Organic tomato farmscape in Yolo County, California
Biodiversity is a key aspect of organic farm management, not only for crop production practices, but for the entire farmscape, e.g., crop fields, riparian corridors, hedgerows, detention ponds, and ditches. At an organic farm in
- inventorying the plant biodiversity and the associated belowground composition of microbial, nematode, and earthworm communities;
- determining key ecosystem functions, such as nutrient cycling and water quality, associated with these habitat types; and
- developing a model to evaluate the economic trade-offs resulting from providing different types of ecosystem services, and to choose the management regimes that are most cost-effective in terms of environmental quality and crop-based income.
Preliminary results show greater differences in aboveground species diversity of non-production areas of the farm than in belowground communities. One of the largest differences between habitats is in greenhouse gas mitigation potential. Greenhouse gas emissions are the greatest in ponds and ditches which occupy little of the farm area while carbon storage may be greatest in the riparian habitat. Ecological and economic impacts from restoration practices will also be considered in a survey of local landowners for their willingness to invest in biodiversity-based practices to increase farm stewardship.