Biodiversity and Food Systems
- NOTOC**
Biodiversity and Food Systems
Biodiversity is a fundamental component of food systems, supplying the genetic resources, species interactions and ecosystem processes on which agriculture, fisheries, livestock production and human nutrition depend. Diversity exists at several interconnected levels, including genetic variation within crops and livestock, the variety of species cultivated or harvested for food, and the wider ecological communities that support agricultural landscapes and aquatic ecosystems.
Modern food systems both depend on biodiversity and contribute significantly to its decline. Agricultural expansion, intensive production, habitat conversion, pesticide use, pollution, climate change and increasingly homogeneous diets have reduced biological diversity in many farming and natural ecosystems. At the same time, declining biodiversity can weaken pollination, soil fertility, pest control, water regulation, climate resilience and the genetic resources available for adapting food production to future environmental change.
The relationship between biodiversity and food systems is therefore reciprocal. Protecting biodiversity can improve the resilience and sustainability of food production, while transforming agriculture, fisheries, consumption and food supply chains can reduce pressures on ecosystems.
Agrobiodiversity, Crop Diversity and Genetic Resources
Crop diversity is one of the foundations of agricultural resilience. Traditional varieties, landraces, crop wild relatives and underutilized crops contain genetic traits that can help agriculture respond to drought, heat, disease, pests and other stresses. Diverse cropping systems may also provide a broader range of nutrients, increase production stability and reduce dependence on a small number of globally dominant crops.
Modern food supplies have become increasingly homogeneous, with many countries relying on similar groups of staple crops. This concentration can increase vulnerability to disease, climate shocks and disruption of global supply chains. Conserving crop wild relatives, traditional varieties and farmer-managed seed systems provides plant breeders and farming communities with a larger genetic reservoir for future adaptation.
Community seed banks, farmers' rights and the continued exchange of locally adapted seeds can help maintain crop genetic diversity. International initiatives such as the International Treaty on Plant Genetic Resources for Food and Agriculture and global plans for conserving plant genetic resources seek to protect these materials while maintaining access for farmers and plant breeders.
Neglected and underutilized crops also offer opportunities for diversification. Millets, amaranth, teff, quinoa, indigenous vegetables and other locally adapted foods can contribute to nutrition, climate resilience and food sovereignty while expanding the biological diversity of agricultural systems.
Soil Biodiversity, Pollination and Ecological Services
Much of the biodiversity supporting food production is not directly harvested. Soil bacteria, fungi, nematodes, earthworms and other organisms regulate nutrient cycling, organic matter decomposition, soil structure, carbon storage and plant health. Diverse soil communities can improve the functioning and resilience of agricultural ecosystems.
Management practices strongly influence soil biodiversity. Reduced tillage, organic amendments, crop rotations, greater vegetation complexity and other regenerative or agroecological approaches can support soil organisms and the ecological processes they provide. Excessive disturbance and dependence on certain chemical inputs can reduce biological complexity and weaken these functions.
Pollinators represent another essential component of food-system biodiversity. Wild bees and other insects contribute to the production of fruits, vegetables, nuts and seeds and can improve crop yields even where managed honey bees are present. Diverse pollinator communities also help maintain the stability of pollination services.
Natural and semi-natural habitats surrounding farmland can support pollinators and beneficial insects. Hedgerows, flower strips, diversified cropping systems and landscape heterogeneity can provide nesting sites, food resources and refuges for species that contribute to pollination and biological pest control.
Pesticide exposure, habitat loss and simplified agricultural landscapes can reduce pollinator populations. Protecting pollinator diversity is consequently important not only for crop production but also for maintaining the wider ecological and nutritional benefits associated with pollinator-dependent foods.
Agroecology, Agroforestry and Agricultural Diversification
Agricultural diversification can increase biodiversity while maintaining or, in some circumstances, improving ecosystem services and agricultural productivity. Crop rotations, intercropping, habitat diversification, organic amendments, integrated nutrient management and other diversified practices can support pollination, pest regulation, soil fertility and water management.
Agroecology seeks to redesign farming systems around ecological interactions rather than relying primarily on external inputs. Diversified agroecological systems can improve food security, strengthen farmer resilience and restore biodiversity, although outcomes depend on local ecological, economic and social conditions.
Agroforestry integrates trees with crops or livestock and can provide habitat for wildlife while producing food, timber, fodder and other resources. Tree-based agricultural systems can contribute to soil restoration, carbon sequestration, erosion control and household food security. In tropical and African agricultural landscapes, agroforestry is increasingly examined as a strategy for combining biodiversity conservation with rural livelihoods and climate adaptation.
Organic and conservation agriculture can also increase biodiversity relative to some conventional farming systems. However, lower yields in certain crops and regions can create trade-offs if additional land is required for production. The ecological benefits of alternative farming systems therefore depend partly on yields, land use, diets and broader food-system demand.
