ENVIRONMENTAL%20INDICATORS%20AND%20SUSTAINABILITY%20BENEFITS

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ENVIRONMENTAL INDICATORS AND SUSTAINABILITY
BENEFITS Students should be able to 1.
Discuss a number of indicators to assess the
ecological sustainability of a range of
agricultural systems 2. Describe the importance
of spatial and temporal changes in the values of
several common ecological indictors 3. For a
given case, explain how they would assess the
underlying ecological sustainability of the
system.
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Julian Park homepage will put the ppt
presentation here for about a week http//www.rdg.
ac.uk/aasparkj/ Environmental Challenges in
Farm Management (ECIFM) on Indicators of
Sustainable Development http//www.ecifm.rdg.ac.
uk
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Becoming wetter?
Becoming drier?
Increased sea levels?
More deserts?
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Dimensions of SUSTAINABILITY Economic
sustainability Ecological sustainability Social
sustainability Political sustainability These
dimensions may help us handle this very complex
issue
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Monitoring change Are changes increasing or
decreasing the sustainability of the system? To
answer this we need to know 1. What is the
current situation? 2. Can realistic indicators
of sustainability be found? 3. Can this criteria
be monitored effectively both spatial and
temporally? 4. Is the monitoring realistic and
cost effective?
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Energy use
Leaching
How will changes impact on sustainability?
Natural habitat
Soil damage
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Indicators of Sustainable Development for the UK,
HMSO This documents sets out certain indicators
which have been monitored centrally for different
periods of time. These categories include
Energy, Land use, Water, Forestry, Fish
stocks Climate change, Ozone depletion, Wildlife
Habitats, Land cover and landscape, Soil
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Towards Sustainable Agriculture A set of pilot
indicators for agriculture On 17 May 1999 the
Government published a better quality of life
a strategy for sustainable development in the
UK The pilot indicators help with the achievement
of these objectives from 3 perspectives,
economic, social and environmental
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Three types of indicator Driving indicators
describe what is causing E,E or S change I.E.
Pesticide use State indicators Measure the
current quality or stock of a good I.E. Organic
matter Response indicators measure of actions
being taken to change the system I.E.
Environmental payments
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SOIL ORGANIC MATTER Why is it a useful
indicator? 1. Plays central role in nutrient
cycling, soil aeration and water holding
capacity 2. Is affected directly by agricultural
practice, particularly cultivation 3. Present in
all soils and is easily measured. Changes slowly
and is therefore a longer-term indicator.
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Relation to sustainability 1. Soils of low
organic content are susceptible to wind and water
erosion 2. Soils of low organic content are
harder to work and hold less water 3. Soil of
low organic content may require more intervention
to produce good crops
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Ploughing oxidises SOM Agriculture can reduce the
debris returned to the soil
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Practices likely to increase organic matter 1.
Addition of crop residues 2. Period of perennial
cropping such as grass 3. Carefully selected
cultivation techniques
Practices likely to decrease organic matter 1.
Ploughing out of grassland 2. Minimal return of
plant debris 3. Continuous heavy cultivation
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Potential turnover rates of soil carbon in
England and Wales
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Bird Populations
Why useful as an indicator? 1. Near the top of
the food chain 2. Populations within areas tend
to fluctuate according to food and habitat
availability (although within year fluctuations
are likely) 3. Well recorded populations which
are relatively easy to monitor
Relation to sustainability 1. Indicative of
general biodiversity 2. Populations can be
severely reduced by aggressive farming
strategies 3. Very strong lobby organisation
(RSPB) and lots of big guns interested in bird
watching
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Practices likely to increase bird numbers 1.
Careful management of field margins, habitats and
setaside 2. Sensible use of pesticides 3.
General diversity of landscape with wildlife
corridors
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Practices likely to reduce numbers 1.
Aggressive farming strategies in terms of land
use 2. Reduction in governmental support for
environmental policies 3. Changes in land use
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Concluding remarks There are wide range of
potential indicators Ecological and
environmental indicators need to relatively easy
and cheap to monitor Seasonal variations, for
instance in earthworm populations need to be
taken into account Consider indicators for
monitoring in the long, medium and short
term For a given case it is important to
consider how many indicators, and the frequency
and resolution with which change can be monitored.