Agricultural Resilience: Perspectives from Ecology and Economics

Description

Agriculture as a social-ecological system embraces many disciplines. This book breaks through the silos of individual disciplines to bring ecologists and economists together to consider agriculture through the lens of resilience. It explores the economic, environmental and social uncertainties that influence the behaviour of agricultural producers and their subsequent farming approach, highlighting the importance of adaptability, innovation and capital reserves in enabling agriculture to persist under climate change and market volatility. The resilience concept and its relation to complexity theory is explained and the characteristics that foster resilience in agricultural systems, including the role of biodiversity and ecosystem services, are explored. The book discusses modelling tools, metrics and approaches for assessing agricultural resilience, highlighting areas where interdisciplinary thinking can enhance the development of resilience. It is suitable for those researching sustainable agriculture or those engaged in agricultural policy decisions and analysis, as well as students of ecology, agriculture and socioeconomics.

Sarah M. Gardner works at the interface of ecology and environmental economics. She has worked with agricultural policymakers, land managers and farmers for over twenty years as adviser, researcher and lecturer. Her current work at GardnerLoboAssociates involves the design of data management systems for the livestock sector. Stephen J. Ramsden is Associate Professor in Farm Business Management at the University of Nottingham. He has taught Agriculture for twenty-five years and worked on a wide range of research, with a central focus on farmers as decision makers. Rosemary S. Hails is Director of Nature and Science at The National Trust, UK, and formerly Director of Biodiversity and Ecosystem Science at the Centre for Ecology and Hydrology. She leads the co-ordination of the Valuing Nature Programme (funded across the UK Research Councils), is Chair of the Advisory Committee on Releases to the Environment (ACRE) and a member of the Natural Environment Research Council (NERC) Science Board.

'The 36 contributors from various institutions have produced a valuable text that is a vital reminder of the multifaceted nature of agriculture at a time when a warming world is changing rapidly and the global population is increasing.' A. M. Mannion, The Biologist 'It is suitable for both researchers and policymakers, especially those who are genuinely interested in bridging economics and ecology in agriculture.' Lixin Wang, The Quarterly Review of Biology