| Global change is increasingly affecting agricultural production and threatening food security. Organic and low-input farming systems are less demanding in fossil energy and might thus contribute to moderating global carbon missions. Moreover, under increased uncertainty and variability in environmental conditions, these systems offer solutions for buffering against climatic extremes, disease epidemics, changing nutrient availability, and other stresses that will add to already heterogeneous environmental conditions. 2010 has been designated the Biodiversity Target year by Parties to the Convention on Biological Diversity. Yet, it is clear that biological diversity in agroecosystems, measured as the number and abundance of species as well as genetic... |
