ABSTRACT
This chapter outlines several topics that ecologists, agronomists, and resource planners need to address if sustainable agriculture is to become a reality during the 21st century. An agrolandscape approach is needed in which landscape elements are patterned and managed to optimize factors such as insect pest control, biotic diversity, soil restoration, net primary productivity, nutrient retention, and landscape connectivity. Natural ecosystems have endured far longer than conventional agroecosystems have been in existence. Eutrophication is known to limit the survival of aquatic life and decrease biodiversity. Agronomic research and planning have traditionally focused on the field or agroecosystem level. Agroecosystems are driven by both solar energy and subsidies, whereas urban systems depend mainly on enormous inputs of fossil fuel subsidies. Numerous new interfaced fields of study emerged during the latter half of the twentieth century, such as restoration ecology, ecological engineering, landscape ecology, ecological toxicology, and conservation biology.
