Farming practices to enhance biodiversity across biomes: a systematic review.

Intensive agriculture for food and feed production is a key driver of global biodiversity loss. It is generally assumed that more extensive practices are needed to reconcile food production with biodiversity conservation. In a literature review across biomes and for seven taxa, we retrieved 35 alternative practices (e.

Characterizing beef and sheep farming systems to customize sustainability interventions and policy implementation.

Agricultural systems tend to be characterised by large diversity, therefore, solving socio-economic and environmental problems in agriculture requires targeted and contextualised policies. However, policies often fail to recognize this heterogeneity in their design or implementation. This can result in the use of sector-wide characteristics and, consequently, generic policies that are not tailored to specific farming systems.

Risk to rely on soil carbon sequestration to offset global ruminant emissions.

Carbon sequestration in grasslands has been proposed as an important means to offset greenhouse gas emissions from ruminant systems. To understand the potential and limitations of this strategy, we need to acknowledge that soil carbon sequestration is a time-limited benefit, and there are intrinsic differences between short- and long-lived greenhouse gases. Here, our analysis shows that one tonne of carbon sequestrated can offset radiative forcing of a continuous emission of 0.

Assessment of determinants of high nature value (HNV) farmland at plot scale in Western Pyrenees.

The concept of High Nature Value (HNV) farming hinges on the causality between agroecosystems with low intensity of management and the corresponding environmental outcomes, including high levels of biodiversity and the presence of semi-natural habitats. Although European strategies for rural development and biodiversity conservation have long recognized the importance of HNV farmlands, many of those areas are currently threatened by intensification and land abandonment. A variety of approaches have been developed for identifying HNV areas and measuring changes in their distribution and extent at landscape scales.

Principles, drivers and opportunities of a circular bioeconomy.

A circular, bio-based economy could provide the pathway to a sustainable future. Here we present five ecological principles to guide biomass use towards a circular bioeconomy: safeguarding and regenerating the health of our (agro)ecosystems; avoiding non-essential products and the waste of essential ones; prioritizing biomass streams for basic human needs; utilizing and recycling by-products of (agro)ecosystems; and using renewable energy while minimizing overall energy use. Implementing these principles calls for a transformation of our current economic system, including fundamental changes to policies, technologies, organizations, social behaviour and markets.