Impact of agroecological management on plant diversity and soil-based ecosystem services in pasture and coffee systems in the Atlantic forest of Brazil
The development of agroecosystems that can provide multiple ecosystem services with a reduced need of external inputs, requires management practices that foster ecological processes to enhance soil quality and crop productivity. We assessed the direct and indirect impacts of farmers’ management...
| Autores principales: | , , , , |
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| Formato: | info:ar-repo/semantics/artículo |
| Lenguaje: | Inglés |
| Publicado: |
Elsevier
2023
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| Materias: | |
| Acceso en línea: | http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.12123/14911 https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0167880920303571 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.agee.2020.107171 |
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| author | Mancini Teixeira, Heitor Bianchi, Felix J.J.A. Cardoso, Irene María Tittonell, Pablo Adrian Peña-Claros, Marielos |
| author_browse | Bianchi, Felix J.J.A. Cardoso, Irene María Mancini Teixeira, Heitor Peña-Claros, Marielos Tittonell, Pablo Adrian |
| author_facet | Mancini Teixeira, Heitor Bianchi, Felix J.J.A. Cardoso, Irene María Tittonell, Pablo Adrian Peña-Claros, Marielos |
| author_sort | Mancini Teixeira, Heitor |
| collection | INTA Digital |
| description | The development of agroecosystems that can provide multiple ecosystem services with a reduced need of
external inputs, requires management practices that foster ecological processes to enhance soil quality and crop
productivity. We assessed the direct and indirect impacts of farmers’ management practices on plant diversity,
soil quality and crop productivity in coffee and pasture fields belonging to different types of farms: agroeco logical, conventional, and large-scale. The study was carried out in twelve farms in the Zona da Mata, Brazil. For
each of the total of 24 fields (twelve pastures and twelve coffee) we recorded 41 variables associated with
management practices, indicators of plant diversity (taxonomical, structural and functional diversity) and soil
quality (biological, chemical and physical properties). The direct and indirect effects of management on plant
diversity, soil quality and in the case of coffee, crop productivity, were assessed using structural equation models.
In the case of pastures, we found that increased plant diversity due to agroecological management resulted in
higher soil quality, probably due to higher soil litter cover and plant structural heterogeneity. Yet, practices
presented in the agroecological farms also had a direct negative effect on soil quality, which indicates that
increased plant diversity in pastures needs to be combined with other agroecological management practices than
currently adopted. In the case of coffee, we show that despite the higher weeding intensity and higher use of
external inputs in large-scale and conventional coffee farming systems, these practices did not result in increased
soil quality or coffee productivity as compared to agroecological systems. In contrast, agroecological coffee
management was associated with increased plant diversity, which, in turn, was positively associated with soil
microbial biomass carbon. Our results highlight a causal pathway of agroecological management leading to
increased plant diversity and, in turn, maintenance or increase in soil quality. While no causal link between
agroecological coffee management and coffee productivity could be demonstrated, the biodiversity-mediated
pathway resulted in similar coffee productivity in agroecological farms as compared to conventionally
managed farms, which relied on pesticides and higher inputs of chemical fertilizers. We conclude that agro ecological practices can be efficient to maintain satisfactory crop yields and soil fertility without the need of
intensive use of external inputs and weeding. |
| format | info:ar-repo/semantics/artículo |
| id | INTA14911 |
| institution | Instituto Nacional de Tecnología Agropecuaria (INTA -Argentina) |
| language | Inglés |
| publishDate | 2023 |
| publishDateRange | 2023 |
| publishDateSort | 2023 |
| publisher | Elsevier |
| publisherStr | Elsevier |
| record_format | dspace |
| spelling | INTA149112023-08-15T14:52:10Z Impact of agroecological management on plant diversity and soil-based ecosystem services in pasture and coffee systems in the Atlantic forest of Brazil Mancini Teixeira, Heitor Bianchi, Felix J.J.A. Cardoso, Irene María Tittonell, Pablo Adrian Peña-Claros, Marielos Agroecosistemas Agroecología Servicios de los Ecosistemas Soil Quality Producción Vegetal Brasil Agroecosystems Agroecology Ecosystem Services Calidad del Suelo Crop Production Brazil The development of agroecosystems that can provide multiple ecosystem services with a reduced need of external inputs, requires management practices that foster ecological processes to enhance soil quality and crop productivity. We assessed the direct and indirect impacts of farmers’ management practices on plant diversity, soil quality and crop productivity in coffee and pasture fields belonging to different types of farms: agroeco logical, conventional, and large-scale. The study was carried out in twelve farms in the Zona da Mata, Brazil. For each of the total of 24 fields (twelve pastures and twelve coffee) we recorded 41 variables associated with management practices, indicators of plant diversity (taxonomical, structural and functional diversity) and soil quality (biological, chemical and physical properties). The direct and indirect effects of management