The Farm As Natural Habitat

by Jackson, Dana L.; Jackson, Laura L.; Bradley, Nina Leopold

• ISBN13: 9781559638470
• ISBN10: 1559638478
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2002-04-01
• Publisher: Island Pr

Summary

The Farm as Natural Habitatis a vital new contribution to the debate about agriculture and its impacts on the land. Arising from the conviction that the agricultural landscape as a whole could be restored to a healthy diversity, the book challenges the notion that the dominant agricultural landscape -- bereft of its original vegetation and wildlife and despoiled by chemical runoff -- is inevitable if we are to feed ourselves. Contributors bring together insights and practices from the fields of conservation biology, sustainable agriculture, and environmental restoration to link agriculture and biodiversity, farming and nature, in celebrating a unique alternative to conventional agriculture.Rejecting the idea that "ecological sacrifice zones" are a necessary part of feeding a hungry world, the book offers compelling examples of an alternative agriculture that can produce not only healthful food, but fully functioning ecosystems and abundant populations of native species. Contributors include Collin Bode, George Boody, Brian DeVore, Arthur (Tex) Hawkins, Buddy Huffaker, Rhonda Janke, Richard Jefferson, Nick Jordan, Cheryl Miller, Heather Robertson, Carol Shennan, Judith Soule, Beth Waterhouse, and others.The Farm as Natural Habitatis both hopeful and visionary, grounded in real examples, and guided by a commitment to healthy land and thriving communities. It is the first book to offer a viable approach to addressing the challenges of protecting and restoring biodiversity on private agricultural land and is essential reading for anyone concerned with issues of land or biodiversity conservation, farming and agriculture, ecological restoration, or the health of rural communities and landscapes.

Table of Contents

Acknowledgments	ix
Foreword	xi
Nina Leopold Bradley
Introduction	1	(10)
Laura L. Jackson
Dana L. Jackson
Part I. Agriculture as Ecological Sacrifice	11	(42)
The Farm as Natural Habitat	13	(14)
Dana L. Jackson
Nature's Backlsh	27	(12)
Brian A. DeVore
The Farm, the Nature Preserve, and the Conservation Biologist	39	(14)
Laura L. Jackson
Part II. Restoring Nature on Farms	53	(66)
Return to Coon Valley	57	(14)
Arthur S. (Tex) Hawkins
Reading the Land Together	71	(12)
Wellington (Buddy) Huffaker
When Farmers Shut Off the Machinery	83	(14)
Brian A. DeVore
Stewards of the Wild	97	(10)
Brian A. DeVore
Why Do They Do It?	107	(12)
Brian A. DeVore
Part III. Ecosystem Management and Farmlands	119	(86)
Nature and Farming in Britain	123	(14)
Heather J. Robertson
Richard G. Jefferson
Restoring Prairie Processes to Farmlands	137	(18)
Laura L. Jackson
Sustaining Production with Biodiversity	155	(14)
Nicholas R. Jordan
Conservation and Agriculture as Neighbors	169	(20)
Judith D. Soule
Intergrating Wetland Habitat with Agriculture	189	(16)
Carol Shennan
Collin A. Bode
Part IV. Steps Toward Agroecological Restoration	205	(72)
Composing a Landscape	209	(12)
Rhonda R. Janke
After the Deluge: Integrated Watershed Management in the Red River Valley	221	(14)
Cheryl Miller
A Refined Taste in Natural Objects	235	(12)
Beth E. Waterhouse
Food and Biodiversity	247	(14)
Dana L. Jackson
Agriculture as a Public Good	261	(16)
George M. Boody
About the Contributors	277	(2)
Index	279