The conservation value of agricultural landscapes

Abstract

Agricultural landscapes are formed by a matrix of agricultural fields (i.e., agroecosystems) more or less interspersed by remaining fragments of native vegetation, water courses, roads, and human habitations. Although their presumptive mission is the production of domesticated species or their commodities, agricultural landscapes always support some wild species, which can demand human efforts to be conserved, controlled, used, or simply monitored. Such efforts can only be effective if public policy recognizes the multifunctionality of agricultural landscapes, which should be based on the following principles: (a) The conservation value of agricultural landscapes is more related to the landscape β-diversity than to the matrix α-diversity; (b) the agricultural impacts on biodiversity transcend the limits of agricultural landscapes affecting water courses and nature reserves outside them; and (c) agriculture depends on ecosystem and evolutionary services provided by biodiversity in order to be sustainable.