Indigenous Food Systems, Wild Foods and Nutrition
Indigenous and traditional food systems often maintain a wider range of cultivated and wild species than highly industrialized food systems. Indigenous vegetables, traditional grains, wild edible plants, locally adapted livestock and other foods can provide important sources of vitamins, minerals and dietary diversity.
Wild foods remain important in many rural and Indigenous communities. Studies from Africa and other tropical regions document hundreds of edible plant species used as supplementary or seasonal foods. These species can increase resilience during periods of crop failure, drought or economic hardship.
Traditional ecological knowledge is closely connected with the management of this biodiversity. Local knowledge about harvesting, cultivation, seed selection, seasonal availability and ecosystem management can help maintain both biological and cultural diversity.
However, habitat degradation, changing diets, market pressures and the erosion of traditional knowledge threaten many Indigenous and wild-food systems. Supporting their continued use can contribute simultaneously to biodiversity conservation, cultural heritage, nutrition and local food security.
Aquatic Biodiversity, Fisheries and Blue Foods
Fish, shellfish, aquatic plants and other aquatic foods represent an important but sometimes underrecognized component of global food-system biodiversity. Thousands of aquatic species contribute protein, essential fatty acids and micronutrients to human diets.
Small-scale and inland fisheries are especially important for many coastal, riverine and rural communities. They provide food, employment and livelihoods while supporting culturally important relationships with aquatic ecosystems.
Aquatic biodiversity can improve nutritional security because different fish and aquatic species contain different combinations of nutrients. Loss of species diversity can therefore reduce nutritional resilience even when total fish catches remain relatively stable.
Aquaculture also depends on genetic diversity. Maintaining diverse farmed strains and wild relatives provides options for breeding animals capable of adapting to diseases, temperature changes and other environmental pressures.
Sustainable fisheries management, protection of freshwater and marine habitats and conservation of aquatic genetic resources are therefore important components of both biodiversity policy and food-security planning.
Livestock Biodiversity and Rangelands
Livestock diversity includes variation among species, breeds and locally adapted populations. Indigenous cattle, sheep, goats, poultry and other animals often possess traits such as disease resistance, heat tolerance and the ability to survive on limited feed or water.
These genetic resources can become increasingly important as climates and production conditions change. Locally adapted breeds may provide farmers with alternatives to highly specialized livestock populations that perform well only under intensive management.
Livestock biodiversity is also connected with rangeland ecosystems. Traditional grazing systems can maintain landscapes, recycle nutrients and support rural livelihoods, although livestock production can also contribute to habitat degradation, greenhouse-gas emissions and pressure on land and water when poorly managed or excessively intensive.
Conservation of animal genetic resources therefore requires both genetic management and sustainable livestock-production systems.
Food Biodiversity, Diets and Human Nutrition
Biodiversity within diets can influence nutritional quality. Consuming a greater range of species can increase access to complementary vitamins, minerals and other nutrients. Dietary species richness has consequently been proposed as one indicator connecting biodiversity with human nutrition.
Forests, trees, wild foods, aquatic foods and diversified farms can all contribute to nutritionally diverse diets. In some regions, greater tree cover and access to biodiverse landscapes are associated with improved dietary diversity.
The decline of food biodiversity can have the opposite effect. Dependence on a narrow range of crops and livestock products can reduce dietary diversity even when calorie supplies remain adequate. This phenomenon contributes to concerns about "hidden hunger," in which people obtain sufficient energy but inadequate micronutrients.
Food-system policies that encourage diverse crops, Indigenous foods, fruits, vegetables, legumes and aquatic foods can therefore potentially support both conservation and public health.
Land Use, Agricultural Intensification and Biodiversity
Agriculture occupies large areas of the Earth's terrestrial surface and remains one of the most important drivers of habitat conversion. Expanding cropland and pasture can increase food production while simultaneously reducing natural ecosystems and threatening species.
Two widely discussed approaches to balancing food production and biodiversity are land sharing and land sparing. Land sharing integrates wildlife-friendly practices directly into agricultural landscapes, while land sparing seeks high agricultural yields on some land while protecting other areas primarily for nature.
Neither strategy provides a universal solution. Outcomes depend on local species, farming practices, yields, landscapes and social conditions. Agrobiodiversity maintained by small farmers can also be overlooked when conservation is framed only as protecting land outside agriculture.
Reducing food waste, improving agricultural efficiency, restoring ecosystems and moderating demand for land-intensive foods can reduce pressure for agricultural expansion. Integrated approaches are likely to be more effective than relying on any single intervention.
Global Trade, Supply Chains and Biodiversity Footprints
The biodiversity impacts of food consumption frequently occur far from the places where food is eaten. International trade allows consumers to depend on agricultural land, fisheries and ecosystems in other countries, transferring environmental pressures through global supply chains.
