Abstract
<p>Trends in EU agricultural policies recognize an increasingly important role to biodiversity conservation and use in agroecosystems, including organic ones. However, along with their economic success, organic systems are facing a risk of ‘conventionalization’, i.e. the prevalence of input substitution over agroecologically-based crop management. Understanding what is functional agrobiodiversity and when it can be successfully applied in organics may help strengthen the recognition of organic farming as the reference management system for agricultural sustainability. Here functional agrobiodiversity is defined as a subset of total biodiversity identified at the gene, species or habitat level able to deliver a given agroecosystem service, which extent increases with diversity in the functional group. Different functional agrobiodiversity categories are identified, compared to biofunctionality, and used to illustrate the mechanisms through which they can support agroecosystem services and consequently sustainability. Three case studies taken from the author’s own research are used as examples to illustrate functional agrobiodiversity’s potential in organic systems as well as open questions. Results show that (i) functional agrobiodiversity has potential to support agroecosystem services but it is not possible to generalize the effects; (ii) a given functional biodiversity element may create conflicts between different target agroecosystem services. In those cases, prioritization of services is required.</p>
Highlights
1.1 Scope and Structure of the PaperThis paper aims to highlight the potential of functional biodiversity to improve organic farming and strengthen its recognition as one of the best models for sustainable agriculture
Functional agrobiodiversity is defined as a subset of total biodiversity identified at the gene, species or habitat level able to deliver a given agroecosystem service, which extent increases with diversity in the functional group
In the first I will present the current trends in sustainable agriculture policies, with special reference to the European Union (EU), and the threats organic farming may face if it rests on its laurels
Summary
This paper aims to highlight the potential of functional biodiversity to improve organic farming and strengthen its recognition as one of the best models for sustainable agriculture. In the first I will present the current trends in sustainable agriculture policies, with special reference to the European Union (EU), and the threats organic farming may face if it rests on its laurels. In the second part I will synthesize the relationships between agriculture and biodiversity as perceived by researchers with different backgrounds and by EU policy makers. In the third part I will provide a working definition of functional biodiversity, illustrate its typologies and present three case studies from our research showing different effect types. In the last part I will draw some conclusions and highlight the links between functional biodiversity and sustainability and recognition of organic farming systems
Sign-in/Register to view highlights & summary 
Published Version
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a call