Chapter 15
Agroecology: The Ecology of Sustainable Food Systems · 6 exercises
Problem 1
What are some of the primary impediments to convincing conventional farmers of the potential advantages of managing complex, multispecies cropping systems?
6 step solution
Problem 2
Give an example of a complex cropping community where competition and mutualisms may play different but equally important roles in the success of the entire crop system.
6 step solution
Problem 3
Describe an example of how coexistence and mutualisms in a crop community can be essential to the success of a biological control mechanism for a particular crop pest.
5 step solution
Problem 4
A noncrop organism can have either positive or negative impacts on the rest of the crop community of which it is a member. Explain how this is possible.
6 step solution
Problem 5
Describe a complex cropping community of crop and noncrop populations that allows for a significant reduction in the use of nonrenewable synthetic agricultural chemicals. Be sure to explain the contribution made by each member of the crop community.
4 step solution
Problem 6
What are several "emergent qualities" of a crop community that are not evident at the population or single individual level in an agroecosystem?
3 step solution