Commodity production associated with deforestation, land conversion and habitat degradation can create biodiversity losses that are effectively embedded in internationally traded food. Consumption-based biodiversity footprints attempt to trace these impacts from producers to final consumers.
Businesses and food companies can influence biodiversity through sourcing standards, agricultural practices, product design and supply-chain management. Greater transparency about biodiversity impacts can help governments, producers and consumers identify where environmental pressures occur.
Agricultural subsidies and other forms of public support can also shape these outcomes. Redirecting incentives away from environmentally damaging practices and toward diversified, nature-positive production has been proposed as an important component of food-system reform.
Building Biodiversity-Positive Food Systems
Transforming food systems requires coordinated action across farms, markets, governments, research institutions, businesses and civil society. Biodiversity conservation cannot be separated completely from questions of food production, nutrition, rural livelihoods and economic development.
Promising approaches include conserving genetic resources, strengthening community seed systems, diversifying farms and landscapes, restoring soil biodiversity, protecting pollinators, expanding agroforestry, supporting Indigenous food systems, managing fisheries sustainably and reducing environmentally damaging agricultural inputs.
Demand-side measures also matter. Reducing food waste, encouraging nutritionally diverse diets and reducing pressure from land-intensive consumption can complement improvements in agricultural production.
Because food systems operate across ecological and political boundaries, effective solutions often require cooperation among farmers, scientists, governments, businesses and local communities. Networks linking these groups can help translate biodiversity knowledge into practical food-system transformation.
Conclusion
Biodiversity is not separate from food security; it is part of the biological infrastructure that makes food production possible. Genetic diversity gives crops and livestock the capacity to adapt. Soil organisms maintain productive soils. Pollinators and natural enemies support crop production. Forests, wild plants and aquatic ecosystems provide foods and nutrients that cannot easily be replaced by a small number of industrial commodities.
At the same time, food production is one of the largest human influences on biodiversity. Agricultural expansion, intensive management, pesticides, habitat loss, overexploitation and globally interconnected supply chains can simplify ecosystems and reduce the diversity on which future food security depends.
A more resilient food system therefore requires both conserving biodiversity and using it more effectively. Diversified agriculture, agroecology, agroforestry, genetic-resource conservation, sustainable fisheries, Indigenous knowledge, healthier diets and reduced waste can help align food production with ecological limits.
The long-term challenge is not simply to produce more food, but to develop food systems capable of nourishing people while maintaining the genetic, species and ecosystem diversity needed to sustain production for future generations.
- TOC**
Biodiversity and Food Systems
Global Assessments and Food-System Transformation
Provides guidance for incorporating biodiversity, water, climate adaptation and ecosystem considerations into agricultural and food-system development projects.
Argues that coordinated networks of farmers, businesses, governments, researchers and civil society are necessary to move food systems toward nature-positive outcomes.
Uses farming examples from Uganda to illustrate how indigenous seeds, crop mixtures, agroforestry and pollinator restoration can strengthen biodiversity, livelihoods and food security.
Quantifies biodiversity impacts embedded in food production and trade, showing that both land use and food-system greenhouse-gas emissions contribute substantially to species losses.
Examines the two-way relationship between biodiversity and food systems, emphasizing that food production depends on ecosystem services while agricultural expansion and intensification remain major causes of biodiversity loss.
Models how dietary shifts and reductions in food waste can change the biodiversity footprint of U.S. food consumption, revealing both potential benefits and geographic trade-offs.
Argues that agricultural subsidies and producer support can be redirected away from environmentally damaging incentives toward healthier, more equitable and nature-positive food systems.
Proposes dietary change, protection and restoration of land for nature, and biodiversity-friendly farming as interconnected strategies for reducing the ecological footprint of food production.
Explains how agricultural land conversion, intensification and changing diets make the global food system a leading driver of biodiversity loss and identifies major pathways for transformation.
Summarizes evidence that the plants, animals, microorganisms and ecosystems supporting global food production are declining, increasing risks to food security, livelihoods and agricultural resilience.
The first global assessment of biodiversity for food and agriculture documents declines in crop, livestock, aquatic, forest, pollinator, soil and associated biodiversity while outlining opportunities for conservation and sustainable use.
Describes biodiversity as fundamental to food security through pollination, soil fertility, water regulation, genetic resources and other ecosystem services supporting agricultural production.
Provides an accessible overview of how bees, soil organisms, forests, aquatic ecosystems and genetic diversity contribute to productive and resilient food systems.
Agricultural Diversification, Landscapes and Land Use
Evaluates relationships between agricultural production and biodiversity, carbon sequestration, erosion control and other ecosystem services to identify potential synergies and trade-offs.
Synthesizes economic valuations of ecosystem services supplied by agricultural landscapes and explores how biodiversity-friendly landscape attributes influence their perceived value.
Finds that integrated nutrient management can simultaneously improve yields, soil fertility, water efficiency and several ecosystem services in South Asian farming systems.
