Ecological Agriculture Midterm

Need for Change

Agriculture is inherently somewhat in opposition to nature because humans actively manage and alter natural systems to produce food.

Arabic Agricultural Revolution

Period when many different crop plants spread throughout the world and irrigation systems were developed, allowing agriculture to expand beyond areas directly beside natural water bodies.

Irrigation Systems

Canals and other systems that transport water to crops, reducing the need for agricultural land to be located directly beside a natural water source.

British Agricultural Revolution

Period of agricultural innovation involving crop rotations, seed drills, animal manure, new crops, and improved productivity.

Crop Rotation

Growing different crops in a planned sequence, including nitrogen-fixing crops such as clover, to improve soil conditions and agricultural productivity.

Seed Drill

Agricultural technology that plants seeds more uniformly and at consistent depths.

Animal Manure

Organic fertilizer used to return nutrients and organic matter to agricultural soils.

British Agricultural Revolution and Population Growth

Increased agricultural productivity supported increases in population.

Enclosure Movement

Restriction and consolidation of agricultural land that reduced peasants' access to land for growing food.

British Agricultural Revolution and Industrialization

Increased agricultural productivity reduced the need for farm labour, encouraging migration into cities and contributing to the Industrial Revolution.

British Agricultural Revolution and Gender Roles

Changes in agriculture removed many traditional female roles from farms and were associated with increased prostitution.

Canadian Agriculture and Buffalo

Buffalo were deliberately slaughtered after recognizing that First Nations communities moved with and depended on them, severely affecting Indigenous food sovereignty.

Canadian Agricultural Recruitment of 1876

A recruitment campaign encouraged immigrants to come to Canada to work on farms.

Agriculture and Canadian Policy

Agriculture strongly influences government policies and supports because policies may either support or conflict with the needs of the agri-food system.

Class 1 Farmland in Canada

Only a relatively small amount of Canada's land consists of highly suitable Class 1 agricultural land.

Green Revolution

Agricultural transformation from approximately the 1930s to 1960s that attempted to increase food production by transferring Western agricultural knowledge, technology, and high-yielding crop varieties around the world.

High-Yielding Varieties

Crop varieties bred with characteristics allowing them to take up large amounts of nitrogen and produce high yields without falling over.

Norman Borlaug

Major figure associated with the Green Revolution who helped transfer Western agricultural technologies and practices to other countries.

Soil Fertility Drawdown

Loss or depletion of nutrients from agricultural soils, particularly when nutrients contained in harvested crops are removed from the system.

Major Problems in the Current Food System

Soil fertility loss, pests and diseases, water limitations, climate change, greenhouse gas emissions, food waste, land loss, soil degradation, high production costs, farmer instability, monocultures, geopolitical pressures, and farmer succession.

Agriculture and Fresh Water

Agriculture is a major user and polluter of freshwater resources.

Agricultural Land Loss

Loss of farmland through processes such as urban expansion and development.

Soil Degradation

Decline in soil quality through problems such as compaction, salinization, degradation, and erosion.

Monoculture

Agricultural system dominated by growing a single crop or a very limited number of crops, resulting in low crop diversity.

Farmer Succession Planning

Planning for who will take over a farm as existing farmers age or retire.

Access to Farmland in Ontario

Agricultural land can be difficult to access for people who do not already own or have family access to farmland.

Leased Farmland and Sustainability

Short-term land leasing can make long-term ecological management practices economically difficult because tenants may lack incentives or security to invest in long-term soil health.

Food Insecurity

Inadequate or insecure access to sufficient food and an important problem in Ontario.

Food Safety in Canada

Canada has a robust food safety system, although outbreaks of foodborne illness still occur.

Use-By and Best-Before Dates

Food dates are not always direct indicators of safety and may instead indicate when a product is expected to have its best quality or taste.

Conventional Agriculture

Large-scale agriculture often characterized by monocultures, chemical inputs, cash crops, large machinery, and pesticide use, although it can still incorporate ecological principles.

