Study on the Role of Agriculture as Provisioning Ecosystem Service

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Study on the Role of Agriculture as Provisioning Ecosystem Service

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Marta Pérez-Soba, Berien Elbersen, Markus Kempen et al. 2012: Study on the Role of Agriculture as Provisioning Ecosystem Service. Interim Report to the Institute for Environment and Sustainability. Alterra Wageningen UR, Ecologic Institute, University of Copenhagen, EuroCARE.

Agriculture provides substantial ecosystem services which lead to several benefits that humans derive from nature. This report examines the quantitative connection between provisioning agro-ecosystem services in terms of food, feed, fibers, and fuel supply and the ecological demands of these ecosystems. Energy balances of agro-ecosystems as well as different biophysical structures and processes were applied to quantify the relationship between these different services. Moreover, trade-offs between provisioning and other ecosystem services such as regulating and cultural services are discussed.

The main aim of this study was to design and implement a methodology to assess the provisioning service of agriculture in the EU-27.

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Leah Germer
Lucy Olivia Smith
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103 pp.
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Keywords
ecosystem service, energy balance, energy input, energy output, biomass, crops