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Agricultural sustainability and intensive production practices

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TLDR
A doubling in global food demand projected for the next 50 years poses huge challenges for the sustainability both of food production and of terrestrial and aquatic ecosystems and the services they provide to society.
Abstract
A doubling in global food demand projected for the next 50 years poses huge challenges for the sustainability both of food production and of terrestrial and aquatic ecosystems and the services they provide to society. Agriculturalists are the principal managers of global useable lands and will shape, perhaps irreversibly, the surface of the Earth in the coming decades. New incentives and policies for ensuring the sustainability of agriculture and ecosystem services will be crucial if we are to meet the demands of improving yields without compromising environmental integrity or public health.

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Integrating agroecology and landscape multifunctionality in Vermont: An evolving framework to evaluate the design of agroecosystems

TL;DR: In this article, the authors introduce an evolving framework for evaluating the design of agroecosystems based on a critical review of the literature on landscape multifunctionality and agro-ecology.
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Life cycle assessment of Swiss farming systems: II. Extensive and intensive production

TL;DR: In this article, a comprehensive life cycle assessment (LCA) study was carried out for Swiss arable cropping and forage production systems in three long-term experiments (DOC experiment comparing bio-dynamic, bio-organic and conventional farming, the Burgrain experiment including integrated intensive, integrated extensive and organic systems and the Oberacker experiment with conventional ploughing and no-till soil cultivation, are considered in the LCA study.
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Adapting agriculture to climate change: a review

TL;DR: In this article, the authors focus on farm-level and farmers responses to the challenges of climate change both spatially and over time, and suggest a sequenced approach through grouping research initiatives into short-term, medium-term and long-term initiatives.
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Anatomy and resilience of the global production ecosystem

TL;DR: This Perspective examines the global production ecosystem through the lenses of connectivity, diversity and feedback, and proposes measures that will increase its stability and sustainability.
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Short-term competition between crop plants and soil microbes for inorganic N fertilizer.

TL;DR: In this paper, the authors examined how crop plants and soil microbes vary in their ability to take up and compete for fertilizer N on a short time scale (hours to days) using 15N tracer techniques.
References
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Journal ArticleDOI

Climate change 2001: the scientific basis

TL;DR: In this article, the authors present an overview of the climate system and its dynamics, including observed climate variability and change, the carbon cycle, atmospheric chemistry and greenhouse gases, and their direct and indirect effects.
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Human Domination of Earth's Ecosystems

TL;DR: Human alteration of Earth is substantial and growing as discussed by the authors, between one-third and one-half of the land surface has been transformed by human action; the carbon dioxide concentration in the atmosphere has increased by nearly 30 percent since the beginning of the Industrial Revolution; more atmospheric nitrogen is fixed by humanity than by all natural terrestrial sources combined; more than half of all accessible surface fresh water is put to use by humanity; and about one-quarter of the bird species on Earth have been driven to extinction.
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Human alteration of the global nitrogen cycle: sources and consequences

TL;DR: In this article, a review of available scientific evidence shows that human alterations of the nitrogen cycle have approximately doubled the rate of nitrogen input into the terrestrial nitrogen cycle, with these rates still increasing; increased concentrations of the potent greenhouse gas N 2O globally, and increased concentration of other oxides of nitrogen that drive the formation of photochemical smog over large regions of Earth.
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Nonpoint pollution of surface waters with phosphorus and nitrogen

TL;DR: In this article, a review of the available scientific information, they are confident that nonpoint pollution of surface waters with P and N could be reduced by reducing surplus nutrient flows in agricultural systems and processes, reducing agricultural and urban runoff by diverse methods, and reducing N emissions from fossil fuel burning, but rates of recovery are highly variable among water bodies.
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