Examines how the design and implementation of diversification practices determine their ability to support arthropod biodiversity, natural pest control and pollination within agricultural systems.
Agricultural diversification practices including rotations, intercropping, organic amendments and habitat diversification produced increasingly large biodiversity, soil-health, pollination and profitability benefits over time without significant overall reductions in crop yields.
Argues that land-sparing strategies can overlook the crop diversity maintained by small farmers and that conserving high-agrobiodiversity landscapes is essential for equitable food-system transformation.
Global evidence shows that increasing crop diversity and landscape heterogeneity can substantially enhance biodiversity within intensively managed agricultural regions.
Reports that surrounding semi-natural habitat improved ecological services and marketable crop yields more consistently than individual wildflower plantings.
Finds that intensive management can undermine biodiversity and ecological processes such as pollination and pest control, offsetting some of the direct yield benefits of agricultural inputs.
A synthesis of nearly 100 meta-analyses concludes that diversified agriculture generally increases biodiversity, pollination, pest control, nutrient cycling, soil fertility and water regulation without reducing average crop yields.
Finds that cover crops influence soil microbial biomass, organic matter, weed suppression, nitrogen cycling, water use and crop production, with outcomes varying by cover-crop type.
Models where future cropland expansion could improve food availability while simultaneously threatening areas of high biodiversity value.
Discusses how food demand, waste, agricultural productivity, biodiversity, nutrition and land use interact within the concept of sustainable intensification.
Examines tensions between intensifying production and conserving biodiversity and argues that waste reduction, consumption patterns and smallholder systems must be considered alongside yield increases.
Compares wildlife-friendly low-intensity agriculture with high-yield farming combined with habitat protection and finds substantial biodiversity advantages from land sparing in the landscapes studied.
Crop Diversity, Seeds and Genetic Resources
Reviews evidence that access to diverse crop genetic resources strengthens food availability, nutrition, resilience, farmer agency and sustainability and that community seed banks can help maintain such diversity.
Reviews the conservation of crop wild relatives and traditional landraces as reservoirs of genetic diversity needed for crop improvement and adaptation.
Discusses reforms intended to balance seed-sector regulation, farmer needs, crop genetic-resource conservation and food and nutrition security in Kenya.
Reviews the genetic and cultural diversity contained within traditional rice landraces and their importance for crop improvement and adaptation.
Warns that traditional crops, varieties, crop wild relatives and other food plants are disappearing faster than they are being conserved across Africa.
Develops indicators combining crop-species diversity with nutritional functions to identify regions where greater agrobiodiversity could support nutrition-sensitive agriculture.
Investigates the potential for neglected species to diversify British food networks and increase resilience while identifying regulatory, market and cultural barriers.
Discusses how indigenous and historically neglected African crops could contribute to food security and adaptation while challenging development models centered on a narrow range of staple commodities.
Finds that tree cover and greater crop diversity can create important synergies between biodiversity conservation, agricultural yields and food security in tropical landscapes.
Reviews opportunities to mainstream crops including quinoa, teff, millets, amaranth and bambara groundnut through new food products and value chains.
Examines indigenous crop cultivation in South Africa and finds that access to seeds, markets and recognition of nutritional benefits can influence both adoption and household food security.
Argues that diversifying the crop species used in agriculture can improve resilience to climatic and economic shocks while supporting nutrition and sustainable food-system transformation.
Synthesizes evidence that neglected and underutilized crops can diversify diets and farming systems while improving climate resilience, nutrition and food sovereignty across Africa.
Investigates connections between crop diversity at household and landscape scales and children's dietary diversity across ten sub-Saharan African countries.
Examines how crop diversification, farm sales and food purchases interact to influence household dietary diversity and food security among Ugandan smallholders.
Reviews evidence that neglected crops often combine high nutrient density with tolerance to environmental stress, making them potential tools against micronutrient deficiencies and food-system homogenization.
Explores millets, quinoa, amaranth and other underused crops as tools for increasing agricultural biodiversity, dietary diversity and resilience under difficult growing conditions.
Reviews the role of crop wild relatives as sources of traits for drought, heat, disease and other stresses that threaten future agricultural productivity.
Finds that improved access to diverse and locally appropriate seeds can contribute to food security, resilience and dietary quality, particularly when interventions include farmers in decision-making.
Reviews links between fruit and vegetable biodiversity, dietary diversity and human nutrition and calls for food policies that simultaneously conserve agrobiodiversity and promote healthy diets.
Reviews how underutilized African crops can supply food and nutrients while increasing genetic diversity, ecosystem services and agricultural resilience.
Finds that traditional agrobiodiverse foods can contribute substantially to diet quality and nutrition as Indigenous Pacific communities experience rapid transitions toward imported foods.
Highlights traditional Pacific root, fruit and nut crops as valuable genetic resources for climate adaptation, food security and agricultural resilience.
Finds that countries producing a more diverse portfolio of crops generally experience greater year-to-year stability in national food production.
