Hostname: page-component-cd9895bd7-dzt6s Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-12-21T13:16:14.721Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Enhancing ecosystem services with no-till

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  11 March 2013

R. Lal
R. Lal*
Affiliation:
Carbon Management and Sequestration Center, FAES/OARDC, School of Natural Resources, 2021 Coffey Road, The Ohio State University, Columbus, OH 43201-1085, USA.
*
Corresponding author: lal.1@osu.edu
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

Ecosystem functions and services provided by soils depend on land use and management. The objective of this article is to review and synthesize relevant information on the impacts of no-till (NT) management of croplands on ecosystem functions and services. Sustainable management of soil through NT involves: (i) replacing what is removed, (ii) restoring what has been degraded, and (iii) minimizing on-site and off-site effects. Despite its merits, NT is adopted on merely ∼9% of the 1.5 billion ha of global arable land area. Soil's ecosystem services depend on the natural capital (soil organic matter and clay contents, soil depth and water retention capacity) and its management. Soil management in various agro-ecosystems to enhance food production has some trade-offs/disservices (i.e., decline in biodiversity, accelerated erosion and non-point source pollution), which must be minimized by further developing agricultural complexity to mimic natural ecosystems. However, adoption of NT accentuates many ecosystem services: carbon sequestration, biodiversity, elemental cycling, and resilience to natural and anthropogenic perturbations, all of which can affect food security. Links exist among diverse ecosystem services, such that managing one can adversely impact others. For example, increasing agronomic production can reduce biodiversity and deplete soil organic carbon (SOC), harvesting crop residues for cellulosic ethanol can reduce SOC, etc. Undervaluing ecosystem services can jeopardize finite soil resources and aggravate disservices. Adoption of recommended management practices can be promoted through payments for ecosystem services by a market-based approach so that risks of disservices and negative costs can be reduced either through direct economic incentives or as performance payments.

Keywords

natural capitalcarbon sequestrationnutrient cyclingerosion controlresidues managementbiodiversityfood securityclimate change
Type
Review Article
Information
Renewable Agriculture and Food Systems , Volume 28 , Issue 2 , June 2013 , pp. 102 - 114
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 2013

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

1Keen, B.A. 1931. The Physical Properties of Soil. Longmans, Green & Co., London, UK.Google Scholar
2Faulkner, E.H. 1942. Plowman's Folly. University of Oklahoma Press, Norman, OK, p. 155.Google Scholar
3Faulkner, E.H. 1942. A Second Look. University of Oklahoma Press, Norman, OK, p. 193.Google Scholar
4Jack, W.T. 1946. The Furrow and Us. Dorrance and Co., Philadelphia.Google Scholar
5Bennett, H.H. 1939. Soil Conservation. Ayer Co. Pub. Description from biblio.com. McGraw-Hill Book Company, New York (1st Hard Cover, 1st ed., 2nd printing, 993 pp. CR-LA. Catalogs:Science).Google Scholar
6Steinbeck, J. 1939. The Grapes of Wrath. Penguin Books, New York, p. 455.Google Scholar
7Harrold, L.L., Triplett, G.B. Jr, and Youker, R.E. 1967a. Less soil and water loss from no-tillage corn. Ohio Report on Research and Development 52:22–23.Google Scholar
8Harrold, L.L., Triplett, G.B. Jr, and Youker, R.E. 1967b. Watershed tests of no-till corn. Journal of Soil and Water Conservation 22:98–100.Google Scholar
