Abstract
The processes underlying ecological sustainability are studied through a theoretical sequence of rice-based agro-ecosystems reflecting increasing intensities of land use. Data and assumptions are derived from existing literature in order to understand changes in the magnitude of N-flows across systems, based on N inputs equal to N outputs at the aggregated level. The three systems comprise (A) shifting cultivation, (B) mixed livestock-food crop farming, and (C) irrigated rice monoculture, that are compared on a total area basis (20, 2 and 1 ha respectively) and on a basis of per hectare crop land. Total and per hectare N inputs and outputs as well as the efficiency (ratio of N in useful outputs to N in other outputs) are estimated. On a hectare basis flows in the shifting cultivation system are less than 50 % of those in mixed livestock-cropping and only 4 % of those in rice monocropping, while efficiency increases from 0.12 to 0.29 and 0.41. Land use intensification thus leads to greater N-flows in the system, coupled with greater losses, proportionally to the increases in flows, and higher efficiency. The theoretical approach demonstrates the importance of including both magnitudes and efficiencies of N-flows at the aggregated system level in analysing ecological sustainability of agro-ecosystems.
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© 1994 Springer Science+Business Media Dordrecht
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Fresco, L.O., De Ridder, N., Stomph, T.J. (1994). Magnitudes of Disturbance in the Evolution of Agro-Ecosystems: N-Flows in Rice-Based Systems. In: Struik, P.C., Vredenberg, W.J., Renkema, J.A., Parlevliet, J.E. (eds) Plant Production on the Threshold of a New Century. Developments in Plant and Soil Sciences, vol 61. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-011-1158-4_14
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-011-1158-4_14
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