Agroecology is the integrative study of interactions among biological, environmental and management factors that make up and influence agriculture.  An ecological approach to agriculture recognizes that the complex web of interactions between soil, plants, animals, humans, landscapes, and the atmosphere occurs in an often changing and interdependent environment.  Changing or manipulating one aspect of this “web” necessarily affects others.  By maintaining this “holistic” perspective on farming systems, farming alternatives are sought that sustain yields and optimize the use of local resources while minimizing the negative environmental and socio-economic impacts often associated with “reductionistic” perspectives. Ecological, economic and social dimensions are encompassed in an agroecological approach.. 

Maintaining, enhancing and restoring agro-ecosystems generally involve:

Using renewable resources
Minimizing toxics
Conserving resources
Managing ecological relationships
Adjusting to local environments
Minimizing inputs from outside the farm
Using internal regulating mechanisms
Diversification
Empowering people
Managing whole systems
Maximizing long-term benefits
Valuing health
Working with, not against, biological cycles

An ecosystem is a geographic location on the earth’s surface where energy and nutrients are captured and transformed by plants, animals, and microbes.  Effective agro-ecological management is based on understanding farms, fields, gardens and pastures as ecosystems. 

Land used for agriculture serves our society and economy in ways beyond producing food.  It must also provide a range of ecosystem services including clean surface water, filtered groundwater, clean air, biological diversity and stability, wildlife habitat, waste recycling and an aesthetically pleasing landscape.  Recognizing and understanding these complex ecosystem services aids in designing and implementing farming systems that maximize the potential services not only today, but for many generations into the future. 

A truly sustainable agriculture requires a whole-systems approach to food, feed, and fiber production that balances environmental soundness, social equity, and economic viability among all sectors of the public, including international and intergenerational peoples. Inherent in this definition is the idea that sustainability must be extended not only globally but indefinitely in time, and to all living organisms including humans.

For More Information:

On the Web:

• MSU Long-Term Ecological Research in Agricultural Ecology
• Agroecology information organized by Stephen Gliessman, University of California - Santa Cruz
• Agroecology information organized by Miguel Altieri, University of California - Davis
• The Center for Agroecology & Sustainable Food Systems, Agroecology Homepage
• World Resources Institute, Pilot Analysis of Global Ecosystems: Agroecosystems

References:

Cavigelli, M.A., S.R. Deming, L.K. Probyn, R.R. Harwood (eds.).  1998.  Michigan Field Crop Ecology:  Managing biological processes for productivity and environmental quality.  Michigan State University Extension Bulletin E-2646, 92 pp.

Cavigelli, M.A., S.R. Deming, L.K. Probyn, D.R. Mutch (eds.).  2000.  Michigan Field Crop Pest Ecology and Management.  Michigan State University Extension Bulletin E-2704, 108 pp.

Landis, J.N., J.E. Sanchez, G.W. Bird, C.E. Edson, R. Isaacs, R.H. Lehnert, A.M.C. Schilder and S.M. Swinton (eds.).  2002.  Fruit Crop Ecology and Management. Extension Bulletin E-2759.  East Lansing , MI:  Michigan State University.