Nature's Matrix: Linking Agriculture, Biodiversity Conservation and Food Sovereignty

When first published in 2009, Nature’s Matrix set out a radical new approach to the conservation of biodiversity. This new edition pushes the frontier of the biodiversity/agriculture debate further, making an even stronger case for the need to transform agriculture and support small- and medium-scale agroecology and food sovereignty. In the first edition, the authors set out a radical new approach to the conservation of biodiversity. This is based on the concept of a landscape as a matrix of diverse, small-scale agricultural ecosystems, providing opportunities to enhance conservation under the stewardship of local farmers. This contrasts with the alternative view of industrial-scale farms and large protected areas which exclude local people. However, since then the debate around conservation and agriculture has developed significantly and this is reflected in this updated second edition. The text is thoroughly revised, including: <ul>
<li>a reorganization of chapters with new and timely topics introduced, </li> <li>updates to the discussion of agroecology and food sovereignty, bringing it in line with the current debates, </li> <li>greater coverage of the role of agroecology, in particular agroforestry, as an important component of climate change adaptation and mitigation, highlighting recent studies on the role of intensive agriculture in climate change and loss of biodiversity, and</li> <li>more attention given to the discussion of land sparing versus land sharing. </li>
</ul>
By integrating the ecological aspects of agriculture and conservation biology, with a political and social analysis as well as historical perspective, the book continues to set a progressive agenda and appeals to a wide range of students and professionals.

Perfecto, Ivette

Vandermeer, John

Wright, Angus

Reference

Routledge

When first published in 2009, Nature’s Matrix set out a radical new approach to the conservation of biodiversity. This new edition pushes the frontier of the biodiversity/agriculture debate further, making an even stronger case for the need to transform agriculture and support small- and medium-scale agroecology and food sovereignty. In the first edition, the authors set out a radical new approach to the conservation of biodiversity. This is based on the concept of a landscape as a matrix of diverse, small-scale agricultural ecosystems, providing opportunities to enhance conservation under the stewardship of local farmers. This contrasts with the alternative view of industrial-scale farms and large protected areas which exclude local people. However, since then the debate around conservation and agriculture has developed significantly and this is reflected in this updated second edition. The text is thoroughly revised, including: <ul>
<li>a reorganization of chapters with new and timely topics introduced, </li> <li>updates to the discussion of agroecology and food sovereignty, bringing it in line with the current debates, </li> <li>greater coverage of the role of agroecology, in particular agroforestry, as an important component of climate change adaptation and mitigation, highlighting recent studies on the role of intensive agriculture in climate change and loss of biodiversity, and</li> <li>more attention given to the discussion of land sparing versus land sharing. </li>
</ul>
By integrating the ecological aspects of agriculture and conservation biology, with a political and social analysis as well as historical perspective, the book continues to set a progressive agenda and appeals to a wide range of students and professionals.

Coffee Agroecology

Based on principles of the conservation and optimization of biodiversity and of equity and sustainability, this book focuses on the ecology of the coffee agroecosystem as a model for a sustainable agricultural ecosystem. It draws on the authors' own research conducted over the last twenty years as well as incorporating the vast literature that has been generated on coffee agroecosystems from around the world. The book uses an integrated approach that weaves together various lines of research to understand the ecology of a very diverse tropical agroforestry system. Key concepts explored include biodiversity patterns, metapopulation dynamics and ecological networks. These are all set in a socioeconomic and political framework which relates them to the realities of farmers' livelihoods. The authors provide a novel synthesis that will generate new understanding and can be applied to other examples of sustainable agriculture and food production. This synthesis also explains the ecosystem services provided by the approach, including the economic, fair trade and political aspects surrounding this all-important global commodity.

Coffee Agroecology: A New Approach to Understanding Agricultural Biodiversity, Ecosystem Services and Sustainable Development

Introduces the mathematics needed for mathematical ecology. Uses a class-tested, problem-solving approach.

Elementary Mathematical Ecology

Science & Math

Biological Sciences

wiley

Rave reviews for Reconstructing Biology 
"It is just the sort of book I would have expected from John Vandermeer who, for his entire professional life, has been a leading voice in trying to make people understand the true nature of the forces that are both inside and outside of human beings, and the correct relationship between human beings and the rest of nature."—R. C. Lewontin Harvard University "For over a decade now we have been inundated by massive tomes on the nature of race by psychologists and sociologists poorly trained in genetics and biology. Now, at last, a preeminent biologist explains the true nature of race differences.... The combination of scientific clarity, political insight, and historical acumen makes this one of the most important books yet published on the subject of race and racism."—Barry Mehler Ferris State University "Given the frequency with which we meet simplistic claims today that social behaviors such as criminality, alcoholism, shyness, homosexuality, or infidelity are genetically determined...Reconstructing Biology should be required reading for all students in the social as well as natural sciences."—Garland E. Allen Washington University in St. Louis A biologist takes a probing look at some of the most important questions facing postmodern civilization In Reconstructing Biology, noted biologist and educator John Vandermeer explores the ways in which the science of biology has been and continues to be misinterpreted and misappropriated on behalf of some of the most pernicious doctrines and policies of the past 200 years. From the politics of genetics to the biology of IQ, Reconstructing Biology is must reading for anyone concerned about the role of science in the most important social and political issues of our time.