Reviews how genetic, species and ecosystem diversity can contribute to sustainable food production while highlighting the practical and institutional challenges of biodiversity-based agriculture.
Demonstrates that virtually every country's food system depends heavily on crops whose geographic origins lie elsewhere, emphasizing international interdependence in genetic-resource conservation.
Reports that farming areas with greater crop richness and diversity were associated with stronger household food security in several agroecological zones of eastern Kenya.
Identifies major centers of crop-wild-relative diversity in China and stresses their global importance for crop breeding and food security.
Documents dozens of food plants and livestock species on Kenyan farms while exploring the complex relationship between on-farm diversity, markets, income and household food security.
Shows that national food supplies have become increasingly similar and increasingly dependent on a relatively small group of globally important crops.
Identifies globally important crop wild relatives whose genetic traits could help breeders develop crops capable of coping with pests, diseases and changing climatic conditions.
Establishes priorities for conserving, documenting, sustainably using and exchanging plant genetic resources needed for agricultural development.
Establishes an international framework for conserving and sustainably using plant genetic resources while facilitating access to crop material needed by farmers and plant breeders.
Explains how formal and farmer-managed seed systems determine access to crop genetic diversity and therefore influence agricultural resilience and long-term food security.
Describes Kenyan community seed banks conserving hundreds of seed varieties while promoting crop diversification, seed sovereignty, ecological agriculture and improved household food supply.
- Seeds and Plant Genetic Resources: A basis for life | FAO | Food and Agriculture Organization | n.d.
Describes traditional varieties, modern cultivars, wild relatives and other plant genetic resources as the biological foundation of agricultural production and crop adaptation.
Discusses traditional knowledge, benefit sharing, participation in decision-making and farmers' ability to save and exchange seeds as components of crop-biodiversity conservation.
Explains how international cooperation in crop genetic resources supports seed access, crop improvement, Farmers' Rights and the conservation of agricultural biodiversity.
Explains the central role farmers have played in developing, conserving and exchanging crop diversity and how farmers' rights contribute to maintaining genetic resources needed for future food production.
Livestock Biodiversity and Rangelands
Highlights the relationship between indigenous livestock breeds, healthy rangelands, food security and implementation of global biodiversity goals.
Argues that locally adapted livestock breeds offer heat tolerance, disease resistance and other traits that make them important for biodiversity, climate resilience and rural food security.
Finds that stress-tolerant crops and locally appropriate resilient livestock breeds improved dietary diversity and reduced food insufficiency among participating Kenyan households.
Reviews how livestock breed diversity and locally adapted animal genetic resources contribute to food production, landscape management, resilience and other ecosystem services.
Provides a global assessment of livestock-breed diversity, trends, threats, conservation measures and capacity to manage animal genetic resources.
Reviews traits found in African indigenous cattle that enable survival and production under heat, disease, water and feed stresses.
Examines the environmental footprint of ruminant livestock and the implications of rapidly increasing demand for meat and dairy.
Maps global livestock systems and illustrates large differences in resource use and efficiency among pastoral, mixed and industrial systems.
Reviews the changing global livestock sector and its relationships with food demand, natural resources, livelihoods and environmental pressures.
Discusses the importance of livestock genetic diversity for maintaining production under changing climatic and disease conditions.
Provides an international framework for monitoring, sustainably using and conserving livestock breeds threatened by genetic erosion and agricultural industrialization.
Explains why diverse livestock breeds provide options for adapting food production to changing climates, diseases, feed shortages and environmental conditions.
Provides technical guidance for conserving livestock biodiversity through breeding, cryoconservation, genetic characterization and sustainable livestock value chains.
Reviews how genetic diversity increases the ability of livestock populations to respond to emerging diseases, climate change, water constraints and changing production systems.
- Animal Genetic Resources | FAO Commission on Genetic Resources for Food and Agriculture | FAO | n.d.
Describes livestock genetic diversity as biological capital that supports food production, rural livelihoods, adaptation and ecosystem functions including nutrient cycling.
Soil Biodiversity, Regenerative Agriculture and Agroforestry
Reviews more than 200 studies and finds substantial potential for African agroforestry to conserve biodiversity, store carbon and increase smallholder resilience.
Reviews agroforestry as a strategy for restoring soil fertility, biodiversity and productivity on degraded African croplands.
Reviews regenerative farming practices designed to restore soils, increase biological activity, improve agricultural resilience and maintain crop production.
Examines how biodiversity at different ecological scales influences the performance and ecosystem functions of cocoa agroforestry systems.
Examines conservation agriculture as a means of rebuilding tropical soil health while supporting food production and long-term ecological sustainability.
Finds context-dependent but generally positive relationships between agroforestry and smallholder income, consumption, food security and climate resilience.
Reviews how diverse soil microbial communities regulate nutrients and suppress crop diseases and how new genomic tools may improve biodiversity-based crop management.