Cash Crops

Crops grown primarily for sale and income rather than direct consumption by the producer.

Industrial Grain-Oilseed-Livestock Complex

Agricultural system linking grain and oilseed production with concentrated livestock production.

Concentrated Livestock Production

Keeping large numbers of livestock within concentrated areas, which can create major environmental pressures on specific areas of land.

Crop Feeding Inefficiency

Feeding crops such as grain to livestock can represent an inefficient use of crop production compared with direct human consumption.

Agriculture and Biodiversity Loss

Agricultural expansion can eliminate natural habitats, reducing biodiversity and damaging ecosystem functions.

Sustainable Agriculture

Agricultural management that balances environmental, social, and economic needs while maintaining long-term production.

Goals of Sustainable Agriculture

Reduce environmentally harmful inputs, use ecological pest management, recycle nutrients, remain economically viable, and integrate system components.

Sustainable Agriculture and Technology

Sustainable agriculture does not automatically reject technologies or practices on ideological grounds but evaluates whether they contribute to sustainability.

Mimicking Natural Systems

Sustainable agriculture attempts to reproduce useful characteristics of natural ecosystems while recognizing that agricultural systems cannot completely mimic nature and still maintain crop yields.

Systems Approach to Sustainable Agriculture

Management approach recognizing interactions among all biotic and abiotic components of an agricultural system.

Goal of a Sustainable Production System

Integrate different system components into a productive system that benefits participants while supporting environmental, social, and economic sustainability.

Ecological Agriculture

Application of ecological theory and principles to agricultural systems.

Non-Reductionist Approach

Approach recognizing that agricultural components cannot be fully understood by examining each part separately because interactions among components influence system behaviour.

Agroecology

Approach and broader social movement that applies ecological principles to agriculture while considering how food systems affect wider social issues.

Agroecosystem

An ecosystem occurring within an agricultural landscape and shaped by agricultural management.

Functional Redundancy

Multiple species perform similar ecological roles, allowing ecosystem functions to continue if one species declines or disappears.

Closed-Loop Nutrient Cycle

System in which nutrients are continually recycled within the ecosystem rather than being permanently removed.

Nutrient Cycling in Agroecosystems

Agricultural systems experience nutrient losses when crops and products are removed, requiring nutrients to be replaced.

Inputs in Agroecosystems

External additions such as fertilizers, chemicals, water, and other management inputs used to maintain agricultural production.

Invasive Pests in Agroecosystems

Non-native pests can create additional pressures when introduced into agricultural systems.

Tillage and Decomposition

Tillage disrupts soil structure, organisms, and decomposition processes within agroecosystems.

Herbivores and Carnivores in Agroecosystems

Agricultural systems often reduce non-human herbivores and carnivores while humans remove biomass from primary producers.

Crop Breeding and Biomass Allocation

Crops are often selected to direct more energy and carbon toward edible or harvestable plant structures.

Export of Agricultural Outputs

Harvested biomass, nutrients, and other materials are removed from farms, creating more open nutrient cycles than natural ecosystems.

Ecosystem Goods and Services (EGS)

Benefits humans receive from the interactions and functions of healthy ecosystems at multiple scales.

Provisioning Services

Ecosystem goods providing tangible resources, summarized by the five Fs.

Five Fs of Provisioning Services

Food, feed, fibre, fuel, and pharmaceuticals.

Regulating Services

Ecosystem processes that regulate environmental conditions, including groundwater regeneration, flood mitigation, and greenhouse gas mitigation.

Supporting Services

Ecosystem processes maintaining agroecosystem integrity, including soil formation, soil health, and nutrient cycling.

Cultural Services

Non-material ecosystem benefits, including spiritual and cultural connections to land, identity, recreation, and community spaces.

Integrated Crop-Livestock Systems

Agricultural systems where livestock and crop production are managed together so components mutually benefit each other.

Smaller Diversified Farms

Smaller farms may have greater capacity to focus on crop diversity rather than large-scale monoculture production.

Local Food Systems

Agricultural systems emphasizing locally produced foods that meet the needs and preferences of nearby communities.

