Agroecology articles within Nature

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  • Article
    | Open Access

    Results from 316 Bombus terrestris colonies at 106 agricultural sites across eight European countries find pesticides in bumble bee pollen to be associated with reduced colony performance, especially in areas of intensive agriculture.

    • Charlie C. Nicholson
    • , Jessica Knapp
    •  & Maj Rundlöf

  • Article |

    By harvesting aquatic vegetation that provides habitat for snails that harbour Schistosoma parasites and converting it to compost and animal feed, a trial reduced schistosomiasis prevalence in children while providing wider economic benefits.

    • Jason R. Rohr
    • , Alexandra Sack
    •  & Caitlin Wolfe

  • Article |

    A meta-analysis of studies in which bees were exposed to combinations of agrochemicals, nutritional stressors and/or parasites revealed evidence for synergistic effects on mortality when bees were exposed to multiple agrochemicals at field-realistic levels.

    • Harry Siviter
    • , Emily J. Bailes
    •  & Mark J. F. Brown

  • Article |

    Variation in vegetation and climate affects the long-term changes in bird communities in intensive-agriculture habitats, but not in diversified-agriculture or natural-forest habitats, by changing the local colonization and extinction rates.

    • J. Nicholas Hendershot
    • , Jeffrey R. Smith
    •  & Gretchen C. Daily

  • Letter |

    A greater diversity of crops at the national level increases the temporal stability of total national harvest, reflecting markedly lower frequencies of years with sharp harvest losses.

    • Delphine Renard
    •  & David Tilman

  • Letter |

    Variation in plant nutrient levels suppresses insect herbivore populations and the homogenous nutrient content of modern agricultural crops could be contributing to insect pest outbreaks.

    • William C. Wetzel
    • , Heather M. Kharouba
    •  & Richard Karban

  • Letter |

    The authors report on attempts to increase the yield of smallholder farms in China using ten practices recommended by the Science and Technology Backyard for farming maize and wheat at county level.

    • Weifeng Zhang
    • , Guoxin Cao
    •  & Zhengxia Dou

  • Letter |

    Historical assessment of nectar provision in the UK from the 1930s to 2007 shows an initial dramatic fall, but more recently nectar provision has increased; the diversity of nectar sources has fallen to the point that four species now produce half of the total UK nectar.

    • Mathilde Baude
    • , William E. Kunin
    •  & Jane Memmott

  • Letter |

    Despite substantial evidence that neonicotinoid pesticides can have negative effects on bees, there have been no reports that this leads to problems with pollination; here bumblebee colonies exposed to a neonicotinoid are shown to provide reduced pollination services to apple trees, leading to a reduction in seed number.

    • Dara A. Stanley
    • , Michael P. D. Garratt
    •  & Nigel E. Raine

  • Letter |

    It has been suggested that the negative effects on bees of neonicotinoid pesticides could be averted in field conditions if they chose not to forage on treated nectar; here field-level neonicotinoid doses are used in laboratory experiments to show that honeybees and bumblebees do not avoid neonicotinoid-treated food and instead actually prefer it.

    • Sébastien C. Kessler
    • , Erin Jo Tiedeken
    •  & Geraldine A. Wright

  • Letter |

    In an experiment across China to test integrated soil–crop system management for rice, wheat and maize against current practice, improvements in grain yield are equivalent to high-input techniques, but nutrient use, nutrient loss and greenhouse gas emissions are lower than current practice.

    • Xinping Chen
    • , Zhenling Cui
    •  & Fusuo Zhang

  • News & Views Forum |

    A meta-analysis of agricultural systems shows that organic yields are mostly lower than those from conventional farming, but that organic crops perform well in some contexts. Agricultural scientists discuss whether the conclusions of the study should change farming practices and management. See Letter p.229

    • John P. Reganold
    •  & Achim Dobermann

  • News Feature |

    The key to tackling hunger in Africa is enriching its soil. The big debate is about how to do it.

    • Natasha Gilbert

  • Comment |

    Jason Clay identifies eight steps that, taken together, could enable farming to feed 10 billion people and keep Earth habitable.

    • Jason Clay

  • Opinion |

    To feed the world without further damaging the planet, Jeffrey Sachs and 24 food-system experts call for a global data collection and dissemination network to track the myriad impacts of different farming practices.

    • Jeffrey Sachs
    • , Roseline Remans
    •  & Pedro A. Sanchez

  • News & Views |

    Organic farming supports higher biodiversity. Research involving the Colorado potato beetle shows that this increased diversity can deliver a better ecosystem service in the form of more effective pest control.

    • Lindsay A. Turnbull
    •  & Andy Hector

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