9Triplett, G.B. Jr, van Doren, D.M. Jr, and Johnson, W.H. 1964. Non-plowed, strip tilled corn culture. Transactions of the American Society of Agricultural Engineers 7:105–107.Google Scholar
10Triplett, G.B. Jr, van Doren, D.M. Jr, and Schmidt, B.L. 1968. Effects of corn stover mulch on no-tillage corn yield and water infiltration. Agronomy Journal 60:236–239.Google Scholar
11Blevins, R.L., Cook, D., Phillips, S.H., and Phillips, R.E. 1971. Influence of no-tillage on soil moisture. Agronomy Journal 63:593–596.Google Scholar
12Blevins, R.L., Murdock, L.W., and Cornelius, P.L. 1977. Influence of no-tillage and nitrogen fertilization on certain soil properties after 5 years of continuous corn. Agronomy Journal 69:383–386.Google Scholar
13Blevins, R.L., Smith, M.S., Thomas, G.W., and Frye, W.W. 1983. Influence of conservation tillage on soil properties. Journal of Soil and Water Conservation 38:301–305.Google Scholar
14Phillips, S.H. and Young, H.M. 1973. No-tillage Farming. Reiman Associates, Milwaukee, WI.Google Scholar
15Soane, B.D., Ball, B.C., Arvidsson, J., Basch, G., Moreno, F., and Roger-Estrade, J. 2012. No-till in northern, western and south-western Europe: A review of problems and opportunities for crop production and the environment. Soil and Tillage Research 118:66–87.Google Scholar
16Lal, R., Reicosky, D.C., and Hanson, J.D. 2007. Evolution of the plow over 10, 000 years and the rationale for no-till farming. Soil and Tillage Research 93:1–12.Google Scholar
17Lal, R. 2009. The plow and agricultural sustainability. Journal of Sustainable Agriculture 33(1):66–84.Google Scholar
18McCalla, T.M. and Army, T.J. 1961. Stubble mulch farming. Advances in Agronomy 13:125–196.Google Scholar
19McCalla, T.M., Army, T.J., and Witfield, C.J. 1962. Stubble mulch farming. Journal of Soil and Water Conservation 17:204–208.Google Scholar
20Meyer, L.D. and Mannering, J.V. 1961. Minimum tillage for corn: Its effects on infiltration and erosion. Agricultural Engineering 42:72–75.Google Scholar
21Hays, O.E. 1961. New tillage methods reduce erosion and runoff. Journal of Soil and Water Conservation 16:175.Google Scholar
22Moldenhauer, W.C. and Amemiya, M. 1968. Tillage practices for controlling cropland erosion. Journal of Soil and Water Conservation 24:19–21.Google Scholar
23Greb, B.W., Smika, D.R., and Black, D.R. 1970. Water conservation with stubble mulch fallow. Journal of Soil and Water Conservation 25:58–62.Google Scholar
24Harrold, L.L. and Edwards, W.M. 1970. No-tillage corn, characteristics of the system. Transactions of the American Society of Agricultural Engineers 5:128–131.Google Scholar
25Kassam, A., Friedrich, T., Shaxson, F., and Pretty, J. 2012. The spread of conservation agriculture: Justification, sustainability and uptake. International Journal of Agricultural Sustainability 7(4):292–320.Google Scholar
26Friedrich, T., Derpsch, R., and Kassam, A. 2012. Overview of the global spread of conservation agriculture. Field Action Science 6:1–17.Google Scholar
27Wood, R.C. and Dumanski, J. (eds). 1994. Sustainable land management for the 21st century. In Proceedings of International Workshop, University of Letheridge, 1993, Letheridge, CA, p. 20–26.Google Scholar
28World Bank. 2006. Sustainable land management: Opportunities and trade-offs. Agriculture and Rural Development. The World Bank, Washington, DC.Google Scholar
29Costanza, R., d'Arge, R., de Groots, R., Farber, S., Grasso, M., Hannon, B., Limburg, K., Naeem, S., O'Neill, R.V., Paruelo, J., Raskin, R.G., Sutton, P., and van den Belt, M. 1997. The value of the world's ecosystem services and natural capital. Nature 387:253–260.Google Scholar