on plant diversity, soil quality and in the case of coffee, crop productivity, were assessed using structural equation models. In the case of pastures, we found that increased plant diversity due to agroecological management resulted in higher soil quality, probably due to higher soil litter cover and plant structural heterogeneity. Yet, practices presented in the agroecological farms also had a direct negative effect on soil quality, which indicates that increased plant diversity in pastures needs to be combined with other agroecological management practices than currently adopted. In the case of coffee, we show that despite the higher weeding intensity and higher use of external inputs in large-scale and conventional coffee farming systems, these practices did not result in increased soil quality or coffee productivity as compared to agroecological systems. In contrast, agroecological coffee management was associated with increased plant diversity, which, in turn, was positively associated with soil microbial biomass carbon. Our results highlight a causal pathway of agroecological management leading to increased plant diversity and, in turn, maintenance or increase in soil quality. While no causal link between agroecological coffee management and coffee productivity could be demonstrated, the biodiversity-mediated pathway resulted in similar coffee productivity in agroecological farms as compared to conventionally managed farms, which relied on pesticides and higher inputs of chemical fertilizers. We conclude that agro ecological practices can be efficient to maintain satisfactory crop yields and soil fertility without the need of intensive use of external inputs and weeding. EEA Bariloche Fil: Mancini Teixeira, Heitor. Wageningen University & Research. Farming Systems Ecology Group; Países Bajos. Fil: Mancini Texeira, Heitor. Universidade Federal de Viçosa. Department of Soil and Plant Nutrition; Brasil. Fil: Mancini Texeira, Heitor. Wageningen University & Research. Forest Ecology and Forest Management Group; Países Bajos. Fil: Bianchi, Felix J.J.A. Wageningen University & Research. Farming Systems Ecology Group; Países Bajos Fil: Cardoso, Irene María. Federal University of Viçosa. Department of Soil and Plant Nutrition; Brasil. Fil: Tittonell, Pablo Adrian. Instituto Nacional de Tecnología Agropecuaria (INTA). Estación Experimental Agropecuaria Bariloche. Instituto de Investigaciones Forestales y Agropecuarias Bariloche; Argentina. Fil: Tittonell, Pablo Adrian. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Cientificas y Tecnicas. Instituto de Investigaciones Forestales y Agropecuarias Bariloche; Argentina. Fil: Tittonell, Pablo Adrian. Universite de Montpellier. Centre de cooperation Internationale en Recherche Agronomique pour le Developpement. Agroecologie et Intensification Durable; Francia Fil: Tittonell, Pablo Adrian. Groningen University. Groningen Institute of Evolutionary Life Sciences; Países Bajos. Fil: Peña-Claros, Marielos.Wageningen University & Research. Forest Ecology and Forest Management Group; Países Bajos. 2023-08-15T14:36:43Z 2023-08-15T14:36:43Z 2021 info:ar-repo/semantics/artículo info:eu-repo/semantics/article info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersion http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.12123/14911 https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0167880920303571 1873-2305 0167-8809 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.agee.2020.107171 eng info:eu-repo/semantics/openAccess http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/4.0/ Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International (CC BY-NC-SA 4.0) application/pdf Elsevier Agriculture, Ecosystems & Environment 305: Art: 107171 (Enero 2021) |
| spellingShingle | Agroecosistemas Agroecología Servicios de los Ecosistemas Soil Quality Producción Vegetal Brasil Agroecosystems Agroecology Ecosystem Services Calidad del Suelo Crop Production Brazil Mancini Teixeira, Heitor Bianchi, Felix J.J.A. Cardoso, Irene María Tittonell, Pablo Adrian Peña-Claros, Marielos Impact of agroecological management on plant diversity and soil-based ecosystem services in pasture and coffee systems in the Atlantic forest of Brazil |
| title | Impact of agroecological management on plant diversity and soil-based ecosystem services in pasture and coffee systems in the Atlantic forest of Brazil |
| title_full | Impact of agroecological management on plant diversity and soil-based ecosystem services in pasture and coffee systems in the Atlantic forest of Brazil |
| title_fullStr | Impact of agroecological management on plant diversity and soil-based ecosystem services in pasture and coffee systems in the Atlantic forest of Brazil |
| title_full_unstemmed | Impact of agroecological management on plant diversity and soil-based ecosystem services in pasture and coffee systems in the Atlantic forest of Brazil |
| title_short | Impact of agroecological management on plant diversity and soil-based ecosystem services in pasture and coffee systems in the Atlantic forest of Brazil |
| title_sort | impact of agroecological management on plant diversity and soil based ecosystem services in pasture and coffee systems in the atlantic forest of brazil |
| topic | Agroecosistemas Agroecología Servicios de los Ecosistemas Soil Quality Producción Vegetal Brasil Agroecosystems Agroecology Ecosystem Services Calidad del Suelo Crop Production Brazil |
| url | http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.12123/14911 https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0167880920303571 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.agee.2020.107171 |
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