Abstract

DE LA FUENTE, Elba B  and  SUAREZ, Susana A. Environmental problems related to human activities: agriculture. Ecol. austral [online]. 2008, vol.18, n.3, pp.239-252. ISSN 1667-782X.

The increasing human population, per capita consumption and complexity of the urban centers, promoted the expansion and intensification of agriculture. These changes generated global environmental problems such as the alteration of: i) the biogeochemical cycles, ii) the land use, iii) the biodiversity at all levels, and iv) the dispersion of the biota beyond natural geographical limits. Permanent technological innovations intended to maintain ecosystem properties and functions, creating the appearance of relative ecosystem stability and retarding the perception of environmental degradation. Ecosystem functioning could be maintained avoiding the actual tendency of specialization of the productive system. Although specialized systems could seem more productive than complex ones to farmer eyes, it is also possible that this perception has been promoted by agricultural research, which developed a suitable "tool box" of experiments for the development of technologies for simple systems. Researchers have a fundamental role in the generation of new tools that resemble nature, favoring nutrient cycling, biodiversity and natural mechanisms of regulation, and farmers have a very important role the conservation of ecosystem properties and functions by planning agricultural system avoiding over simplification.

Keywords : Agriculture intensification; Global change; Biodiversity; Ecosystem services; Sustainability.

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