Synthesizes evidence on how tropical agroforestry systems can maintain vertebrate and other biodiversity while continuing to produce agricultural commodities.
Evaluates connections between organic soil amendments, soil-fauna communities and agricultural production under contrasting soil conditions in Zambia.
Finds that households adopting agroforestry in southern Rwanda experienced stronger food-consumption outcomes, highlighting links between tree-based farming and food security.
Finds that no-tillage and greater vegetation complexity can support soil animals responsible for important ecosystem functions in agricultural landscapes.
A global meta-analysis finds that organic nitrogen amendments generally support earthworms, mites, springtails and other soil fauna more effectively than inorganic fertilization alone.
Reviews hundreds of studies on manure and soil biodiversity and argues that manure quality and broader farming practices strongly influence soil biological communities.
Reviews definitions of regenerative agriculture and identifies soil restoration, biodiversity and ecosystem-service enhancement as recurring objectives.
Provides a comprehensive global assessment of soil organisms, threats to soil biodiversity and their importance for agriculture, ecosystem services and food security.
Explains why biologically diverse soils are essential to food production, nutrient availability, plant health and the functioning of terrestrial ecosystems.
Reviews how soil organisms influence nutrient cycling, plant productivity, disease suppression, food quality and the long-term ecological foundations of food security.
Reviews evidence that agroforestry systems can support greater floral, faunal and microbial diversity than simplified monocultures.
Finds that European agroforestry systems often enhance biodiversity, soil quality, erosion control and other ecosystem services relative to conventional agriculture.
Argues that agricultural systems can deliberately manage soil biodiversity to reduce reliance on external inputs and improve long-term sustainability.
Experimental evidence demonstrates that losses of soil biodiversity reduce multiple ecosystem functions important to productive and resilient soils.
Reviews the critical roles of soil organisms in nutrient cycling, plant productivity, carbon storage and the functioning of terrestrial ecosystems.
Describes relationships among farming practices, plant diversity and soil organisms responsible for nutrient cycling, soil structure, organic matter and ecosystem stability.
Explains how agroforestry can provide biodiversity habitat, nutrient cycling, carbon storage, erosion reduction and other services while producing food and agricultural commodities.
Reviews how diverse soil microorganisms regulate plant productivity, nutrient acquisition, plant coexistence and ecosystem functioning.
Introduces the bacteria, fungi, nematodes, earthworms and other organisms that regulate nutrient cycling, carbon storage, soil structure, water dynamics and plant health.
Pollinators, Insects and Biological Pest Control
Finds that landscapes containing a greater diversity of crops support richer pollinator communities and can increase production of pollinator-dependent crops.
Reviews evidence that semi-natural habitats generally increase pollinator diversity and natural pest regulation, although their economic and yield benefits vary among farming systems.
Models how severe loss of wild pollinators could reduce crop yields, increase food prices and cropland expansion and transfer biodiversity pressures to other regions through international trade.
Reviews global pesticide-use trends and evidence linking pesticide exposure to declines and impaired functioning of insect pollinators.
Shows that hedgerows can benefit some natural enemies while effects on wild bees and apple production depend strongly on local habitat conditions.
Finds that greater crop diversity and semi-natural habitat supported bumblebees and contributed to pollination and yield benefits in faba-bean landscapes.
Reviews the history and limitations of integrated pest management while examining its potential to reduce pesticide dependence and associated biodiversity damage.
Finds that flower strips significantly enhance pest control while diverse, older perennial flower strips can improve pollination services in neighboring crops.
Reviews progress toward biodiversity-based pest control in Asian agriculture and considers how ecological knowledge can be translated into real-world food-system benefits.
Global field data show that biodiversity supports crop production through pollination and biological pest control and that simplified landscapes weaken these ecological services.
Integrates pesticide use, exposure and ecological effects to explain how agricultural chemical dependency affects pollinator populations and food-production services.
Demonstrates that structurally diverse, species-rich hedgerows can provide habitat for organisms that contribute pollination and pest-control services to farms.
Provides the major international assessment of pollinator status, threats and the importance of pollination for food production and human well-being.
Reviews ecological, agricultural, economic and cultural values of pollinators and identifies strategies for reversing pollinator decline.
Shows that increasing pollinator abundance and diversity can improve crop yields across farms of differing sizes.
Links agricultural neonicotinoid use with long-term population declines among wild bee species, particularly species that forage on treated crops.
Shows that common wild bees provide substantial crop-pollination services but argues that protecting pollination alone is insufficient to conserve the full diversity of threatened bee species.
Field experiments find that neonicotinoid-treated crops can negatively affect wild bees and bumblebee colony growth.
Experimental evidence shows that pesticide exposure can reduce bumblebee effectiveness as crop pollinators, linking chemical use directly to food-production services.
Estimates how severe pollinator declines could reduce fruit, vegetable, nut and seed availability and consequently increase nutrition-related mortality.