Reconstructing Biology: Genetics and Ecology in the New World Order

Politics & Social Sciences

Social Sciences

In Breakfast of Biodiversity, John Vandermeer and Ivette Perfecto insightfully describe the ways in which such disparate factors as the international banking system, modern agricultural techniques, rain forest ecology, and the struggles of the poor interact to bring down the forest. They weave an alternative vision in which democracy, sustainable agriculture, and land security for the poor are at the center of the movement to save the tropical environment. This new, fully updated edition of Breakfast of Biodiversity discusses important new developments in our understanding of rain forest biology and assesses the impacts of a decade of free” trade on the rain forest and on those who live in and around it.

Breakfast Of Biodiversity: The Political Ecology of Rain Forest Destruction

Sports & Outdoors

FOOD FIRST BOOKS *

This book examines contradictions within the fields of food studies and agroecology, from the differences between traditional and scientific knowledge, to habitat fragmentation and connection, monocultures versus diverse farming systems, pest regulation, and the rural/urban dialectic. Building and expanding on the work of Richard Levins and Richard Lewontin, who used the dialectical method in the field of biology, this analysis includes examples from the authors' own pioneering research in Mexico, Nicaragua, and Puerto Rico, to demonstrate the benefits of applying the dialectical method to agroecology in practice. Exploring themes in studies that are currently the subject of rigorous debate among academics and activists alike, especially related to food production and distribution, this book is indispensable for practitioners and activists seeking to transform the food system, as well as for social and natural scientists.

The Dialectical Agroecologist

Cambridge University Press

Ecological Complexity and Agroecology

This text reflects the immense current growth in interest in agroecology and changing approaches to it. While it is acknowledged that the science of ecology should be the basis of agroecological planning, many analysts have out-of-date ideas about contemporary ecology. Ecology has come a long way since the old days of "the balance of nature" and other romantic notions of how ecological systems function. In this context, the new science of complexity has become extremely important in the modern science of ecology. The problem is that it tends to be too mathematical and technical and thus off-putting for the average student of agroecology, especially those new to the subject. Therefore this book seeks to present ideas about ecological complexity with a minimum of formal mathematics.  The book’s organization consists of an introductory chapter, and a second chapter providing some of the background to basic ecological topics as they are relevant to agroecosystrems (e.g., soil biology and pest control). The core of the book consists of seven chapters on key intersecting themes of ecological complexity, including issues such as spatial patterns, network theory and tipping points, illustrated by examples from agroecology and agricultural systems from around the world.

This text reflects the immense current growth in interest in agroecology and changing approaches to it. While it is acknowledged that the science of ecology should be the basis of agroecological planning, many analysts have out-of-date ideas about contemporary ecology. Ecology has come a long way since the old days of "the balance of nature" and other romantic notions of how ecological systems function. In this context, the new science of complexity has become extremely important in the modern science of ecology. The problem is that it tends to be too mathematical and technical and thus off-putting for the average student of agroecology, especially those new to the subject. Therefore this book seeks to present ideas about ecological complexity with a minimum of formal mathematics. The book’s organization consists of an introductory chapter, and a second chapter providing some of the background to basic ecological topics as they are relevant to agroecosystrems (e.g., soil biology and pest control). The core of the book consists of seven chapters on key intersecting themes of ecological complexity, including issues such as spatial patterns, network theory and tipping points, illustrated by examples from agroecology and agricultural systems from around the world.

Nature’s Matrix: Linking Agriculture, Conservation and Food Sovereignty

The subject of Nature’s Matrix is conservation of biodiversity, but it differs from other books by proposing a radically new approach based on recent advances in the science of ecology plus certain political realities. The analysis in Nature's Matrix is based on the linking of three key political issues that are intimately related, yet often treated in isolation. The first is the crisis of biodiversity loss, universally acknowledged as a major contemporary problem. The second has to do with food and agriculture, a crisis issue for the past two decades. The third is the political unrest in rural areas, engendered most recently by a collapse in rural product markets, resulting in massive rural-urban and international migration. This book shows how these three issues are interrelated in complex ways, focusing on the need to understand that interrelationship for the generation of effective conservation programs. These ideas challenge some in the conservation community since they are at odds with the major trends of some of the large conservation organizations that emphasize targeted land purchases of protected areas. They argue that recent advances in ecological research make such a general approach anachronistic and call, rather, for solidarity with the small farmers around the world who are currently struggling to attain food sovereignty.

Business & Money

Economics

Earthscan Publications Ltd.

See the best price to sell, buy, or rent books by Vandermeer, John. BookScouter helps to compare book prices from 25+ online bookstores and 30+ buyback vendors with a single search.

Books by Vandermeer, John

See the best price to sell, buy, or rent books by Vandermeer, John. BookScouter helps to compare book prices from 25+ online bookstores and 30+ buyback vendors with a single search.

Nature's Matrix: Linking Agriculture, Biodiversity Conservation and Food Sovereignty

Nature's Matrix: Linking Agriculture, Biodiversity Conservation and Food Sovereignty

Coffee Agroecology: A New Approach to Understanding Agricultural Biodiversity, Ecosystem Services and Sustainable Development

Elementary Mathematical Ecology

Reconstructing Biology: Genetics and Ecology in the New World Order

Breakfast Of Biodiversity: The Political Ecology of Rain Forest Destruction

The Dialectical Agroecologist

Ecological Complexity and Agroecology

Ecological Complexity and Agroecology

Nature’s Matrix: Linking Agriculture, Conservation and Food Sovereignty