30Boyd, J. and Banzhaf, S. 2007. What are ecosystem services? The need for standardized environmental accounting units. Ecological Economics 63:616–626.Google Scholar
31Daily, G.C. 1997. Nature's species: Societal Dependence on Natural Ecosystems. Island Press, Washington, DC.Google Scholar
32MEA. 2003. Ecosystems and Human Well-being: A Framework for Assessment. Island Press, World Resources Institute, Washington, DC.Google Scholar
33MEA. 2005. Ecosystem and Human Well-being: Current State and Trends, Vol. 1. Island Press, World Resources Institute, Washington, DC.Google Scholar
34MEA. 2005. Ecosystems and Human Well-being: Synthesis. Island Press, World Resources Institute, Washington, DC.Google Scholar
35Power, A.G. 2010. Ecosystem services and agriculture: Tradeoffs and synergies. Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences 365:2959–2971.Google Scholar
36Dokuchaev, V.V. 1883. Russion chernozem. In Collected Writings, Vol. 3. Israel Progress in Science Transactions, Jerusalem, Israel (1967).Google Scholar
37Jenny, H. 1941. Factors of Soil Formation. McGraw-Hill, New York.Google Scholar
38Robinson, D.A., Lebron, I., and Vereecken, H. 2009. On the definition of natural capital of soils: A framework for description, evaluation, and monitoring. Soil Science Society of America Journal 73:1904–1911.Google Scholar
39Dominati, E., Patterson, M., and Mackay, A. 2010. A framework for classifying and quantifying the natural capital and ecosystem services of soils. Ecological Economics 69:1858–1868.Google Scholar
40Lavelle, P. 2000. Ecological challenges for soil science. Soil Science 165(1):73–86.Google Scholar
41Lambin, E.F. and Meyfroidt, P. 2011. Global land use change, economic globalization, and the looming land scarcity. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America 108(9): 3465–3472.Google Scholar
42Somerville, C. 2006. The billion-ton biofuels vision. Science 312:1277.Google Scholar
43Chappell, M.J. and LaValle, L.A. 2011. Food security and biodiversity: Can we have both? An agroecological analysis. Agriculture and Human Values 28:3–26.Google Scholar
44Doré, T., Makowski, D., Malézieux, E., Munier-Jolain, N., Tchamitchian, M., and Tittonell, P. 2011. Facing up to the paradigm of ecological intensification in agronomy: Revisiting methods, concepts and knowledge. European Journal of Agronomy 34:197–210.Google Scholar
45Schwilch, G., Bestelmeyer, B., Bunning, S., Critchley, W., Herrick, J., Kellner, K., Liniger, H.P., Nachtergaele, F., Ritsema, C.J., Schuster, B., Tabo, R., Van Lynden, G., and Winslow, M. 2011. Experiences in monitoring and assessment of sustainable land management. Land Degradation and Development 22:214–225.Google Scholar
46Bai, Z.G., Dent, D.L., Olsson, L., and Schaepman, M.E. 2008. Proxy global assessment of land degradation. Soil Use and Management 24:223–234.Google Scholar
47Koning, N. and Smaling, E. 2005. Environmental crisis or ‘lie of the land’? The debate on soil degradation in Africa. Land Use Policy 22:3–11.Google Scholar
48Boserup, E. 1965. The Conditions of Agricultural Growth: The Economics of Agrarian Change Under Population Pressure. Allen and Unwin, London.Google Scholar
49Boserup, E. 1987. Agricultural development and demographic growth: A conclusion. In Fauve-Chamoux, A. (ed.). Évolution Agraire & Croissance Démographique. Ordina Éditions, Liège, p. 385–389.Google Scholar
50Tiffen, M., Mortimore, M., and Gichuki, F. 1994. More People, Less erosion: Environmental Recovery in Kenya. Wiley, London.Google Scholar
51Drechsel, P., Kunze, D., and de Vries, F.P. 2001. Soil nutrient depletion and population growth in Sub-Saharan Africa: A Malthusian nexus? Population and Environment 22(4):411–423.Google Scholar
52Sanchez, P.A. 2002. Soil fertility and hunger in Africa. Science 295:2019–2020.Google Scholar
