Landscape context affects the sustainability of organic farming systems.

ABSTRACT: Organic agriculture promotes sustainability compared to conventional agriculture. However, the multifunctional sustainability benefits of organic farms might be mediated by landscape context. Assessing how landscape context affects sustainability may aid in targeting organic production to landscapes that promote high biodiversity, crop yields, and profitability. We addressed this using a meta-analysis spanning 60 crop types on six continents that assessed whether landscape context affected biodiversity, yield, and profitability of organic vs. conventional agroecosystems. We considered landscape metrics reflecting landscape composition (percent cropland), compositional heterogeneity (number and diversity of cover types), and configurational heterogeneity (spatial arrangement of cover types)

SUBMITTER: Smith OM 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC7022164 | biostudies-literature | 2020 Feb

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature