To achieve the triple challenge of food security,reversing biodiversity declines plus mitigating and adapting to climate change,there is a drive to embed ecological principles into agricultural,value-chain practices a...To achieve the triple challenge of food security,reversing biodiversity declines plus mitigating and adapting to climate change,there is a drive to embed ecological principles into agricultural,value-chain practices and decisionmaking.By diversifying cropping systems at several scales there is potential to decrease reliance on inputs,provide resilience to abiotic and biotic stress,enhance plant,microbe and animal biodiversity,and mitigate against climate change.In this review we highlight the research performed in Scotland over the past 5 years into the impact of the use of ecological principles in agriculture on sustainability,resilience and provision of ecosystem functions.We demonstrate that diversification of the system can enhance ecosystem functions.Soil and plant management interventions,including nature-based solutions,can also enhance soil quality and utilization of legacy nutrients.Additionally,this is facilitated by greater reliance on soil biological processes and trophic interactions.We highlight the example of intercropping with legumes to deliver sustainability through ecological principles and use legumes as an exemplar of the innovation.We conclude that there are many effective interventions that can be made to deliver resilient,sustainable,and diverse agroecosystems for crop and food production,and these may be applicable in any agroecosystem.展开更多
As every country in the world struggles with the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic,it is essential that as many people as possible understand the epidemic containment,elimination and exclusion strategies required to tackle it...As every country in the world struggles with the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic,it is essential that as many people as possible understand the epidemic containment,elimination and exclusion strategies required to tackle it.Simplified arithmetic models of COVID-19 transmission,control and elimination are presented in user-friendly Shiny and Excel formats that allow non-specialists to explore,query,critique and understand the containment decisions facing their country and the world at large.Although the predictive model is broadly applicable,the simulations presented are based on parameter values representative of the United Republic of Tanzania,which is still early enough in its epidemic cycle and response to avert a national catastrophe.The predictions of these models illustrate(1)why ambitious lock-down interventions to crush the curve represent the only realistic way for individual countries to contain their national-level epidemics before they turn into outright catastrophes,(2)why these need to be implemented so early,so stringently and for such extended periods,(3)why high prevalence of other pathogens causing similar symptoms to mild COVID-19 precludes the use of contact tracing as a substitute for lock down interventions to contain and eliminate epidemics,(4)why partial containment strategies intended to merely flatten the curve,by maintaining epidemics at manageably low levels,are grossly unrealistic,and(5)why local elimination may only be sustained after lock down ends if imported cases are comprehensively excluded,so international co-operation to conditionally re-open trade and travel between countries certified as free of COVID-19 represents the best strategy for motivating progress towards pandemic eradication at global level.The three sequential goals that every country needs to emphatically embrace are contain,eliminate and exclude.As recently emphasized by the World Health Organization,success will require widespread genuine national unity and unprecedented global solidarity.展开更多
基金supported by the 2016–2021 strategic research program funded by the Scottish Government’s Rural and Environment Science and Analytical Services Division。
文摘To achieve the triple challenge of food security,reversing biodiversity declines plus mitigating and adapting to climate change,there is a drive to embed ecological principles into agricultural,value-chain practices and decisionmaking.By diversifying cropping systems at several scales there is potential to decrease reliance on inputs,provide resilience to abiotic and biotic stress,enhance plant,microbe and animal biodiversity,and mitigate against climate change.In this review we highlight the research performed in Scotland over the past 5 years into the impact of the use of ecological principles in agriculture on sustainability,resilience and provision of ecosystem functions.We demonstrate that diversification of the system can enhance ecosystem functions.Soil and plant management interventions,including nature-based solutions,can also enhance soil quality and utilization of legacy nutrients.Additionally,this is facilitated by greater reliance on soil biological processes and trophic interactions.We highlight the example of intercropping with legumes to deliver sustainability through ecological principles and use legumes as an exemplar of the innovation.We conclude that there are many effective interventions that can be made to deliver resilient,sustainable,and diverse agroecosystems for crop and food production,and these may be applicable in any agroecosystem.
基金No funding was received from any source for the preparation of this article but GFK is supported by an AXA Research Chair award and Irish Aid(Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade,Government of Ireland)supported the open access publication costs of the study through the Embassy of Ireland in Tanzania(Award number AI-TAN/2020/086)The ideas,opinions and comments of the authors are entirely their own responsibility and do not necessarily represent or reflect Irish Aid policy.
文摘As every country in the world struggles with the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic,it is essential that as many people as possible understand the epidemic containment,elimination and exclusion strategies required to tackle it.Simplified arithmetic models of COVID-19 transmission,control and elimination are presented in user-friendly Shiny and Excel formats that allow non-specialists to explore,query,critique and understand the containment decisions facing their country and the world at large.Although the predictive model is broadly applicable,the simulations presented are based on parameter values representative of the United Republic of Tanzania,which is still early enough in its epidemic cycle and response to avert a national catastrophe.The predictions of these models illustrate(1)why ambitious lock-down interventions to crush the curve represent the only realistic way for individual countries to contain their national-level epidemics before they turn into outright catastrophes,(2)why these need to be implemented so early,so stringently and for such extended periods,(3)why high prevalence of other pathogens causing similar symptoms to mild COVID-19 precludes the use of contact tracing as a substitute for lock down interventions to contain and eliminate epidemics,(4)why partial containment strategies intended to merely flatten the curve,by maintaining epidemics at manageably low levels,are grossly unrealistic,and(5)why local elimination may only be sustained after lock down ends if imported cases are comprehensively excluded,so international co-operation to conditionally re-open trade and travel between countries certified as free of COVID-19 represents the best strategy for motivating progress towards pandemic eradication at global level.The three sequential goals that every country needs to emphatically embrace are contain,eliminate and exclude.As recently emphasized by the World Health Organization,success will require widespread genuine national unity and unprecedented global solidarity.
