Landscape Agronomy: Advances and Challenges of a Territorial Approach to Agricultural Issues

Description

The landscape is widely identified as a relevant target both by integrative policies and across the disciplines dealing with resource management and territorial planning. Landscape agronomy promotes a greater involvement of agricultural sciences into this arena by increasing the attention on the dynamics relating the farming practices to the natural resources and the temporal and spatial patterns of land covers.  This book covers the background that improved the transdisciplinary interface of agronomy with spatially-explicit disciplines like landscape ecology and geography both in research and in training programs, in addition to some experiences of participative landscape management. On these bases, the state of art on cutting-edge data availability and methodological issues is used to select and discuss some worldwide case studies.  This selection of research topic examples underpins the concluding discussions about challenges ahead. Researchers as well as policy and decision makers are the main target of this book that seeks to provide a toolbox of concepts, examples and ideas to improve the understanding of agricultural landscapes. Agricultural activities manage the greatest share of land surface on Earth with fast-paced changes compared to any other human land use. With this book we aim at providing a stronger interface between agricultural science and landscape design processes. Preface and Overview Structure of the Book Recommendations References Acknowledgements Contents Contributors Chapter 1: Agriculture at the Landscape Level: Scientific Background and Literature Overview 1.1 Introduction 1.2 Approaches to Agriculture at the Landscape Level: Why Landscape Agronomy Matters 1.3 Bibliometric Overview of the Topics Addressed by Landscape Agronomy: Recent Trends and Emerging Perspectives 1.4 Conclusion Appendix References Part I: Observing Chapter 2: Agrometeorological Services for Landscape Agronomy: The Italian Case in the European Context 2.1 Introduction 2.2 Survey Process 2.3 Survey Results 2.4 Agrometeorological Services in Europe 2.4.1 Density of Stations 2.5 Phenological Information 2.6 Discussion 2.7 Conclusions Appendix 1: Information About Agrometeorological Services and Networks in European Union Appendix 2: Phenological information available from Agrometeorological Networks in European Union References Chapter 3: Availability and Integration of Agro-Environmental Data: The French Case 3.1 Introduction: What Kind of Agro-Environmental Data for Which End Uses? 3.2 Data Description 3.2.1 Environmental Data 3.2.1.1 Climatic Data 3.2.1.2 Soil Data 3.2.1.3 Biodiversity Data Data on Plant Pathogens, Animal Pests, and Weeds Data on General Biodiversity (Pest and Non-pest Species) 3.2.1.4 Monitoring the Status of Vegetation, Air, and Soil ICOS Network for Flux Data Remote Sensing for Monitoring Vegetation and Soil Status 3.3 Agricultural Practices 3.3.1 Land Use and Land Cover 3.3.1.1 The French Land-Parcel Identification System 3.3.1.2 Teruti and Teruti-Lucas Surveys 3.3.1.3 Contribution of Remote Sensing to Land-Use and Land-Cover Mapping 3.3.2 Crop Management 3.3.2.1 Field Surveys 3.3.2.2 Pilot Farms 3.4 Integrating Agro-Environmental Data at Regional and National Levels: A Case Study 3.4.1 Background 3.4.2 Integrative Modeling 3.4.3 Data-Integration Approach 3.4.4 Data Collection Strategy 3.5 Perspectives for Data Collection and Integration 3.5.1 Practical Aspects of Using Agro-Environmental Data: From France to Europe 3.5.1.1 Data Availability 3.5.1.2 Data Access 3.5.1.3 Data Interoperability 3.5.2 Additional Agro-Environmental Data to Collect and Integrate in the Near Future 3.5.2.1 Biodiversity Data 3.5.2.2 Ecosystem Services 3.6 Concluding Remarks Appendix References Chapter 4: A Method to Assess the Fragility of a Terraced System as an Example of Landscape Agronomic Analysis 4.1 Introduction 4.2 Case Study: The Fragility of Monte Pisano (Tuscany, Italy) 4.3 Spatially Explicit Multicriteria Decision Analysis 4.3.1 Step 1: Definition of the Spatial Decision Problem and the Decision-Making Profile 4.3.2 Step 2: Choice of Evaluation Criteria 4.3.3 Step 3: Selection and Processing of the Attributes 4.3.3.1 Choice of the Reference Scale 4.3.3.2 Selection of the Set of Attributes 4.3.3.3 Performance Table and Attribute Processing 4.3.4 Step 4: Decision Rule and Representation of the Alternatives 4.3.5 Step 5: Evaluation of the Reliability of the Analysis 4.3.5.1 Direct Reliability: Assessing Accuracy of the Results 4.3.5.2 Indirect Reliability: Uncertainty Analysis 4.4 Results and Discussion 4.4.1 Prioritising Fragility Hotspots 4.4.2 Reliability of the Fragility Assessment 4.4.2.1 Accuracy of the Results 4.4.2.2 Uncertainty Analysis 4.4.3 Limits of the Method and Possible Improvements 4.4.3.1 Selection and Processing of Attributes 4.4.3.2 Evaluation of the Reliability of the Results 4.4.3.3 Use of the Results and Further Improvements 4.5 Conclusion Appendix References Part II: