{"title":"Finding Food Security through Changing the Agricultural Model to Sustain Insect Biodiversity","authors":"A. Jankielsohn","doi":"10.4236/ae.2021.93011","DOIUrl":null,"url":null,"abstract":"Worldwide biodiversity is being threatened by human \nactivities to a greater level wherein the natural ecosystems are reaching the \nverge of collapsing. We are faced with four major interrelated challenges \nnamely a changing climate, biodiversity loss, human population growth and food \nproduction for this growing population. Agricultural intensification \ncontributes significantly to biodiversity loss. The agricultural model for our \ncurrent food production systems is mainly based on the Green Revolution, which \npromoted the cultivation of crops in extensive monoculture fields and intensified \nexternal inputs of agrochemicals. This model resulted in biodiversity loss, \nparticularly in insect populations. A model based on ecological intensification \nas an alternative to agricultural \nintensification with minimized use of agro-inputs may slow the rate of \nbiodiversity loss resulting in more sustainable agricultural ecosystems.","PeriodicalId":58873,"journal":{"name":"昆虫学(英文)","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.0000,"publicationDate":"2021-06-10","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":"0","resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":null,"PeriodicalName":"昆虫学(英文)","FirstCategoryId":"1091","ListUrlMain":"https://doi.org/10.4236/ae.2021.93011","RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":null,"ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":null,"EPubDate":"","PubModel":"","JCR":"","JCRName":"","Score":null,"Total":0}
引用次数: 0
Abstract
Worldwide biodiversity is being threatened by human
activities to a greater level wherein the natural ecosystems are reaching the
verge of collapsing. We are faced with four major interrelated challenges
namely a changing climate, biodiversity loss, human population growth and food
production for this growing population. Agricultural intensification
contributes significantly to biodiversity loss. The agricultural model for our
current food production systems is mainly based on the Green Revolution, which
promoted the cultivation of crops in extensive monoculture fields and intensified
external inputs of agrochemicals. This model resulted in biodiversity loss,
particularly in insect populations. A model based on ecological intensification
as an alternative to agricultural
intensification with minimized use of agro-inputs may slow the rate of
biodiversity loss resulting in more sustainable agricultural ecosystems.