Biodiversity - the variety and variability of animals, plants and micro-organisms at the genetic, species and ecosystem levels - is necessary to sustain key functions of the ecosystem, its structure and processes. Biodiversity for food and agriculture can be managed to maintain or enhance ecosystem functions to provide options for the optimization of agricultural production, and contribute to the resilience of ecosystems for risk mitigation. Indeed, biodiversity enhances ecosystem services because those components that appear redundant at one point in time become important when changes occur.

Managing Biodiversity and Ecosystem Functions for Sustainable Agriculture

Biodiversity is an important regulator of agro-ecosystem functions, not only in the strictly biological sense of impact on production, but also in satisfying a variety of needs of the farmer and society at large. Agroecosystem managers, including farmers, can build upon, enhance and manage the essential ecosystem services provided by biodiversity in order to work towards sustainable agricultural production. This can be achieved though good farming practices which follow ecosystem-based approaches designed to improve sustainability of production systems. They aim at meeting consumer needs for products that are of high quality, safe and produced in an environmentally and socially responsible way. 

The conservation and enhancement of biodiversity in cropping systems both above and below ground (e.g. soil biodiversity) are part of the foundation of sustainable farming practices. Such measures also lead to improved biodiversity in other parts of the environment which are adjacent to but not directly part of the cropland – such as water bodies and the broader agricultural landscape. The composition and diversity of planned biodiversity (for example selected crops) strongly influences the nature of the associated diversity - plant, animal and microbial. A challenge is to integrate, through ecosystem approach strategies, the planned biodiversity that is maintained with the associated diversity (for example, wild pollinators).

Maintenance of biodiversity, including crop-associated biodiversity, is necessary to ensure the continued supply of goods and services such as:

Evolution and crop improvement through breeding – the interaction between the environment, genetic resources and management practices that occurs in situ within agro-ecosystems ensures that a dynamic portfolio of biodiversity for food and agriculture (agricultural biodiversity) is maintained and adapts to changing conditions;

Biological support to production – support is provided by the organisms that make up the biological diversity of the agro-ecosystem. For example, soil fauna and micro-organisms, together with the roots of plants and trees, ensure nutrient cycling; pests and diseases are kept in check by predators and disease control organisms, as well as genetic resistances in crop plants themselves; and insect pollinators contribute to the cross-fertilization of outcrossing crop plants; and

Wider ecological functions – valuable ecological processes that result from the interactions between species and between species and the environment include the maintenance of soil fertility, water quality and climate regulation.