Environment & Agriculture >> Biodiversity

Biodiversity in agriculture is essential to food security, but industrial agriculture has tended toward reliance on fewer and fewer crop species and cultivars while also harming wild biodiversity.

Recommended resources on this topic:

Reports & Other Documents

Global Plan of Action for the Conservation and Sustainable Utilization of Plant Genetic Resources for Food and Agriculture

Food and Agriculture Organization (U.N.), June 1996.

Global Biodiversity Strategy: Guidelines for action to save, study and use Earth's biotic wealth sustainably and equitably

World Resources Institute, February 1992.

Biological Diversity in Food and Agriculture

Food and Agriculture Organization (U.N.).

Peer-reviewed Journal Articles

Farmland biodiversity and the footprint of agriculture

S.J. Butler, et al. Science, January 2007.

The effects of farm size and organic farming on diversity of birds, pollinators, and plants in a Swedish landscape

K. Belfrage, et al. Ambio, December 2005.

The price of conserving agricultural biodiversity

B. Koo, et al. Nature, February 2003.

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Relevant Organizations

American Livestock Breeds Conservancy

Biodiversity International (CGIAR)

Commission on Genetic Resources for Food and Agriculture (FAO)

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Additional Tools & Resources

Agriculture’s Links to Biodiversity

Article by Economic Research Service (USDA), December 1996.

GreenFacts

The issues of biodiversity

Sustainable Table.

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