53van Rooyen, A.F. 1998. Combating desertification in the southern Kalahari: Connecting science with community action in South Africa. Journal of Arid Environments 39:285–297.Google Scholar
54Hurni, H. 2000. Assessing sustainable land management. Agriculture, Ecosystems and Environment 81:83–92.Google Scholar
55Hurni, H., Giger, M., and Meyer, K. 2006. Soils on the Global Agenda. Developing International Mechanisms for Sustainable Land Management. IUSS, Bern, Switzerland.Google Scholar
56Dexter, A.R. 2004. Soil physical quality: Part I. Theory, effects of soil texture, density, and organic matter, and effects on root growth. Geoderma 120:201–214.Google Scholar
57Powlson, D.S., Gregory, P.J., Whalley, W.R., Quinton, J.N., Hopkins, D.W., Whitmore, A.P., Hirsh, P.R., and Goulding, K.W.T. 2010. Soil management in relation to sustainable agriculture and ecosystem services. Food Policy 36:S72–S87.Google Scholar
58Dexter, A.R. 2004. Soil physical quality: Part II. Friability, tillage, tilth and hard-setting. Geoderma 120:215–225.Google Scholar
59Aune, J.B. and Lal, R. 1997. Agricultural productivity in the tropics and critical limits of properties of Oxisols, Ultisols and Alfisols. Tropical Agriculture 74:96–103.Google Scholar
60Barrow, C.J. 1991. Land degradation: Development and Breakdown of Terrestrial Environment. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, UK.Google Scholar
61Kemper, W.D. and Coach, E.J. 1996. Aggregate stability of soils from western United States and Canada. USDA Technical Bulletin No. 1355, Washington, DC.Google Scholar
62Greenland, D.J., Rimmer, D., and Payne, D. 1975. Determination of the structural stability class of English and Welsh soils, using a water coherence test. Journal of Soil Science 26:294–303.Google Scholar
63Loveland, P. and Webb, J. 2003. Is there a critical level of organic matter in agricultural soils of temperate regions: A review. Soil and Tillage Research 70:1–18.Google Scholar
64Lal, R. 2010. Enhancing eco-efficiency in agro-ecosystems through soil carbon sequestration. Crop Science 50:S120–S131.Google Scholar
65Lal, R. 2010. Beyond Copenhagen: Mitigating climate change and achieving food security through soil carbon sequestration. Food Security 2:169–177.Google Scholar
66Lal, R. 2006. Enhancing crop yields in developing countries through restoration of soil organic carbon pool in agricultural lands. Land Degradation and Development 17:197–209.Google Scholar
67Polley, H.W. 2002. Implications of atmospheric and climatic change for crop yield and water use efficiency. Crop Science 42:131–140.Google Scholar
68Peterson, G.A. and Westfall, D.G. 2004. Managing precipitation use in sustainable dryland agroecosystems. Annals of Applied Biology 144:127–138.Google Scholar
69Anderson-Teixeira, K.J. and DeLucia, E.H. 2011. The greenhouse gas value of ecosystems. Global Change Biology 17:425–438.Google Scholar
70West, T.O. and Post, W.M. 2002. Soil organic carbon sequestration rates by tillage and crop rotation: A global data analysis. Soil Science Society of America Journal 66:1930–1946.Google Scholar
71Oorts, K., Bossuyt, H., Labreuche, J., Merckx, R., and Nicolardot, B. 2007. Carbon and nitrogen stocks in relation to organic matter fractions, aggregation and pore size distribution in no-tillage and conventional tillage in Northern France. European Journal of Soil Science 58:248–259.Google Scholar
72Marks, E., Alflakpui, G.K.S., Nkem, J., Poch, R.M., Khouma, M., Kokou, K., Sagoe, R., and Sebastià, M.-T. 2009. Conservation of soil organic carbon, biodiversity and the provision of other ecosystem services along climatic gradients in West Africa. Biogeosciences 6:1825–1838.Google Scholar
