Agricultural Intensification and Ecosystem Properties

Abstract

Expansion and intensification of cultivation are among the predominant global changes of this century. Intensification of agriculture by use of high-yielding crop varieties, fertilization, irrigation, and pesticides has contributed substantially to the tremendous increases in food production over the past 50 years. Land conversion and intensification, however, also alter the biotic interactions and patterns of resource availability in ecosystems and can have serious local, regional, and global environmental consequences. The use of ecologically based management strategies can increase the sustainability of agricultural production while reducing off-site consequences.

Keywords

AgricultureEcosystemSustainabilityEnvironmental scienceIrrigationAgroforestryLand useAgricultural productivityResource (disambiguation)Production (economics)Natural resource economicsEnvironmental resource managementEnvironmental protectionEcologyBiologyEconomics

Affiliated Institutions

Related Publications

Comparative analysis of environmental impacts of agricultural production systems, agricultural input efficiency, and food choice

Michael Clark , David Tilman

Global agricultural feeds over 7 billion people, but is also a leading cause of environmental degradation. Understanding how alternative agricultural production systems, agricul...

2017 Environmental Research Letters 920 citations

Climate Change and Food Systems

Sonja Vermeulen , Bruce Campbell , John Ingram

Food systems contribute 19%–29% of global anthropogenic greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, releasing 9,800–16,900 megatonnes of carbon dioxide equivalent (MtCO 2 e) in 2008. Agricu...

2012 Annual Review of Environment and Reso... 2258 citations

Reducing food’s environmental impacts through producers and consumers

Joseph Poore , Thomas Nemecek

The global impacts of food production Food is produced and processed by millions of farmers and intermediaries globally, with substantial associated environmental costs. Given t...

2018 Science 5095 citations

Food Surplus and Its Climate Burdens

Ceren Hiç , Prajal Pradhan , Diego Rybski +1 more

Avoiding food loss and waste may counteract the increasing food demand and reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions from the agricultural sector. This is crucial because of limited...

2016 Environmental Science & Technology 182 citations

Global Consequences of Land Use

Jonathan A. Foley , Ruth DeFries , Gregory P. Asner +16 more

Land use has generally been considered a local environmental issue, but it is becoming a force of global importance. Worldwide changes to forests, farmlands, waterways, and air ...

2005 Science 12502 citations

Publication Info

Year: 1997
Type: article
Volume: 277
Issue: 5325
Pages: 504-509
Citations: 3055
Access: Closed

External Links

View on DOI.org

Social Impact

Altmetric

Agricultural Intensification and Ecosystem Properties

PlumX Metrics

Social media, news, blog, policy document mentions

Citation Metrics

3055

OpenAlex

Cite This

APA Style

                            
                                
                                    Pamela A. Matson, 
                                
                                    W. J. Parton, 
                                
                                    Alison G. Power
                                
                                et al.
                            
                            (1997). 
                            Agricultural Intensification and Ecosystem Properties. 
                            Science
                            , 277
                            (5325)
                            , 504-509.
                            https://doi.org/10.1126/science.277.5325.504
                        

Identifiers

DOI: 10.1126/science.277.5325.504