Note to users. If you're seeing this message, it means that your browser cannot find this page's style/presentation instructions -- or possibly that you are using a browser that does not support current Web standards. Find out more about why this message is appearing, and what you can do to make your experience of our site the best it can be.

Site Tools

  • AAAS
  • Subscribe
  • Feedback

Site Search

Search Advanced

Originally published in Science Express on 23 December 2004
Science 28 January 2005:
Vol. 307. no. 5709, pp. 550 - 555
DOI: 10.1126/science.1106049
Prev | Table of Contents | Next

Research Articles

Farming and the Fate of Wild Nature

Rhys E. Green,1,2* Stephen J. Cornell,1,3 Jörn P. W. Scharlemann,1,2 Andrew Balmford1,4

World food demand is expected to more than double by 2050. Decisions about how to meet this challenge will have profound effects on wild species and habitats. We show that farming is already the greatest extinction threat to birds (the best known taxon), and its adverse impacts look set to increase, especially in developing countries. Two competing solutions have been proposed: wildlife-friendly farming (which boosts densities of wild populations on farmland but may decrease agricultural yields) and land sparing (which minimizes demand for farmland by increasing yield). We present a model that identifies how to resolve the trade-off between these approaches. This shows that the best type of farming for species persistence depends on the demand for agricultural products and on how the population densities of different species on farmland change with agricultural yield. Empirical data on such density-yield functions are sparse, but evidence from a range of taxa in developing countries suggests that high-yield farming may allow more species to persist.

1 Department of Zoology, University of Cambridge, Downing Street, Cambridge, CB2 3EJ, UK.
2 Royal Society for the Protection of Birds, The Lodge, Sandy, SG19 2DL, UK.
3 The Faculty of Biological Sciences, University of Leeds, Leeds, LS2 9JT, UK.
4 Percy FitzPatrick Institute of African Ornithology, University of Cape Town, Private Bag, Rondebosch 7701, South Africa.

* To whom correspondence should be addressed. E-mail: reg29{at}hermes.cam.ac.uk

Read the Full Text


THIS ARTICLE HAS BEEN CITED BY OTHER ARTICLES:
Bioeconomic Sustainability of Cellulosic Biofuel Production on Marginal Lands.
A. P. Gutierrez and L. Ponti (2009)
Bulletin of Science Technology Society 29, 213-225
   Abstract »    PDF »
On the relationship between farmland biodiversity and land-use intensity in Europe.
D Kleijn, F Kohler, A Baldi, P Batary, E.D Concepcion, Y Clough, M Diaz, D Gabriel, A Holzschuh, E Knop, et al. (2009)
Proc R Soc B 276, 903-909
   Abstract »    Full Text »    PDF »
Mining and Harnessing Natural Variation: A Little MAGIC.
G. S. Johal, P. Balint-Kurti, and C. F. Weil (2008)
Crop Sci. 48, 2066-2073
   Abstract »    Full Text »    PDF »
Flight distance and population trends in European breeding birds.
A. P. Moller (2008)
Behav. Ecol. 19, 1095-1102
   Abstract »    Full Text »    PDF »
Extinction debt: origins, developments, and applications of a biogeographical trope.
G. P. Malanson (2008)
Progress in Physical Geography 32, 277-291
   Abstract »    PDF »
Assessing the impacts of agricultural intensification on biodiversity: a British perspective.
L. G Firbank, S. Petit, S. Smart, A. Blain, and R. J Fuller (2008)
Phil Trans R Soc B 363, 777-787
   Abstract »    Full Text »    PDF »
Agricultural sustainability: concepts, principles and evidence.
J. Pretty (2008)
Phil Trans R Soc B 363, 447-465
   Abstract »    Full Text »    PDF »
Biodiversity conservation and agricultural sustainability: towards a new paradigm of 'ecoagriculture' landscapes.
S. J Scherr and J. A McNeely (2008)
Phil Trans R Soc B 363, 477-494
   Abstract »    Full Text »    PDF »
Mitigation of indirect environmental effects of GM crops.
J.D Pidgeon, M.J May, J.N Perry, and G.M Poppy (2007)
Proc R Soc B 274, 1475-1479
   Abstract »    Full Text »    PDF »
Comparison of Long-Term Organic and Conventional Crop-Livestock Systems on a Previously Nutrient-Depleted Soil in Sweden.
H. Kirchmann, L. Bergstrom, T. Katterer, L. Mattsson, and S. Gesslein (2007)
Agron. J. 99, 960-972
   Abstract »    Full Text »    PDF »
From the Cover: Tradeoffs between income, biodiversity, and ecosystem functioning during tropical rainforest conversion and agroforestry intensification.
I. Steffan-Dewenter, M. Kessler, J. Barkmann, M. M. Bos, D. Buchori, S. Erasmi, H. Faust, G. Gerold, K. Glenk, S. R. Gradstein, et al. (2007)
PNAS 104, 4973-4978
   Abstract »    Full Text »    PDF »
Farmland Biodiversity and the Footprint of Agriculture.
S. J. Butler, J. A. Vickery, and K. Norris (2007)
Science 315, 381-384
   Abstract »    Full Text »    PDF »
Cropland expansion changes deforestation dynamics in the southern Brazilian Amazon.
D. C. Morton, R. S. DeFries, Y. E. Shimabukuro, L. O. Anderson, E. Arai, F. del Bon Espirito-Santo, R. Freitas, and J. Morisette (2006)
PNAS 103, 14637-14641
   Abstract »    Full Text »    PDF »
Plant Genetic Resources Conservation and Utilization: The Accomplishments and Future of a Societal Insurance Policy.
P. Gepts (2006)
Crop Sci. 46, 2278-2292
   Abstract »    Full Text »    PDF »
Benefits of organic farming to biodiversity vary among taxa.
R.J Fuller, L.R Norton, R.E Feber, P.J Johnson, D.E Chamberlain, A.C Joys, F Mathews, R.C Stuart, M.C Townsend, W.J Manley, et al. (2005)
Biol Lett 1, 431-434
   Abstract »    Full Text »    PDF »
Brain size and resource specialization predict long-term population trends in British birds.
S. Shultz, R. B. Bradbury, K. L. Evans, R. D. Gregory, and T. M. Blackburn (2005)
Proc R Soc B 272, 2305-2311
   Abstract »    Full Text »    PDF »


To Advertise     Find Products

Science. ISSN 0036-8075 (print), 1095-9203 (online)