73Smith, P., Martina, D., Cai, Z., Gwary, D., Janzen, H.H., Kumar, P., McCarl, B., Ogle, S., O'Mara, F., Rice, C., Scholes, R.J., Sirotenko, O., Howden, M., McAllister, T., Pan, G., Romanenkov, V., Schneider, U., Towprayoon, S., Wattenbach, M., and Smith, J.U. 2008. Greenhouse gas mitigation in agriculture. Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B 363:780–813.Google Scholar
74Mchunu, C.N., Lorentz, S., Jewitt, G., Manson, A., and Chaplot, V. 2011. No-till impact on soil and soil organic carbon erosion under crop residue scarcity in Africa. Soil Science Society of America Journal 75:1503–1512.Google Scholar
75Lal, R. 2004a. Carbon emission from farm operations. Environment International 30:981–990.Google Scholar
76Baker, J.M., Ochsner, T.E., Venterea, R.T., and Griffis, T.J. 2007. Tillage and soil carbon sequestration—What do we really know? Agriculture, Ecosystems and Environment 118:1–5.Google Scholar
77Blanco-Canqui, H. and Lal, R. 2008. No-tillage and soil-profile carbon sequestration: An on-farm assessment. Soil Science Society of America Journal 72:639–701.Google Scholar
78Angers, D.A. and Eriksen-Hamel, N.S. 2008. Full-inversion tillage and organic carbon distribution in soil profiles: A meta-analysis. Soil Science Society of America Journal 72:1370–1374.Google Scholar
79Kravchenko, A.N. and Robertson, G.P. 2011. Whole-profile soil carbon stocks: The danger of assuming too much from analyses of too little. Soil Science Society of America Journal 75:232–240.Google Scholar
80Wang, Y., Liu, F., Andersen, M.N., and Jensen, D.R. 2010. Carbon retention in the soil-plant system under different irrigation regimes. Agricultural Water Management 98:419–424.Google Scholar
81Fantappiè, M., L'Abate, G., and Costantini, E.A.C. 2011. The influence of climate change on the soil organic carbon content in Italy from 1961 to 2008. Geomorphology 135:343–352.Google Scholar
82Franzluebbers, A.J. 2010. Achieving soil organic carbon sequestration with conservation agricultural systems in Southeastern United States. Soil Science Society of America Journal 74:347–357.Google Scholar
83Baggs, E.M., Stevenson, M., Pihlatie, M., Regar, A., Cook, H., and Cadisch, G. 2003. Nitrous oxide emissions following application of residues and fertiliser under zero and conventional tillage. Plant and Soil 254:361–370.Google Scholar
84Ball, B.C., Crichton, I., and Horgan, G.W. 2008. Dynamics of upward and downward nitrous oxide and CO2 fluxes in ploughed or no-tilled soils in relation to water-filled pore space, compaction and crop presence. Soil and Tillage Research 101:20–30.Google Scholar
85Rochette, R. 2008. No-till only increases nitrous oxide emissions in poorly-aerated soils. Soil and Tillage Research 101:97–100.Google Scholar
86Smith, D.R., Hernandez-Ramierz, G., Armstrong, S.D., Bucholtz, D.L., and Stott, D.E. 2011. Fertilizer and tillage management impacts on non-carbon-dioxide greenhouse gas emissions. Soil Science Society of America Journal 75:1070–1082.Google Scholar
87Liebig, M.A., Tanaka, D.L., and Gross, J.R. 2010. Fallow effects on soil carbon and greenhouse gas flux in Central North Dakota. Soil Science Society of America Journal 74:358–365.Google Scholar
88Röver, M., Heinemeyer, O., Munch, J.C., and Kaiser, E.-A. 1999. Spatial heterogeneity within the plough layer: High variability of nitrous oxide emission rates. Soil Biology and Biochemistry 31:167–173.Google Scholar
89Peterson, S.O., Mutegi, J.K., Hansen, E.M., and Munkholm, L.J. 2011. Tillage effects on nitrous oxide emissions as influenced by a winter cover crop. Soil Biology and Biochemistry 43:1509–1517.Google Scholar
