Agricultural ecology

Abstract

The agro-ecosystem provides the conceptual framework within which the effects of human manipulation of crops, livestock, soil and climate on the basic ecological processes of energy flow, nutrient cycling, competition and ecoregulation can be effectively studied. The book analyses some of the most important ecological characteristics and problems of agriculture with emphasis on those factors affecting the relationships between crops/livestock and the environment and on the extent to which man has managed and modified the agro-ecosystem to his particular needs. The first part is systematic and is concerned with the components (crops, livestock, climate, soil) and the processes of nutrient cycling and energy flows in crops and livestock of agro-ecosystems. The second part considers ecological characteristics and the inherent or man-created problems associated with areas where climate and/or soil impose severe limitations on agricultural use or where a particular type of agriculture is dominant as in the case of paddy rice, irrigation agriculture and modern intensive farming. The book concludes with a consideration of agricultural and environmental impacts. -after Author