Agrobiodiversity

Agrobiodiversity refers to the variety and variability of living organisms that contribute to food and agriculture in the broadest sense, and that are associated with cultivating crops and rearing animals within ecological complexes. It is further expanded in some contexts to include all the organisms present in an agricultural landscape. Examples consist of crops and animal breeds, their wild relatives, and the species that interact with and support these species, for example, pollinators, symbionts, pests, parasites, predators, decomposers, and competitors. Croplands and fields as well as habitats and species outside of farming systems that affect agriculture and ecosystem functions in agricultural landscape are included. Agrobiodiversity can also refer to the extraction and utilization of products from natural ecosystems such as nonforest timber products, or livestock that pasture in grasslands. Utilization and conservation of biodiversity in agricultural landscapes is strongly influenced by socioeconomic factors at local, regional, and global scales. The concepts of agrobiodiversity are also valid for forestry and fisheries, especially in situations where human activities dominate the ecosystem processes.