| Abstract: | All forms of agriculture cause changes in the balances and fluxes of preexisting ecosystems, thereby limiting self-regulatory
ecosystem (resiliency) functions. The intensive agriculture of the past, with its strong reduction of landscape structures
and vast decoupling of energy and matter cycles, has caused stress and degradation of the production base; massive influence
has also been exerted on neighboring compartments. This has resulted in the well known problems of pesticide loads, high phosphate
loads to surface waters via over-fertilized soils or erosion as such. To overcome the economic, social and political inadequacies
leading to ecological degradation, the demand for sustainable agricultural management needs to be transposed into knowledge-based
practical instructions and political regulations on a regional scale. Thus, applied research for a sustainable and ecologically
compatible land use aimed at sufficient food production is ever so important. In the FAM, thirty German research institutes
have merged to perform research on this topic. |
