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AGRICULTURE AND
BIODIVERSITY:
INTERACTIONS AT THE
BOUNDARIES
By
Jeffrey A. McNeely
Chief Scientist
IUCN-The World Conservation Union
email: [email protected]
The Sperling Biodiversity Lecture
Salt Lake City, 6-8 November 2005
A post-petroleum future?
What are the causes of decline and loss?
Habitat destruction and associated degradation and fragmentation
New ways of thinking
Ecosystem Services: the benefits people
obtain from ecosystems
Provisioning
Goods produced or
provided by
ecosystems
• food
• fresh water
• fuel wood
• genetic resources
Regulating
Cultural
Benefits obtained
Non-material benefits
from regulation of
from ecosystems
ecosystem processes
• spiritual
• climate regulation
• recreational
• aesthetic
• disease regulation
• inspirational
• flood regulation
• educational
Supporting
Services necessary for production of other ecosystem services
• Soil formation
• Nutrient cycling
• Primary production
Linkages among Biodiversity,
Ecosystem Services, and
Human Well-Being
• IUCN Photo library
IUCN Photo Library © Jim Thorsell
IUCN Photo Library © Jim Thorsell
IUCN Photo Library © Jim Thorsell
Wilderness may be the only hope for the world’s
large predators, essential elements of biodiversity
Wilderness also
offers habitat for
wild relatives of
domestic plants
and animals
The main threats to biodiversity
Biodiversity will help farmers adapt
to climate change
SOILS
One of last great
frontiers in biological
research
Soil biodiversity:
contribution to
ecosystem services
– Nutrient cycling
– Mites & earthworms
 Vulnerability of soil
biodiversity & services
 Optimizing soil
biodiversity for human
well-being

Taxa in
Soil
Draft
Tree of
Life
Science: 13
June 2003
Bacteria
No human eye has ever
blinked at them through a
microscope, and most human
minds have never spent a
moment reflecting on them.
Yet the sobering fact is: they
don’t need us, but we need
them (Wilson 1987).
Ecosystem Activities
PRIMARY PRODUCERS
TREES SHRUBS
GRASSES
ETC.
GROUND COVER
SERVICE PROVIDERS
•DECOMPOSERS
•ECOSYSTEM ENGINEERS
•ELEMENTAL TRANSFORMERS
Soil biota play
some role in every
ecosystem service
with a biological
component
(Wardle et al.
2004)
Source: Swift et al. 2004;
van der Heijden et al. 1998;
De Deyn et al. 2003
PRIMARY REGULATORS
•POLLINATORS (90% of plants)
•HERBIVORES
•PARASITES
•MICRO-SYMBIONTS
SECONDARY REGULATORS
HYPER-PARASITES PREDATORS
Soil formation
EARTHWORMS:
•Up to 1000/m2
•Process up to 10 tonnes
of soil /ha/ yr.
Nutrient cycling
Plant production
Water movement
Source: Kroetsch; Hendrix & Bohlen 2002; Lee 1985; Lavelle
Sheikalmudi Tea
plantation
Tamil Nadu
Biological Management of
Soil Ecosystems
•Lower fossil fuel input
•Enhanced water storage
Vermiculture beds
•Soil biodiversity maintained
•Biocontrol maintained
•Pathogens & parasites
reduced
•Nutrients maintained in soil
Source: Senapati et al. 2003; Anderson 2004; World
Soil Resources Report 2003
SCOPE
Human Health
Soil Biodiversity
Initiative
GEF-UNEP
project
below-ground
biodiversity
Geospatial
frameworks
Molecular &
morphological
tools
Biological Diversity
& Ecosystem
Function in Soils
Taxonomy
as large-scale
International
science
Production
Safe food
Soil
Health
Soil
Biodiversity
Water
Quality
Ecosystem
Health
Source: Fox & Macdonald 2003; World Soil
Resources Report 2003, Wheeler et al. 2004
Soils and Sediments are Not Only Habitats for Microbes
Animals of
many kinds live
in or on the
surface of soils
& sediments
10 tenets of soil ecology
From Wall et al., 2004
Soil and Sediment Biodiversity: Food sources for vertebrates, invertebrates,
protozoa and microbes Above and belowsurface.
Services: PROVISION OF NUTRIENTS TO FOODWEBS
65 BIRD species
- 27 threatened
- 63 protected
17 MAMMAL species
- 6 threatened
- 11 protected
Many INVERTEBRATE species
(e.g. > 100 Carabidae sp.)
13 REPTILE species
- 13 threatened
- 13 protected
19 batracian species
- 18 threatened
- 19 protected
Slide courtesy of Decaëns et al., in press; Granval 1988; Fiers 1997
Soil and Sediment Biodiversity: Food sources for animals above-surface.
Services: Provision of economic base
EARTHWORMS
& Compost
Fishing bait
Food for animals
Manure piles for
compost production
Primack 2000
IBOY group;
Courtesy of
Decaëns et al.
in press
Soil and Sediment Biodiversity: Food sources for humans.
Services: Provision of economic base
• More than 2000 invertebrate species
• 32 Amazonian ethnic groups consume
>100 soil invertebrate species
• High nutritional value
Edible ants (Atta sp.)
Fire smoked
Ramos-Elorduy 1997, Paoletti 2000, 2002; Courtesy of Decaëns et al. in press
What happens when soils and sediment and
organisms are damaged?
Change in habitat above - decreases animal
diversity below.
Species richness
7
6
R2= 0.69*
5
4
3
2
1
0
0.00
0.10
0.20
0.30
0.40
0.50
0.60
0.70
Intensification of habitat change
Courtesy of Decaëns et al., in press; Decaëns & Jiménez, 2002
Soils and Sediments
Soils and sediments are not isolated. The
belowsurface foodwebs are linked.
Soils
Lake
Soils
Ocean
Freshwater
Sediments
Groundwater
Marine
Sediments
Wall, 2004