90Chatskikh, D., Olesen, J.E., Hansen, E.M., Elsgaard, L., and Petersen, B.M. 2008. Effects of reduced tillage on net greenhouse gas fluxes from loamy sand soil under winter crops in Denmark. Agriculture, Ecosystems and Environment 128:117–126.Google Scholar
91Lal, R. 2004b. Soil carbon sequestration impacts on global climate change and food security. Science 304:1623–1627.Google Scholar
92Dalal, R.C., Wang, W., Robertson, G.P., and Parton, W.J. 2003. Nitrous oxide emission from Australian agricultural lands and mitigations options: A review. Australian Journal of Soil Research 41:165–195.Google Scholar
93Grant, T. and Beer, T. 2008. Life cycle assessment of greenhouse gas emissions from irrigated maize and their significance in the value chain. Australian Journal of Experimental Agriculture 48:375–381.Google Scholar
94Jackson, T.M., Hanjra, M.A., Khan, S., and Hafeez, M.M. 2011. Building a climate resilient farm: A risk based approach for understanding water, energy and emissions in irrigated agriculture. Agricultural Systems 104:729–745.Google Scholar
95Lal, R. 2010. Managing soils and ecosystems for mitigating anthropogenic carbon emissions and advancing global food security. BioScience 60:708–721.Google Scholar
96Lal, R. 2008. Promise and limitations of soils to minimize climate change. Journal of Soil and Water Conservation 63:113A–118A.Google Scholar
97Barrios, E. 2007. Soil biota, ecosystem services and land productivity. Ecological Economics 64:269–285.Google Scholar
98Faith, D.P., Magallón, S., Hendry, A.P., Conti, E., Yahara, T., and Donoghue, M.J. 2010. Ecosystem services: An evolutionary perspective on the links between biodiversity and human well-being. Current Opinion in Environmental Sustainability 2:66–74.Google Scholar
99Nelson, E., Sander, H., Hawthorne, P., Conte, M., Ennaanay, D., Wolny, S., Manson, S., and Polasky, S. 2010. Projecting global land-use change and its effect on ecosystem service provision and biodiversity with simple models. PLoS ONE 5(12):e14327.Google Scholar
100Brussaard, L., Behan-Pelletier, V.M., Bignell, D.E., Brown, V.K., Didden, W., Folgarait, P., Fragoso, C., Freckman, D.W., Gupta, V.V.S.R., Hattori, T., Hawksworth, D.L., Klopatek, C., Lavelle, P., Malloch, D.W., Rusek, J., Soderstrom, B., Tiedje, J.M., and Virginia, R.A. 1997. Biodiversity and ecosystem functioning in soil. Ambio 26(8):563–570.Google Scholar
101Hunt, H.W. and Wall, D.H. 2002. Modeling the effects of loss of soil biodiversity on ecosystem function. Global Change Biology 8(1):33–50.Google Scholar
102Loreau, M., Naeem, S., Inchausti, P., Bengtsson, J., Grime, J.P., Hector, A., Hooper, D.U., Huston, M.A., Raffaelli, D., Schmid, B., Tilman, D., and Wardle, D.A. 2001. Biodiversity and ecosystem functioning: Current knowledge and future challenged. Science 294:804–808.Google Scholar
103Ritz, K., McHugh, M., and Harris, J. 2004. Biological diversity and function in soils: Contemporary perspectives and implications in relation to the formulation of effective indicators. In OECD Expert Meeting on Soil Erosion and Soil Biodiversity Indicators. OECD, Rome. p. 563–572.Google Scholar
104Swift, M.J., Izac, A.M.N., and van Noordwijk, M. 2004. Biodiversity and ecosystem services in agricultural landscapes—Are we asking the right questions? Agriculture, Ecosystems and Environment 104:113–134.Google Scholar
105Wall, D.H. and Moore, J.C. 1999. Interactions underground: Soil biodiversity, mutualism and ecosystem processes. BioScience 49(2):109–117.Google Scholar
106Wall, D.H. and Virginia, R.A. 2000. The world beneath our feet: Soil biodiversity and ecosystem functioning. In Raven, P.H. and Williams, T. (eds). Nature and Human Society: The Quest for a Sustainable World. Committee for the Second Forum on Biodiversity. National Academy of Sciences and National Research Council, Washington, DC. p. 225–241.Google Scholar
