Delivering integrated farm management in practice: understanding ecosystem services

Abstract

A  155  hectare catchment  incorporating  three  Leicestershire  farms  is  being  used  to  explore interactions between food production and other  ecosystem services in order to inform future policy  and  practice  associated  with  sustainable  intensification.   The  catchment  comprises pasture  grazed  by  sheep  and  horses,  arable  land,  ancient  semi-natural  woodland  and  more recently planted farm woods, hedges and Environmental Stewardship habitats, rural roads and houses. Phosphorus discharge from septic tanks provides an example of pollution from non-agricultural  human  activity.   Data  from  the  catchment  base  provide  evidence  of  the  role  of agricultural  headwaters  buffering  impacts  on  main  rivers.   Functional  groups  of  organisms perform  important  roles  as  indicators  of  long  term  productive  land  management  as  well  as providing immediate ecosystem services. An integrated approach to management of soils and other habitats, targeted to meet multiple objectives simultaneously, is likely to be the most cost effective means of combining agricultural and environmental objectives.