Student’s Name: Ramil B. Entana Jr.

Program: MS Animal Science

Subject: FSY131/AgroIV (Introduction to Farming Systems)
Professor: Mario Torred, Ph.D.

Various Roles of Landscape Ecology on the Future of Different Farming Systems:

A Reflection Paper

The article in this Scholarly Journals examine the possibilities for these
contributions and go over the changing functions of landscape ecology in farming
systems of the future. Individual papers concentrate on particular aspects of the
difficulties that farming may face in the future. Studies on the potential for bettering
land management to support pollination across Portugal, using approaches based on
land cover data and modeling tools, as well as modeling impacts of habitat changes on
Skylarks in Hungary, look at biodiversity and its management and role in agricultural
systems. While other papers discuss the roles and potentials for a new method of
scaling from traditional harvests at local scales to wider markets, other papers address
habitats and land covers associated with land uses. Changes in land funds at regional
scales in Russia and investigation of the advantages of agroforestry systems in
southern Brazil address these issues. In order to create multifunctional landscapes in
New Zealand, the usage of geodesign and the theoretical underpinnings of landscape
ecology are investigated. Ecosystem services are utilized to assess the effects
connected with the alteration of agricultural landscapes in the European Alps. For the
Scottish pastoral and arable industries between 1867 and 2020, the capacity to track
and identify dynamics in farming systems is examined. This research demonstrates
both endogenous and exogenous drivers of change that are crucial for managing
future farming systems and figuring out how they will react to external stimuli. Even
though each of these case studies uses a particular region, they also develop universal
concepts and offer helpful background information to be included into the
administration of future farming systems that provide more sustainable solutions for
food production. Using the landscapes and agricultural activities in Aotearoa, New
Zealand as a case study in integrating theory and practice within farming, Pearson
builds on the theoretical strengths of landscape ecology in transformative agriculture
to establish future farming systems. The ability of farmers to influence the course of
the systems in which they work will be crucial to maintaining robust, functional farm
systems that can address societal and environmental concerns worldwide.

When taken as a whole, the papers discuss a range of issues, including the
future farming systems' characteristics, the changes required to bring them about,
and the value and potential of landscape ecology as a strategy for integrating and
synthesizing scientific data for efficient regional and global landscape management.
Landscape ecology must show its relevance and develop in fundamental, strategic, and
applied directions, as well as in participatory co-design of land management practices
at various pertinent scales, in order for this integration and synthesis to effectively
produce sustainable landscapes and futures for environments and people. The
following questions are among those presented and covered in these papers: How can
landscape ecology concepts be more effectively applied to support farmers and
policymakers in making sustainable land management decisions and in planning and
designing future agricultural landscapes? How might landscape ecology contribute to
the development of successful trans-disciplinary projects that center on the joint
creation of approaches to problem-solving? How may indigenous knowledge, cultural
ties, and values associated with particular geographies be blended into more western
production systems for more sustainable results? This entails looking into and
improving our understanding of how we can assess the potential for diversifying
agricultural production systems toward alternative practices, which integrate with
traditional knowledge and practice toward the growth and harvest of novel bushfoods
and take advantage of organic practices that are nondestructive. What are the current
potentials for geodesign and geospatial technology to suggest and assess alternative
patterns of farming land use and build multifunctional landscapes? is another query
posed in the Scholarly Journals. What can be learned about comprehending future
change management from a long-term perspective on land-use change in agriculture?
What effects would variations in the intensity of rural land usage have? How can we
incorporate the ecosystem services provided by pollinators into farm production? What
part do pollinators play in the production process? How can we use local ecological
knowledge to increase agrobiodiversity? What effects might be expected if productive
land is lost to urban and industrial development? How can future farming methods
retain crucial ecological services?

The papers in this Scholarly Journals highlight the key roles of landscape
ecology in the design and development of multifunctional landscapes that preserve
significant biodiversity and ecosystem services, as well as the ways in which this can
help with the maintenance and preservation of vital landscape functioning and
processes to ensure sustainable production into the future. The papers show how
landscape ecology may aid in the creation and use of pertinent monitoring and
evaluation methods to help measure the status and condition of farmland and the
species that inhabit it. The development of bottom-up approaches that take into
account the worldviews and perspectives of farmers and other stakeholders is also
seen as having a significant impact on landscape ecology. By embracing cultural
connections to landscapes and utilizing indigenous and other forms of traditional
knowledge, these bottom-up approaches facilitate stewardship of the landscape.
Landscape ecology has a significant part to play in this process of bridging science and
practice, as well as in the co-creation of knowledge for sustainable futures. Landscape
ecology, as a metadiscipline, can also play a significant role in integrating knowledge
and methods from several disciplines and in addressing environmental issues related
to agriculture, hence promoting transdisciplinary approaches for transformative
results. Additionally, landscape ecology can help to ensure not only sustainable
environmental outcomes but, more crucially, sustainable commercial outcomes by
taking into account both socioeconomic and ecological issues. Overall, the papers in
this Scholarly Journals highlight the difficulties that rural communities and farming
systems face while posing a challenge for future landscape ecological research agendas
that can assist farming and farmers through significant transformative change,
thereby assisting in the creation of future sustainable farming systems that can feed a
growing population. With the best environmental, economic, and social outcomes in
mind, it is hoped that this Scholarly Journals will: motivate landscape ecologists to
investigate theory and useful tools that can aid in the planning, design, modification,
and development of new farming landscapes; contribute to the creation of land
systems and land management techniques for particular landscapes that meet the
objectives of increased nutritious food production in the face of market and climatic
variability. Landscape ecologists can highlight their significance in providing the
scientific direction necessary to guarantee that farm systems in the future satisfy
environmental and production goals by examining these concerns through the
development of research agendas. It is possible to assist farmers and policy makers in
meeting economic requirements while preserving crucial ecosystem services that
ensure sustainable landscapes and human life by taking into account the farm within
the larger landscape mosaic in which it sits, treating the farm as an important,
coupled human-environment system, acknowledging significant drivers of change, and
acknowledging the farmer/landowner as an important participant in future design
making.
References:

1. Rockström, J.; Steffen, W.; Noone, K.; Persson, A.; Chapin, F.S., III; Lambin,
E.F.; Lenton, T.M.; Scheffer, M.; Folke, C.; Schellnhuber, H.J.; et al. A safe
operating space for humanity. Nature 2009, 461, 472–475. [CrossRef]
2. Aspinall, R.; Staiano, M.; Pearson, D. Emergent Properties of Land Systems:
Nonlinear Dynamics of Scottish Farming Systems from 1867 to 2020. Land
2021, 10, 1172.
3. Pearson, D. Key Roles for Landscape Ecology in Transformative Agriculture
Using Aotearoa—New Zealand as a Case Example. Land 2020, 9, 146.
4. Tran, D.X.; Pearson, D.; Palmer, A.; Gray, D. Developing a Landscape Design
Approach for the Sustainable Land Management of Hill Country Farms in New
Zealand. Land 2020, 9, 185.