107Wardle, D.A., Bardgett, R.D., Klironomos, J.N., Setela, H., Van der Putten, W.H., and Wall, D.H. 2004. Ecological linkages between aboveground and belowground biota. Science 304:1629–1633.Google Scholar
108Omer, A., Pascual, U., and Russell, N. 2010. A theoretical model of agrobiodiversity as a supporting service for sustainable agricultural intensification. Ecological Economics 69:1926–1933.Google Scholar
109Six, J., Feller, C., Denef, K., Ogle, S.M., Moraes Sa, J.C., and Albrecht, A. 2002. Soil organic matter, biota and aggregation in temperate and tropical soils—effects of no-tillage. Agrconomie 22(7/8):755–775.Google Scholar
110Kandeler, E., Palli, S., Stemmer, M., and Gerzabek, M.H. 1999. Tillage changes microbial biomass and enzyme activities in particle-size fractions of a Haplic Chernozem. Soil Biology and Biochemistry 31(9):1253–1264.Google Scholar
111Swinton, S.M., Lupi, F., Robertson, G.P., and Hamilton, S.K. 2007. Ecosystem services and agricultural ecosystems for diverse benefits. Ecological Economics 64:245–252.Google Scholar
112Feld, C.K., da Silva, P.M., Sousa, J.P., de Bello, F., Bugter, R., Grandin, U., Hering, D., Lavorel, S., Mountford, O., Pardo, I., Pärtel, M., Römbke, J., Sandin, L., Jones, K.B., and Harrison, P. 2009. Indicators of biodiversity and ecosystem services: A synthesis across ecosystems and spatial scales. Oikos 118:1862–1871.Google Scholar
113O'Farrell, P. and Anderson, P.M.L. 2010. Sustainable multifunctional landscapes: A review to implementation. Current Opinions in Environmental Sustainability 2:59–65.Google Scholar
114Nadrowski, K., Wirth, C., and Scherer-Lorenzen, M. 2010. Is forest diversity driving ecosystem function and service? Current Opinions in Environmental Sustainability 2:75–79.Google Scholar
115Paul, E.A. 2007. Soil Microbiology and Biochemistry. 3rd ed. Academic Press, Salt Lake City, Utah.Google Scholar
116Robarts, R. and Wetzel, R. 2000. The global water and nitrogen cycles. Available at Web site http://www.globalchange.umich.edu/globalchangeI/current/lectures/kling/water_nitro/water_and_nitrogen_cycles.htm (accessed January 22, 2013).Google Scholar
117Stevenson, F.J. 1986. Cycles of Soil: Carbon, Nitrogen, Phosphorus, Sulfure, and Micronutrients. J. Wiley & Sons, New York. p. 380.Google Scholar
118Falkowski, P., Scholes, R.J., Boyle, E., Canadell, J., Canfield, D., Elser, J., Gruber, N., Hibbard, K., Högberg, P., Linder, S., Mackenzie, F.T., Moore, B. 3rd, Pedersen, T., Rosenthal, Y., Seitzinger, S., Smetacek, V., and Steffen, W. 2000. The global carbon cycle: A test of our knowledge of earth as a system. Science 290:291–296.Google Scholar
119Jansson, C., Wullschleger, S.D., Kalluri, U.C., and Tuskau, G.A. 2010. Photosequestration: Carbon biosequestration by plants and the prospects of genetic engineering. BioScience 60: 685–696.Google Scholar
120Ogle, S.M., Swan, A., and Paustain, K. 2012. No-till management impacts on crop productivity, carbon input and soil carbon sequestration. Agriculture, Ecosystems and Environment 149:37–39.Google Scholar
121Bengtsson, L. 2010. The global atmospheric water cycle. Environmental Research Letters 5:1–9. (doi: 10.1088/1748-9326/5/2/025002).Google Scholar
122Harrold, L.L. and Edwards, W.M. 1972. A severe rainstorm test of no-till corn. Journal of Soil and Water Conservation 27(1):184.Google Scholar
123Lal, R. 1976. Soil Erosion Problems on an Alfisol in Western Nigeria and their Control. Monograph No. 1. IITA, Ibadan, Nigeria.Google Scholar
124Wauchope, R.D., Estes, T.L., Allen, R., Baker, J.L., Horsnby, A.G., Jones, R.L., Richards, R.P., and Gustafson, D.L. 2002. Predicted transgenic herbicide-tolerant corn on drinking water quality in vulnerable watersheds of the Midwestern USA. Pest Management Science 58:146–160.Google Scholar
