J.S. Pate – författare

This book critically examines the idea that the sustainability of agriculture could be improved by mimicking the structure and processes occurring in natural ecosystems. Researchers from around the world present comparative studies of multi-species farming systems, natural ecosystems and conventional agriculture. Case studies from Europe, Africa, Asia, Australia, and North and South America examine the implications of increasing the complexity of farming systems on water and nutrient cycling, productivity and resilience. Theoretical issues discussed include the role of biodiversity in agriculture, the trade-off between perenniality and productivity, the choice to integrate or segregate production and conservation in an agricultural landscape, and the social and economic challenges to adopting complex farming systems. One section is devoted to the application of this concept in southern Australia, where 15 million hectares of land are expected to be affected by salinity by the middle of the next century unless there is a significant change in agricultural practice.

This title has a strong practical orientation, telling readers what methodologies are available using stable isotopes, how studies should be designed and executed to maximize effectiveness and incisiveness in terms of data obtained and outcomes in terms of understanding events and processes in plant and ecosystem functioning. The readership is very much aimed toward postgraduates with good knowledge of general biological principles and underlying chemical and physical processes. Pre-existing knowledge of or experience in application and assay of stable isotopes is not required. The stable isotope research field is one of the most rapidly growing areas of ecophysiology and techniques using stable isotopes comprise an ever increasing component of research programmes of university postgraduates and a wide range of agencies conducting environmental monitoring and rehabilitation programmes.

This book critically examines the idea that the sustainability of agriculture could be improved by mimicking the structure and processes occurring in natural ecosystems. Researchers from around the world present comparative studies of multi-species farming systems, natural ecosystems and conventional agriculture. Case studies from Europe, Africa, Asia, Australia, and North and South America examine the implications of increasing the complexity of farming systems on water and nutrient cycling, productivity and resilience. Theoretical issues discussed include the role of biodiversity in agriculture, the trade-off between perenniality and productivity, the choice to integrate or segregate production and conservation in an agricultural landscape, and the social and economic challenges to adopting complex farming systems. One section is devoted to the application of this concept in southern Australia, where 15 million hectares of land are expected to be affected by salinity by the middle of the next century unless there is a significant change in agricultural practice.

In the last two decades technological advances in isotope ratio mass spectrometry have been very rapid, opening up new possibilities for analysis of biological and environmental materials. The new instrumentation has facilitated faster analysis of samples via automated sample preparation and multi-isotope analysis of single samples, resulting in considerable cost savings, and enabling access to isotope analysis for many more researchers. These changes are reflected in the rapidly growing international literature on stable isotopes. While there have been some excellent books and review papers aimed at interpreting isotope signals in biology and environmental science, there have been fewer attempts to provide practical tools for researchers making forays into this exciting new arena. This book aims to address this inadequacy by providing a set of practical guidelines for the application of a range of novel and well proven stable isotope techniques to the fields of plant physiological ecology, agriculture, marine ecology and palaeoecology. The book is the outcome of a weeklong workshop held under the auspices of the Cooperative Research Centre for Legumes in Mediterranean Agriculture (CLIMA 1992 - 2000) at The University of Western Australia and the CSIRO Floreat Laboratories, Perth, Western Australia, in February 1999. The workshop was designed to provide practical tools and experiences for researchers and students concerned with how one goes about using stable isotopes in field investigations.