Reviews biological control organisms as biodiversity-based alternatives to chemical pest management and discusses their potential role in sustainable agriculture and food security.
Global field data show that wild insect visitation improves crop fruit set even where managed honey bees are abundant, underscoring the agricultural value of wild pollinator biodiversity.
Finds that wild bee abundance and diversity depend on both local farm management and the amount and quality of surrounding natural habitat.
Calculates the contribution of pollinator-dependent crops to supplies of vitamins, minerals and other nutrients important to human diets.
A global synthesis shows that crop pollination by wild insects generally declines as farms become increasingly isolated from natural habitat.
Explains how biodiversity supports pest regulation, fertile soils, pollination, water quality and climate resilience while intensive pesticide-dependent agriculture can undermine these functions.
Organic Farming and Agroecology
Examines how Eastern African smallholders combine agroecological practices and the factors influencing adoption of diversified vegetable-production systems.
Examines farmer-led approaches that combine biodiversity, soil management and ecological pest control as alternatives to input-intensive crop protection.
Assesses the economic and environmental case for adopting agroecological management within Kenya's mango value chain.
Investigates changes in crop diversity and food security while demonstrating the importance of local farmer knowledge for understanding agroecological transitions.
Reviews evidence across African countries showing that crop diversification and other agroecological practices frequently improve food production, soil health, biodiversity and climate resilience together.
Reviews models of large-scale organic farming and finds that dietary change, nutrient cycling and changes in food demand are critical to reconciling organic production with global food security.
Finds that organic cotton adoption in the studied households was associated with lower income and some food-security indicators, illustrating potential trade-offs in sustainability transitions.
Reviews evidence that agroecology can enhance biodiversity and ecosystem services while contributing to climate resilience, nutrition and long-term food-system sustainability.
Presents agroecology as a pathway for replacing some artificial inputs with ecological processes while restoring biodiversity and resilience in agricultural landscapes.
Finds that diversity, nutrient cycling and ecological interactions can strengthen the resilience of smallholder food production to environmental and economic shocks.
Quantifies the biodiversity benefits and yield costs of organic agriculture and shows that outcomes vary substantially among crops and organism groups.
Reviews evidence from low- and middle-income countries and finds predominantly positive food-security outcomes from diversified agroecological practices.
Finds organic farming consistently improves biodiversity and soil-carbon indicators but has lower and more variable crop yields than conventional farming.
Examines whether organic and conservation farming systems can provide reliable food production over time and identifies management practices that narrow yield-stability gaps.
Reviews organic agriculture's environmental benefits and productivity limitations while examining implications for biodiversity, farmer livelihoods and global food security.
Finds substantially higher average species richness on organic farms than conventional farms, with particularly strong effects in intensively farmed landscapes.
Wild Foods, Indigenous Food Systems and Nutrition
Reviews how Indigenous food systems combine traditional ecological knowledge, biodiversity, climate resilience and nutritional security while facing pressures from modernization and environmental change.
Documents hundreds of African wild edible plants and discusses their nutritional value, livelihood importance and need for conservation and sustainable management.
Reviews the nutritional, ethnobotanical and potential pharmaceutical value of wild edible plants and their contribution to diversified food systems.
Identifies hundreds of wild edible plant species used in Ethiopia and highlights their potential contribution to nutrition, food security and biodiversity conservation.
Documents wild edible plant diversity and traditional knowledge in Ethiopia while warning that habitat degradation and knowledge loss threaten these supplementary food resources.
Reviews the biodiversity represented in African traditional foods and processing methods and their potential contribution to dietary diversity and sustainable food security.
Argues that conserving and consuming a wider range of wild and cultivated foods can simultaneously support nutrition, food security and biodiversity.
Examines Indigenous knowledge, use and diversity of wild edible plants in arid Turkana and their role in household food security.
Uses Kenyan indigenous vegetables to illustrate how local crop biodiversity can improve nutrition, livelihoods and the sustainability of horticultural value chains.
Shows how Indigenous shifting-cultivation landscapes maintain dozens of crops, livestock breeds and wild foods that support dietary diversity, cultural identity and food security.
Develops a framework for evaluating wild foods as resources in tropical food-security and nutrition planning.
Reviews nutritional, ecological, economic and cultural benefits of African indigenous crops and argues for their reintegration into modern food systems.
Identifies nearly 200 potentially edible wild plants in Kitui County and argues for their conservation as resources for food security in dryland communities.
Uses food biodiversity inventories and diet modeling to examine whether wild foods can reduce the cost of nutritionally adequate diets for Kenyan women and children.
Examines biodiverse Indigenous food systems and the role of traditional crops and ecological knowledge in food security, cultural identity and agricultural resilience.
Diets, Food Biodiversity and Nutrition
Reviews evidence linking the number and diversity of species consumed with dietary quality, nutritional adequacy and several human-health outcomes.
