Ecological intensification: bridging the gap between science and practice

Kleijn, D., Bommarco, R., Fijen, T. P. M., Garibaldi, L. A., Potts, S. G. ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-2045-980X and van der Putten, W. H. (2019) Ecological intensification: bridging the gap between science and practice. Trends in Ecology & Evolution, 34 (2). pp. 154-166. ISSN 0169-5347 doi: 10.1016/j.tree.2018.11.002

Abstract/Summary

There is worldwide concern about the environmental costs of conventional intensification of agriculture. Growing evidence suggests that ecological intensification of mainstream farming can safeguard food production, with accompanying environmental benefits; however, the approach is rarely adopted by farmers. Our review of the evidence for replacing external inputs with ecosystem services shows that scientists tend to focus on processes (e.g., pollination) rather than outcomes (e.g., profits), and express benefits at spatio-temporal scales that are not always relevant to farmers. This results in mismatches in perceived benefits of ecological intensification between scientists and farmers, which hinders its uptake. We provide recommendations for overcoming these mismatches and highlight important additional factors driving uptake of nature-based management practices, such as social acceptability of farming.

Item Type	Article
URI	https://reading-clone.eprints-hosting.org/id/eprint/82030
Identification Number/DOI	10.1016/j.tree.2018.11.002
Refereed	Yes
Divisions	Life Sciences > School of Agriculture, Policy and Development > Department of Sustainable Land Management > Centre for Agri-environmental Research (CAER)
Publisher	Elsevier
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