المستند
المستند
المستند
Abstract
Because of large and growing human population, the persistence of
widespread malnutrition, and the direct and significant threats the
expanding agricultural system poses to biodiversity, the goals of
providing universal food security and protecting biodiversity seem
incompatible. Examining the literature shows that the current
agricultural system already provides sufficient food on a worldwide
basis, but in doing so methodically undermines the capacity of agro
ecosystems to preserve biodiversity. However, the available evidence
emphasizes the Interdependence of biodiversity and agriculture, and the
important role each plays In the maintenance of the other. Thus, our
review supports the claim that the solutions to the problems of
widespread food insecurity and biodiversity loss need not be mutually
sing appropriate منهexclusive, and that It may be possible to foster both u
.alternative agricultural practices
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Introduction
Among the challenges facing the world today, the urgency of providing
food security to the growing human population and slowing the rapid loss
of irreplaceable biological diversity loom large. A sense of urgency is
warranted in both cases: estimates of the current rate of loss of
biodiversity range from several hundred times the background (i.e.,
“natural”) rate (Pimm et al. 1995) to between 1,000 and 10,000 times the
background rate (Hanski et al. 1995; but see Ibáñez et al. 2006), and
approximately one billion people are malnourished today (FAO 2008).
Indeed, the loss of biodiversity is likely still accelerating (Gaston and
Fuller 2007), with 1–10% of the world’s species projected to be lost in the
next quarter century, a rate comparable to the
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We intentionally avoid a number of important complexities In
order to address elemental questions of feasibility, questions as
vital as those regarding implementation and societal change
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Materials & methods
The current global availability of 2,800 calories per capita per day
can be taken as an apparent success of conventional agriculture
(FAO 2007; IAASTD 2009; but see Note 8). That is, today’s intensive
agriculture provides sufficient food for global food security in terms
of raw calories. Furthermore, the likely negative correlation
between intensive agriculture and biodiversity has been reviewed.
Is, however, an alternative system possible that mitigates this
inverse relationship? That is ,
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