especially by enhancing regulating and supporting services, including biodiversity preservation, soil and water quality, and climate mitigation. In contrast, conventional cropping showed reduced multifunctionality but delivered highest yield. Organic production resulted in higher economic performance, thanks to higher product prices and additional support payments. Our results demonstrate that different cropping systems provide opposing services, enforcing the productivity-environmental protection dilemma for agroecosystem functioning.

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organization
publishing date
type
Contribution to journal
publication status
published
subject
in
Science Advances
volume
7
issue
34
article number
eabg6995
publisher
American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS)
external identifiers
  • scopus:85113354692
  • pmid:34417179
ISSN
2375-2548
DOI
10.1126/sciadv.abg6995
language
English
LU publication?
yes
id
1939b073-faaf-436d-95f4-73ef538fc893
date added to LUP
2021-09-20 15:56:41
date last changed
2024-06-16 19:14:32
@article{1939b073-faaf-436d-95f4-73ef538fc893,
  abstract     = {{<p>Ecosystems provide multiple services to humans. However, agricultural systems are usually evaluated on their productivity and economic performance, and a systematic and quantitative assessment of the multifunctionality of agroecosystems including environmental services is missing. Using a long-term farming system experiment, we evaluated and compared the agronomic, economic, and ecological performance of the most widespread arable cropping systems in Europe: Organic, conservation, and conventional agriculture. We analyzed 43 agroecosystem properties and determined overall agroecosystem multifunctionality. We show that organic and conservation agriculture promoted ecosystem multifunctionality, especially by enhancing regulating and supporting services, including biodiversity preservation, soil and water quality, and climate mitigation. In contrast, conventional cropping showed reduced multifunctionality but delivered highest yield. Organic production resulted in higher economic performance, thanks to higher product prices and additional support payments. Our results demonstrate that different cropping systems provide opposing services, enforcing the productivity-environmental protection dilemma for agroecosystem functioning. </p>}},
  author       = {{Wittwer, Raphaël A. and Bender, S. Franz and Hartman, Kyle and Hydbom, Sofia and Lima, Ruy A.A. and Loaiza, Viviana and Nemecek, Thomas and Oehl, Fritz and Olsson, Pål Axel and Petchey, Owen and Prechsl, Ulrich E. and Schlaeppi, Klaus and Scholten, Thomas and Seitz, Steffen and Six, Johan and Van Der Heijden, Marcel G.A.}},
  issn         = {{2375-2548}},
  language     = {{eng}},
  number       = {{34}},
  publisher    = {{American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS)}},
  series       = {{Science Advances}},
  title        = {{Organic and conservation agriculture promote ecosystem multifunctionality}},
  url          = {{http://dx.doi.org/10.1126/sciadv.abg6995}},
  doi          = {{10.1126/sciadv.abg6995}},
  volume       = {{7}},
  year         = {{2021}},
}