125Mickelson, S.K., Boyd, P., Baker, J.L., and Ahmed, S.I. 2001. Tillage and herbicide incorporation effects on residue cover, runoff, erosion and herbicide loss. Soil and Tillage Research 60:55–66.Google Scholar
126Shipitalo, M.J. and Owens, L.B. 2006. Tillage system, application rate, and extreme event effects on herbicide losses in surface runoff. Journal of Environmental Quality 35:2186–2194.Google Scholar
127Shipitalo, M.J., Malone, R.W., and Owens, L.B. 2008. Impact of glyphosate-tolerant soybean and glyphosate-tolerant corn production on herbicide losses in surface runoff. Journal of Environmental Quality 37:401–408.Google Scholar
128Edwards, W.M., Shipitalo, M.J., and Norton, L.D. 1988. Contribution of macroporosity to infiltration into a continuous corn tilled watershed: Implications for contaminant movement. Journal of Contaminant Hydrology 3:193–205.Google Scholar
129Shipitalo, M.J., Dick, W.A., and Edwards, W.M. 2000. Conservation tillage and macropore factors that affect water movement and the fate of chemicals. Soil and Tillage Research 53:167–183.Google Scholar
130Bennett, E.M., Peterson, G.D., and Gordon, L.J. 2009. Understanding relationships among multiple ecosystem services. Ecology Letters 12:1394–1404.Google Scholar
131West, P.C., Gibbs, H.K., Monfreda, C., Wagner, J., Barford, C.C., Carpenter, S.R., and Foley, J.A. 2010. Trading carbon for food: Global comparison of carbon stocks vs. crop yields on agricultural land. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America 107(46):1945–1948.Google Scholar
132Zhang, W., Ricketts, T.H., Kremen, C., Carney, K., and Swinton, S.M. 2007. Ecosystem services and dis-services to agriculture. Ecological Economics 64:253–260.Google Scholar
133Sandhu, H.S., Wratten, S.D., and Cullen, R. 2010. Organic agriculture and ecosystem services. Environmental Science and Policy 13:1–7.Google Scholar
134Dale, V.H. and Polasky, S. 2007. Measures of the effects of agricultural practices on ecosystem services. Ecological Economics 64:286–296.Google Scholar
135Porter, J., Costanza, R., Sandhu, H., Sigsgaard, L., and Wratten, S. 2009. The value of producing food, energy and ecosystem services within and agro-ecosystem. Ambio 38(4):186–193.Google Scholar
136Stallman, H.R. 2011. Ecosystem services in agriculture: Determining suitability for provision by collective management. Ecological Economics 71:131–139.Google Scholar
137Kroeger, T. and Casey, F. 2007. An assessment of market-based approaches to providing ecosystem services on agricultural lands. Ecological Economics 64:321–332.Google Scholar
138Kumar, P. 2011. Capacity constraints in operationalisation of payment for ecosystem services (PES) in India: Evidence from land degradation. Land Degradation and Development 22:432–443.Google Scholar
139Ferraro, P.J. 2011. The future of payments for environmental services. Conservation Biology 25(6):1134–1138.Google Scholar
140Lal, R. 2007. Constraints to adopting no-till farming in developing countries. Soil and Tillage Research 94:1–3.Google Scholar
141DeFelice, M.S., Carter, P.R., and Mitchell, S. 2006. Influence of tillage on corn and soybean yield in the United States and Canada. Crop Management doi:10.1094/CM-2006-0626-01-RS. Published online, June 26, 2006.Google Scholar
142Dhuyvetter, K.C., Thompson, C.R., and Halvorson, A.D. 1996. Economics of dryland cropping systems in the Great Plains: A review. Journal of Production Agriculture 9:212–216.Google Scholar
143Ervin, C.A. and Ervin, D.E. 1982. Factors affecting the use of soil conservation practices: Hypothesis, evidence, and Policy implications. Land Economics 58:277–92.Google Scholar