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Permaculture farmers consistently cultivate perennials, crop diversity, landscape heterogeneity and nature conservation

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  12 February 2019

Sarah Hirschfeld  and
Rene Van Acker
Sarah Hirschfeld*
Affiliation:
Department of Plant Agriculture, University of Guelph, 50 Stone Road East, Guelph, Ontario, N1G 2W1, Canada
Rene Van Acker
Affiliation:
Department of Plant Agriculture, University of Guelph, 50 Stone Road East, Guelph, Ontario, N1G 2W1, Canada
*
Author for correspondence: Sarah Hirschfeld, E-mail: shirschf@uoguelph.ca
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Abstract

Permaculture is an international sustainability movement and agroecological design system. Using ecological management practices and locally-adapted solutions, permaculture claims to benefit several ecosystem services including provisioning of diverse crop yields, regulating hydrological cycles and soil quality, supporting wildlife conservation, and biocontrol of pests, weeds and diseases. Despite limited attention by the academic community, grassroots permaculture adoption has been reported in at least 45 countries worldwide thus creating a unique opportunity for in-situ research. This study characterized plant communities on ten applied permaculture farms and found that independent adopters consistently implemented predominately perennial species (73% of species richness), polycultures (mean 42 crop species per site), and zone design. These practices resulted in commercial farms characterized by perennialization, crop diversification, landscape heterogeneity and nature conservation. Grassroots adopters were remarkably consistent in their interpretation and application of an unregulated agricultural model suggesting that such movements may exert considerable influence over local agroecological transitions. While this characterization does not provide an exhaustive depiction of applied permaculture, it is recommended that future research acknowledge these traits as a minimum for study designs investigating the effects of permaculture management on ecosystem function.

Keywords

Agroecologybiodiversitycrop diversificationdiversityecosystem serviceslandscape designlandscape heterogeneityperennialpermaculturesustainable agriculture
Type
Research Paper
Information
Renewable Agriculture and Food Systems , Volume 35 , Issue 3 , June 2020 , pp. 342 - 351
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 2019

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