ORGANIC AGRICULTURE AND SOIL BIODIVERSITY

LIVING SOILS FOR AGRICULTURE

Soils contain enormous numbers of diverse living organisms assembled in complex and varied communities. Soil biodiversity reflects the variability among living organisms in the soil - ranging from the myriad of invisible microbes, bacteria and fungi to the more familiar macro-fauna such as earthworms and termites. Plant roots can also be considered as soil organisms in view of their symbiotic relationships and interactions with other soil components. These diverse organisms interact with one another and with the various plants and animals in the ecosystem, forming a complex web of biological activity. Environmental factors, such as temperature, moisture and acidity, as well as anthropogenic actions, in particular, agricultural and forestry management practices, affect to different extents soil biological communities and their functions.

Soil organisms contribute a wide range of essential services to the sustainable functioning of all ecosystems. They act as the primary driving agents of nutrient cycling, regulating the dynamics of soil organic matter, soil carbon sequestration and greenhouse gas emissions; modifying soil physical structure and water regimes; enhancing the amount and efficiency of nutrient acquisition by the vegetation; and enhancing plant health. These services are not only critical to the functioning of natural ecosystems but constitute an important resource for sustainable agricultural systems.

HEALTHY SOILS FROM AGRICULTURE

Capturing the benefits of soil biological activity for agricultural production requires adhering to the following ecological principles:

• Supply organic matter. Each type of soil organism occupies a different niche in the web of life and favours a different substrate and nutrient source. Most soil organisms rely on organic matter for food; thus a rich supply and varied source of organic matter will generally support a wider variety of organisms.
  
  
• Increase plant varieties. Crops should be mixed and their spatial-temporal distribution varied, to create a greater diversity of niches and resources that stimulate soil biodiversity. For example diverse habitats support complex mixes of soil organisms, and through crop rotation or inter-cropping, it is possible to encourage the presence of a wider variety of organisms, improve nutrient cycling and natural processes of pest and disease control.
  
  
• Protect the habitat of soil organisms. The activity of soil biodiversity can be stimulated by improving soil living conditions, such as aeration, temperature, moisture, and nutrient quantity and quality. In this regard, reduced soil tillage and minimized compaction - and refraining chemical use - are of particular note.
  
  

Improvement in agricultural sustainability requires, alongside effective water and crop management, the optimal use and management of soil fertility and soil physical properties. Both rely on soil biological processes and soil biodiversity. This calls for the widespread adoption of management practices that enhance soil biological activity and thereby build up long-term soil productivity and health.

Adaptation and further development of soil biodiversity management into sustainable land management practices requires solutions that pay adequate consideration to the synergies between the soil ecosystem and its productive capacity and agro-ecosystem health. One practical example of holistic agricultural management systems that promote and enhance agro-ecosystem health, including biodiversity, biological cycles and soil biological activity is organic agriculture.

ORGANIC AGRICULTURE NURTURES SOIL BIODIVERSITY

Scientific research has demonstrated that organic agriculture significantly increases the density and species of soil's life. Suitable conditions for soil fauna and flora as well as soil forming and conditioning and nutrient cycling are encouraged by organic practices such as: manipulation of crop rotations and strip-cropping; green manuring and organic fertilization (animal manure, compost, crop residues); minimum tillage; and of course, avoidance of pesticides and herbicides use.

Benefits of organic management on soil biological activity are summarized below¹:

• Abundant arthropods and earthworms. Organic management increases the abundance and species richness of beneficial arthropods living above ground and earthworms, and thus improves the growth conditions of crops. More abundant predators help to control harmful organisms (pests). In organic systems the density and abundance of arthropods, as compared to conventional systems, has up to 100% more carabids, 60-70% more staphylinids and 70-120% more spiders. This difference is explained by prey deficiency due to pesticide influence as well as by a richer weed flora in the standing crop that is less dense than in conventional plots. In the presence of field margins and hedges, beneficial arthropods are further enhanced, as these habitats are essential for over-wintering and hibernation. The biomass of earthworms in organic systems is 30-40% higher than in conventional systems, their density even 50-80% higher. Compared to the mineral fertilizer system, this difference is even more pronounced.
  
  
• High occurrence of symbionts. Organic crops profit from root symbioses and are better able to exploit the soil. On average, mycorrhizal colonization of roots is highest in crops of unfertilized systems, followed by organic systems. Conventional crops have colonization levels that are 30% lower. The most intense mycorrhizal root colonization is found in grass-clover, followed by the vetch rye intercrop. Roots of winter wheat are scarcely colonized. Even when all soils are inoculated with active micorrhizae, colonization is enhanced in organic soil. This indicates that, even at an inoculum in surplus, soil nutrients at elevated levels and plant protection suppress symbiosis. This underlines the importance of appropriate living conditions for specific organisms.
  