Introduces dietary species richness as a practical indicator connecting biodiversity in food consumption with nutritional adequacy.
Reviews relationships among biodiversity in food species, dietary diversity, nutrition and health.
Reviews the contribution of forests and wild foods to dietary diversity, micronutrient intake and food security.
Finds associations between greater tree cover and more diverse, nutritious diets among children in numerous African communities.
Develops methods for assessing whether diverse agricultural production systems provide complementary nutrients needed for healthy diets.
Aquatic Biodiversity, Fisheries and Food Systems
Argues that agroecological frameworks should explicitly incorporate freshwater ecosystems, aquatic foods and land-to-seascape connections when designing sustainable food systems.
Develops a social-ecological framework integrating environmental data and local knowledge to assess food-security risks in fishing communities of the western Indian Ocean.
Shows how biological differences among aquaculture species influence their potential contributions to food security, climate goals and biodiversity protection.
Shows that greater use of nutrient-rich indigenous small fish from Lake Victoria could substantially increase access to iron, zinc, calcium and vitamin B12.
Examines wild fisheries, recreational and subsistence fishing and aquaculture as interconnected components of global food systems with important environmental and economic externalities.
Reviews the nutritional, livelihood and environmental importance of diverse aquatic foods and calls for their fuller inclusion in food-system policy and investment.
Examines whether small-scale fisheries can provide sufficient fish for coastal populations and documents declining capacity in many developing economies.
Reviews African small-scale fisheries and policies for strengthening their contribution to food security, income and resilient coastal livelihoods.
Uses a food-systems perspective to examine how small-scale fisheries support nutrition and livelihoods while becoming increasingly connected to globalized markets.
Finds that replacing food-competing livestock and aquaculture feeds with agricultural and food-processing by-products could reduce competition for crops and wild fish.
Analyzes nearly 3,000 aquatic food taxa and demonstrates the potential for greater aquatic-food production to improve micronutrient availability and human health.
Uses Amazonian fisheries to demonstrate that losses of wild-food biodiversity can destabilize supplies of essential micronutrients even when total harvested biomass remains relatively stable.
Argues that the diversity of small-scale fishers, aquaculture producers and supply chains increases adaptability and should be reflected in food-system governance.
Establishes priorities for conserving and sustainably using aquatic genetic resources in fisheries and aquaculture.
Analyzes hundreds of aquatic species and finds that biodiversity increases nutritional complementarity because different species provide distinct combinations of micronutrients and fatty acids.
Demonstrates that marine fisheries contain enough micronutrients to address major nutritional deficiencies in many coastal countries but that catches do not always reach nutritionally vulnerable populations.
Explains how responsible selective breeding and conservation of aquatic genetic diversity could increase fish production without proportionate increases in land, feed or water use.
Provides the first global assessment of genetic diversity in farmed aquatic species and their wild relatives and its importance for future fisheries and aquaculture production.
Reviews the frequently underestimated contribution of inland fisheries to nutrition, employment, livelihoods, biodiversity and sustainable development.
Shows that declining fisheries could create serious deficiencies in protein and micronutrient supplies among populations highly dependent on wild-caught fish.
Highlights the importance of freshwater fisheries for protein and micronutrients while examining threats from dams, water diversion and other competing freshwater uses.
Explains how genetic diversity in fish and other aquatic organisms underpins both aquaculture and capture fisheries and helps aquatic food systems adapt to changing conditions.
Food-System Footprints, Trade and Supply Chains
Develops a biodiversity-risk footprint linking internationally traded agricultural commodities with deforestation and losses of geographically restricted species.
Studies dozens of Finnish food companies and identifies a broad range of actions that businesses can take to reduce biodiversity impacts throughout agricultural value chains.
Examines how farmers, processors and retailers manage biodiversity and product diversity across food supply chains and identifies barriers and incentives influencing adoption.
Shows that food accounts for a major share of Europe's ecological footprint and that European diets depend substantially on biological resources and ecosystems outside national borders.
Reviews environmental pressures throughout food supply chains and finds that land-use change and agricultural production account for a large proportion of food-related biodiversity impacts.
Models how habitat conservation, ecological restoration, improved agricultural productivity, reduced waste and dietary changes could combine to reverse global biodiversity loss.
Reviews technological, ecological and institutional innovations capable of making food production more resilient while reducing environmental pressures.
Compares environmental impacts of agricultural systems and considers whether higher yields can reduce pressure for converting natural habitats to farmland.
Calculates consumption-based biodiversity footprints and finds food consumption to be one of the dominant causes of biodiversity loss across countries and international supply chains.
Quantifies biodiversity losses embedded in internationally traded food and agricultural commodities.
Demonstrates that consumption in importing countries can drive biodiversity threats thousands of kilometers away through international commodity supply chains.
Introduces the influential land-sharing versus land-sparing framework for balancing agricultural production with biodiversity conservation.
