About this Research Topic
In the last decades, Agroecology as a science has gained understanding on how elements of agroecosystems change, develop, grow, and also how some of them interact with each other. It has also generated a solid body of knowledge regarding the historical, social and anthropological aspects of diverse agroecosystems around the world. All of this has served as input for the development, reconsideration or adaptation of practices and techniques for sustainable agriculture. However, the intricate interactions among the heterogeneous elements that conform agroecosystems, their counter-intuitive and often unpredictable behavior, and the emergence of key distributed properties, such as resilience, continue to challenge our understanding of agroecosystems. Moreover, these phenomena occur at different, yet connected scales, ranging from the soil microbial world, to plots, landscapes and the agro-alimentary systems. The urgent need to understand these multi-scale complex processes and to incorporate these insights into agroecological practice calls for efforts in this direction.
The aim of this Research Topic is to gather contributions from scientists working on integrative approaches that consider the complexity of agroecosystems and agroalimentary systems, be it through the use of mathematical and computational models or through other conceptual and methodological resources of the Complexity Sciences and modern Ecology. Through this Research Topic, we aim to provide a panoramic view of the potential of the research being carried out in this direction, foster its development and articulate it with other approaches, bodies of knowledge and practices in Agroecology.
Suggested Topics:
- Population and community dynamics within agroecosystems
- Land use modeling in agricultural landscapes
- Below or above-ground agroecosystem networks
- Farm and household flow models
- Pest dynamics and systems-based control
- Food production and supply networks
- Pattern formation in agroecosystems
- Agrobiodiversity dynamics and conservation
- Energy and matter flows in agroecosystems
- Emergence of resilience, vulnerability and other distributed properties
- Modeling ecosystem services in agroecosystems
- Coupling of social and ecological systems
The aim of this Research Topic is to gather contributions from scientists working on integrative approaches that consider the complexity of agroecosystems and agroalimentary systems, be it through the use of mathematical and computational models or through other conceptual and methodological resources of the Complexity Sciences and modern Ecology. Through this Research Topic, we aim to provide a panoramic view of the potential of the research being carried out in this direction, foster its development and articulate it with other approaches, bodies of knowledge and practices in Agroecology.
Suggested Topics:
- Population and community dynamics within agroecosystems
- Land use modeling in agricultural landscapes
- Below or above-ground agroecosystem networks
- Farm and household flow models
- Pest dynamics and systems-based control
- Food production and supply networks
- Pattern formation in agroecosystems
- Agrobiodiversity dynamics and conservation
- Energy and matter flows in agroecosystems
- Emergence of resilience, vulnerability and other distributed properties
- Modeling ecosystem services in agroecosystems
- Coupling of social and ecological systems
Keywords: Agroecosystem interactions, Resilience, Agroalimentary systems, Complexity sciences, Multi-scale complex processes, Agroecosystem networks, Mathematical modelling, Computational modelling, Acgroecology
Important Note: All contributions to this Research Topic must be within the scope of the section and journal to which they are submitted, as defined in their mission statements. Frontiers reserves the right to guide an out-of-scope manuscript to a more suitable section or journal at any stage of peer review.