Intergenerational Knowledge Transfer

Passing agricultural knowledge and experience from older generations of farmers to younger generations.

Agricultural Policy Reform

Changing policies that encourage monocultures and increasing farm size to support more diverse and sustainable farming systems.

Agricultural Land Constraints

Only about 5% of land is free from major constraints for agricultural production.

Global Soil Degradation

Approximately one-third of Earth's soils are degraded.

Soil as an Ecological System

Soil contains biotic and abiotic components that interact, exchange matter and energy, respond to feedback loops, and produce emergent properties.

Soil and Thermodynamics

Soil ecosystems follow thermodynamic principles through the exchange and transformation of matter and energy.

Soil Functional Boundaries

Soil ecosystems have boundaries within which organisms, matter, and energy interact.

Soil Hierarchical Organization

Soil ecosystems contain multiple interacting organizational levels whose interactions produce emergent properties.

Feedback Loops in Soil

Changes in one soil component influence other components and can feed back on the original process.

Soil Habitat

Totality of living organisms and abiotic components within soil.

Factors Affecting Soil Habitats

Conditions such as precipitation, parent rock, organisms, and other environmental factors cause different soil habitats to develop.

Factors Affecting Soil Formation

Organisms, time, parent material, and topography are major factors influencing soil development.

Parent Material

Original geological material, such as rock, that weathers and contributes mineral material to soil.

Topography and Soil Formation

Slope and aspect affect sunlight, moisture, erosion, and biological activity, influencing soil development.

Spatial Heterogeneity of Soils

Variation in soil conditions from millimetre scales to hundreds of metres, contributing to differences in soil biodiversity and organism abundance.

Ideal Soil Composition

Approximately 50% pore space, consisting of about 25% water and 25% air, 45% mineral particles, and 5% organic materials.

Active Soil Organic Matter

Organic matter that is relatively easy for microbes to decompose and use.

Stable Soil Organic Matter

Organic matter that is resistant to decomposition and remains in soil for longer periods.

Soil Texture

Relative proportions and characteristics of mineral particles occurring in a soil.

Soil Structure

Arrangement of soil particles and aggregates.

Optimal Soil pH for Many Plants and Bacteria

Many plants and bacteria prefer a soil pH of approximately 6.5 to 7.5.

Macrofauna

Larger soil animals visible to the naked eye, including earthworms, arthropods, and millipedes.

Ecosystem Engineers

Organisms that physically alter their environment, such as earthworms creating burrows and air spaces in soil.

Microfauna

Very small soil organisms, generally less than 0.1 mm, including protozoa, nematodes, and rotifers.

Nematodes

Multicellular microscopic worms found within soil ecosystems.

Soil Fungi

Fungi extend hyphae through and around soil aggregates, contributing to soil ecological processes.

Hyphae

Thread-like fungal structures that spread through soil and around soil aggregates.

Agriculture and Soil Fungi

Agricultural tillage can reduce fungal abundance by disrupting underground hyphal networks.

Soil Prokaryotes

Microscopic organisms such as bacteria that often live in colonies or communities and may promote plant growth through chemical signalling.

Healthy Soil Appearance

Healthy soil is generally moist but able to crumble rather than being excessively compacted or waterlogged.

Soil Health

Continued capacity of soil to function and support plant life.

Soil Health Properties

Soil health includes physical, biological, and chemical properties.

Characteristics of Healthy Soil

High soil organic matter, good water retention and drainage, nutrient-holding capacity, appropriate salt levels, abundant organisms, strong aggregates, good structure, and balanced water- and air-filled pore spaces.

Good Soil Management Principles

Keep soil covered, minimize disturbance, maximize living roots, maximize plant diversity, promote balanced nutrient cycling, and maintain or build soil organic matter.

Keeping Soil Covered

Protecting the soil surface with vegetation or residue reduces erosion from wind and water.

Minimizing Soil Disturbance

Reducing aggressive tillage helps preserve soil structure, organisms, and ecological processes.