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Concept of agroecosystem
- based on ecological principles - based on our understanding of natural ecosystems Structure of natural ecosystems - Ecosystem defined as a functional system of complementary relations between living organisms and their environment, delimited by arbitrarily chosen boundaries, which in space and time appear to maintain a steady yet dynamic equilibrium - A structural components of ecosystems are biotic factors, living organisms that interact in the environment, and abiotic factors, non-living physical and chemical components such as soil, light, moisture and temperature

Structure of natural ecosystems: Levels of organization

- Ecosystems can be examined in terms of a hierarchy of organization of their component part (e.g. human body) 1. Individual organism also known as autecology or physiological ecology it is concerned with how single individual of a species response to the factors of the environment and how the organism particular degree of tolerance to stresses in the environment determine where it will live (e.g. banana restrict to tropical humid environments with a particular set of conditions, whereas strawbery plant is adapted to a much more temperate environment)

2. Population groups of individuals of the same species understanding of population ecology is important in determining the factors that control population size and growth, which is related to the capacity of the environment to support a particular population over time

3. Community - populations of different species always occur together in mixtures - an assemblage of various species living together in a particular place and interacting with each other - an important aspect of this level is how the interactions of organisms affect distribution and abundance of the different species that make up a particular community (e.g. competition between plants in a cropping system or the predation of aphids by lady beetles are examples of interaction at this level in an agroecosystem)

4. Ecosystem - include abiotic factors of the environment in addition to the communities of organisms in a specific area

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Ecosystem
The farm in the context of its water shed

Structural properties of communities

1. Species diversity - Number of species that occur in a community 2. Dominance and relative abundance - In any community, some species may be relatively abundance and others less abundant - The species with greatest impact on both biotic and the biotic components of the community is referred to as the dominant species 3. Vegetative structure - Terrestrial communities are characterized by the structure of their vegetation, which determined mostly by the form of the dominant plant species and

Community

Polyculture of intercropped plants, along with other organisms

Population

Monoculture of the crop plant

Organism
Individual crop plant

Levels of ecosystem organization applied to an agroecosystem

4. Trophic structure - Every species in a community has nutritive needs - How these needs are met in relation to other species determines a structure of feeding relationships or trophic structure

5. Stability
- Over time, the species diversity, dominance structure, vegetative structure, and trophic structure of a community usually remain fairly stable, eventhough individual organisms die and leave the area, and the relative sizes of populations shift - Unchanged even if some kind of disturbance such as fire, flooding killed many members of a species in the community, the community will recover and return to something close to the original condition and species composition - Because of this ability of communities to resist change and to be resilient in response to disturbance, communities (and the ecosystems of which they are part) -are said to possess the property of stability

FUNCTIONING OF NATURAL ECOSYSTEMS

It is important to understand these processes in order to address the concepts ecosystem dynamics, efficiency, productivity and development, especially in agroecosystems where function can determine the difference between the success and failure of a particular crop or management practice Two most fundamental processes in any ecosystem are the flow of energy among its parts and the cycling of nutrients 1. Energy flow Each ind organism in an ecosystem is constantly using energy to carry out its physiological processes, and its sources of energy must be regularly replenished

Heat Producers Plant

-e nerg y is stored into ch em ica l bonds of the bio m ass

RE SP IRATION

Heat
Carnivores

Heat
Top carnivores Decomposer biomass and heat

SUN

Herbivores
-prim ary cons um er

Net primary productivity

-e nerg y pla nt us e to m ain tain th em sel ves -e xpressed in te rm of kilocalories p er sq uare m eter per yea r

DE CO MPOSITION AND WASTED FOOD

Decomposer biomass and heat Decomposer biomass and heat

Re turn to so il

Ecosystem energy flow. The size of each box represents the relative amount of energy flowing through that trophic level. In the average, only about 10% of the energy in a trophic level is transferred to the next trophic level. Nearly all of the energy that enters an ecosystem is eventually dissipated as heat.

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2. Nutrient cycling - In addition to energy, organisms require inputs of matter to maintain their life functions - In a form of nutrients containing a variety of crucial elements and compounds (is used to build cells and tissues and the complex organic molecules required for cell and body functioning) - Linked to the flow of energy - The biomass transferred between trophic levels contains both energy in chemical bonds and matter serving as nutrients - Many nutrients are cycled through ecosystems - The most important are water and macronutrients: Carbon (C), Nitrogen (N), Oxygen (O), Phosphorus (P), Sulfur (S) - Some nutrients exist in a form of readily available
Combustion

The carbon cycle

Atmospheric carbon (CO2)

Respiration Photosynthesis Respiration Fire

Herbivores & predators Fossil fuels

Cabonification Death and waster Death

Green plants

Decay

Dead and nonliving organic matter

Soil carbon (organic matter)

Ecosystem change

AGROECOSYSTEM
- human manipulation and alteration of ecosystems for the purpose of establishing agricultural production makes agroecosystem very different from natural ecosystems - however, the processes, structures and characteristics of natural ecosystems can be observed in agroecosystems - agroecosystems differ from natural ecosystems in several aspects: 1. Energy flow - altered greatly by human interference - inputs are derived from human source and often not sustaining

- constant state of dynamic change - if the disturbance is so intense and the ecosystem are not able to resist change the ecosystem may lose their stability - Eg. Clear cut of forest into a monoculture crop

2. Nutrient cycling - minimal in agroecosystem - considerable quantities are lost from the system with the harvest or as result of leaching or erosion due to great reduction in permanent biomass levels held within the system - farmers rely much on petroleum based nutrient input to replace these losses

3. Population regulating mechanisms - due to the simplification of the environment and a reduction in trophic interactions, populations of crop plants or animals in agroecosystems are rarely selfreproducing - human inputs (e.g. seed or control agents), often dependent on large energy subsidies, determine population sizes - biological diversity is reduced, trophic structures tend to become simplified and many niches are left unoccupied - the danger of catastrophic pest or disease outbreak is high despite the intensive human interference

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4. Stability - due to their reduced structural and functional diversity in relation to natural ecosystems, agroecosystem have much less resilience than natural ecosystems - a focus on harvest outputs upsets any equilibrium that is established and the system can only be sustained if outside interference (in a form of labour and external human inputs is maintained) Outbreak of leaf eating caterpillar - oil palm plantation

Important structural and functional differences between natural ecosystems and agroecosystems Natural ecosystem Agroecosystems Net Productivity Trophic interactions Species diversity Genetic diversity Nutrient cycles Stability (resilience) Human Control Temporal permanence Habitat heterogeneity Medium Complex High High Closed High Independent Long Complex High Simple, Linear Low Low Open Low Dependent Short Simple