  
• High occurrence of micro-organisms. Earthworms work hand in hand with fungi, bacteria, and numerous other microorganisms in soil. In organically managed soils, the activity of these organisms is higher. Micro-organisms in organic soils not only mineralize more actively, but also contribute to the build up of stable soil organic matter (there is less untouched straw material in organic than in conventional soils). Thus, nutrients are recycled faster and soil structure is improved. The amount of microbial biomass and decomposition is connected: at high microbial biomass levels, little light fraction material remains undecomposed and vices versa.
  
  
• Microbial carbon. The total mass of micro-organisms in organic systems is 20-40% higher than in the conventional system with manure and 60-85% than in the conventional system without manure. The ratio of microbial carbon to total soil organic carbon is higher in organic system as compared to conventional systems. The difference is significant at 60 cm depth (at 80 cm depth, no difference is observed). Organic management promotes microbial carbon (and thus, soil carbon sequestration potential).
  
  
• Enzymes. Microbes have activities with important functions in the soil system: soil enzymes indicate these functions. The total activity of micro-organisms can be estimated by measuring the activity of a living cell-associated enzyme such as dehydrogenase. This enzyme plays a major role in the respiratory pathway. Proteases in soil, where most organic N is protein, cleave protein compounds. Phosphatases cleave organic phosphorus compounds and thus provide a link between the plant and the stock of organic phosphorus in the soil. Enzyme activity in organic soils is markedly higher than in conventional soils. Microbial biomass and enzyme activities are closely related to soil acidity and soil organic matter content.
  
  
• Wild flora. Large organic fields (over 15 ha) featured flora six times more abundant than conventional fields, including endangered varieties. In organic grassland, the average number of herb species was found to be 25 percent more than in conventional grassland, including some species in decline. Vegetation structure and plant communities in organic grassland are more even and more typical for a specific site than in conventionally managed systems. In particular, field margin strips of organic farms and semi-natural habitats conserve weed species listed as endangered or at risk of extinction. Animal grazing behaviour or routing activity (e.g. pigs) was found important in enhancing plant species composition. Weeds (often sown in strips in organic orchards to reduce the incidence of aphids) influence the diversity and abundance of arthropods and flowering weeds are particularly beneficial to pollinators and parasitoids.
  
  
• High-energy efficiency. Organic agriculture follows the ecosystem theory of closed (or semi-closed) nutrient cycle on the farm. Organic land management allows the development of a relatively rich weed-flora as compared to conventional systems. Some "accompanying plants" of a crop are desired and considered useful in organic management. The presence of versatile flora attracts beneficial herbivores and other air-borne or above-ground organisms. Their presence improves the nourishment of predatory arthropods. When comparing diversity and the demand of energy for microbial maintenance (as indicated by the metabolic quotient), it becomes evident that diverse populations need less energy per unit biomass. A diverse microbial population, as present in the organic field plots, may divert a greater part of the available carbon to microbial growth rather than maintenance. In agricultural practice this may be interpreted as an increased turnover of organic matter with a faster mineralization and delivery of plant nutrients. Finally, more organic matter is diverted to build-up stable soil humus.
  
  
• Erosion control: Organic soil management improves soil structure by increasing soil activity and thus, reduces erosion risk. Organic matter has a positive effect on the development and stability of soil structure. Silty and loamy soils profit from organic matter by an enhanced aggregate structure. Organic matter is adsorbed to the charged surfaces of clay minerals. The negative charge decreases with increasing particle size. Silt is very susceptible to erosion since it is not charged, but organic matter layers on the silt surface favor aggregates with silt too.
  
  

MAINSTREAMING ORGANIC AGRICULTURE

In line with the Convention on Biological Diversity, organic agriculture can enhance the value of biological diversity by linking conservation efforts with social and economic benefits. Decision III/11 on Conservation and Sustainable Use of Agricultural Biological Diversity "encourages the development of technologies and farming practices that not only increase productivity, but also arrest degradation as well as reclaim, rehabilitate, restore and enhance biological diversity and monitor adverse effects on sustainable agricultural biodiversity" such as "inter alia, organic farming".

Target 12 of the Global Strategy for Plant Conservation of the Convention on Biological Diversity (i.e., "30 per cent of plant-based products derived from sources that are sustainably managed") identifies organic agriculture as a main indicator to monitor progress towards this target.

Organic agriculture meets precise standards which are verified through certification; in 2002, the International Federation of Organic Agriculture Movements has included "organic ecosystems", with specific biodiversity parameters, within its International Basic Standards for Organic Production and Processing.

Improved awareness on the potential of organic agriculture to provide food while conserving biodiversity offers both a practical option to implement commitments made by governments to the Convention on Biological Diversity as well as more coherence to national policies (and related support) to agriculture and environment schemes.

1 Extracted from Organic Farming Enhances Soil Fertility ad Biodiversity: Results from a 21 Year Old Field Trial, Research Institute of Organic Farming (FiBL), Frick, Switzerland, August 2000.