Harnessing ecosystem services with Conservation Agriculture

Amir Kassam, University of Reading, UK; Emilio J. Gonzalez Sanchez, Universidad de Córdoba, Spain,European Conservation Agriculture Federation (ECAF), Belgium and Asociación Española Agricultura de Conservación. Suelos Vivos (AEAC.SV), Spain; Tom Goddard, Alberta Agriculture and Forestry, Canada; Li Hongwen, Conservation Tillage Research Centre, China Agriculture University, China; Ivo Mello, Instituto Rio Grandense do Arroz, Brazil; Saidi Mkomwa, African Conservation Tillage Network, Kenya; Francis Shaxson, Land Husbandry Group, Tropical Agricultural Association, UK; and Theodor Friedrich, Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), Italy

Chapter synopsis: This chapter presents the relationship between Conservation Agriculture (CA) and ecosystem services. Ecosystem services comprise resources and processes supplied by nature that benefit farmers and societies. Services that benefit farmers operate in production fields and those that benefit societies operate across landscapes and watersheds. Ecosystem services are categorized into supporting, regulating, provisioning and cultural services. This chapter also illustrates ecosystem services that operate in CA production fields that relate to soil and crop performance and provide examples of ecosystem services that operate in CA landscapes and watersheds in Canada, Brazil, China and Spain.

DOI: 10.19103/AS.2019.0049.13