Understanding Chapter 5: Exploring Futures in Landscape Agronomy: Methodological Issues and Prospects of Combining Scenarios and Spatially E... 5.1 Introduction 5.2 Combining Models and Scenarios: Methodological Implications 5.3 Challenges in Modeling Agricultural Landscapes 5.3.1 Scaling Issues 5.3.2 Modeling Land Use Complexity 5.4 Exploring Futures in Landscape Agronomy: Current Practices and Model Requirements 5.4.1 Neutral Landscape Models 5.4.2 Fine-Scale Models 5.4.3 Large-Scale Models 5.4.4 Insights from These Examples 5.5 Recent Developments and Future Opportunities 5.5.1 The Need for Multiscale Modeling 5.5.2 Other Opportunities 5.6 Conclusion References Chapter 6: Aligning Governance of Quality with Quality Management Systems in Territory-Based Agrifood Chains 6.1 Introduction: Potential of Territorial Products and Evolution of Consumers´ Views 6.2 The Alignment Principle: Matching Governance of Quality with QMS 6.2.1 The Alignment Principle and Its Extensions to Quality Issues 6.2.2 QMS in Agrifood Chains: Connections to Governance, Content, and Diversity 6.2.3 The Alignment Principle When Territories Matter 6.3 Development of an Analytical Framework of Alignment Between Governance of Quality and QMSs in Territory-Based Agrifood Cha... 6.3.1 Remediableness: Why Players Seek Alignment Between Governance of Quality and QMSs 6.3.2 Dimensionalization of Territorial Dimensions 6.3.2.1 Territory as an Organizational and Institutional Pattern 6.3.2.2 Territorial Resources 6.3.2.3 Territories and Coordination Mechanisms 6.3.3 An Analytical Framework of the Alignment Principle in Territory-Based Agrifood Chains 6.4 Case Studies of Territorial Quality-Based Agrifood Chains: Applications of the Alignment Principle 6.4.1 The Case Studies: General Presentation 6.4.1.1 Porcilin/Saveurs en´Or Case Study 6.4.1.2 PGI Bayonne Ham Case Study 6.4.2 Results: Alignment Situations 6.4.2.1 Alignment Principle for the Territory as an Institutional and Organizational Pattern 6.4.2.2 Alignment Principle Between Governance and Territoriality 6.4.2.3 Alignment Principle for the Territory as a Support of Coordination Mechanisms 6.5 Concluding Comments References Part III: Supporting Action Chapter 7: Innovation in Education and Training: Insights from New Integrative Approaches 7.1 Introduction 7.2 New Complex Problems and the Need for New Answers 7.3 The Research-Training-Action Platform 7.4 Experiences to Date 7.4.1 Meetings at International Conferences 7.4.2 Winter Schools in Landscape Agronomy in Pisa 7.4.3 The Landscape Ambassador program 7.5 Ph.D. in Interdisciplinary Landscape Management 7.6 Discussion and Concluding Remarks References Chapter 8: Innovative Governance and Participatory Research for Agriculture in Territorial Development Processes: Lessons from... 8.1 Introduction 8.2 Innovation in Regional Development 8.2.1 Development as a Dynamic Process Related to Innovation 8.2.2 Technological Innovation Within Development Clusters 8.2.3 Innovation from Creating Knowledge 8.2.4 Toward Territorial Innovation? 8.3 The PSDR Program: A Collaborative Research Instrument for Regional Development 8.3.1 Analysis of Regional and Territorial Development Processes: Methodological Foundations of PSDR Research Projects 8.3.2 PSDR: A Multidisciplinary Approach to Understanding Territorial Dynamics 8.3.3 Knowledge Transfer and Use at the Regional Level: At the Heart of PSDR´s Mission 8.4 PSDR 3: An Assessment 8.4.1 Main Scientific Results of PSDR 3 8.4.2 Partnership Assessment 8.4.3 Examples of Tools Developed and Operations Conducted in the PSDR Program 8.5 Conclusion: Toward a Fourth Generation of the PSDR Program References Chapter 9: Guiding Multifunctional Landscape Changes Through Collaboration: Experiences from a Danish Case Study 9.1 Introduction: Management of Rural Landscape in a Complex World 9.2 Collaborative Approaches to Planning and Management of Rural Landscape 9.3 Accessing Achievements of Collaborative Governance Activities 9.4 The Odderbæk Case Study: The Landscape and the Odderbæk Stream Association 9.4.1 Materials and Methods 9.4.2 The Odderbæk Stream Association 9.5 Collaborative Landscape Strategy Making 9.6 Impacts of the Collective Nature Strategy and OSA´s Collaborative Governance 9.6.1 Results on the Ground: New Projects and Land Use Changes 9.6.2 New Relationships, New Partnerships, and More Collaboration 9.6.3 New Knowledge and Joint Learning 9.6.4 Coordination and Change of Institutional Matters 9.6.5 The Ability to Solve Problems and Work Together: A Question of Trust and Success 9.6.6 A New Institution and a New Discourse? 9.7 Conclusion and Perspectives References Chapter 10: Landscape Agronomy: Lessons Learned and Challenges Ahead, from a European Perspective 10.1 Introduction 10.2 Collective Projects for Agroecological Transition and Integrated Landscape-Management Policies 10.3 Integrated Management at the Landscape Level: The Example of Pest Management 10.4 Territorial Circularity to Integrate Global Issues into Landscape Development Perspectives 10.5 Conclusion and Perspectives References