Ecology of Agriculture pollination processes at the landscape level Both pollinator visitation to crops and the species richness of pollinators decline with increasing distance from natural habitats, and the decline is steeper in tropical landscapes compared to temperate landscapes (Ricketts et al., 2008) This implies that a heterogeneous landscape with intermixed patches of agriculture and natural vegetation would be most successful in delivering pollination services to agriculture Future Directions Although the study of agricultural ecosystems has provided many insights into the role of diversity in agroecosystem function and the ecological impacts of agriculture, the subdiscipline of ‘‘agroecology’’ is still in its infancy Two areas that urgently warrant more attention from ecologists are (1) the influence of planned and unplanned agroecosystem diversity on soil processes such as decomposition and nutrient cycling and (2) the functional consequences of landscape complexity for community structure in agroecosystems and natural habitats A better understanding of the ecological processes operating in both areas could result in significant benefits to both agriculture and environmental protection See also: Agriculture, Industrialized Agriculture, Sustainable Biodiversity and Pest Control Services Parasitism Plant Conservation Plant–Soil Interactions References Andow DA (1991) Vegetational diversity and arthropod population response Annual Review of Entomology 36: 561–586 Blitzer EJ, Dornmann CF, Holzschuh A, Klein A-M, Rand TA, and Tscharntke T (2012) Spillover of functionally important organisms between managed and natural habitats Agriculture, Ecosystems, and Environment 146: 34–43 Chaplin-Kramer R, O’Rourke ME, Blitzer EJ, and Kremen C (2011) A meta-analysis of crop pest and natural enemy response to landscape complexity Ecology Letters 14: 922–932 15 Clough Y, Barkmann J, Juhrbandt J, et al (2011) Combining high biodiversity with high yields in tropical agroforests Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America 108: 8311–8316 Drinkwater LE and Snapp SS (2007) Nutrients in agriculture: Rethinking the management paradigm Advances in Agronomy 92: 163–186 Hooper DU, Chapin FS, Ewel JJ, et al (2005) Effects of biodiversity on ecosystem functioning: A consensus of current knowledge Ecological Monographs 75: 3–35 Kremen C, Williams NM, Aizen MA, et al (2007) Pollination and other ecosystem services produced by mobile organisms: A conceptual framework for the effects of land-use change Ecology Letters 10: 299–314 Letourneau DK, Armbrecht I, Rivera BS, et al (2011) Does plant diversity benefit agroecosystems? A synthetic review Ecological Applications 21: 9–21 Malezieux E, Crozat Y, Dupraz C, et al (2009) Mixing plant species in cropping systems: Concepts, tools and models A review Agronomy for Sustainable Development 29: 43–62 Mundt CC (2002) Use of multiline cultivars and cultivar mixtures for disease management Annual Review of Phytopathology 40: 381–410 O’Rourke ME, Rienzo-Stack K, and Power AG (2011) A multi-scale, landscape approach to predicting insect populations in agro-ecosystems Ecological Applications 21: 1782–1791 Power AG and Mitchell CE (2004) Pathogen spillover in disease epidemics American Naturalist 164: S79–S89 Ricketts TH, Regetz J, Steffan-Dewenter I, et al (2008) Landscape effects on crop pollination services: Are there general patterns? Ecology Letters 11: 499–515 Root RB (1973) Organization of a plant–arthropod association in simple and diverse habitats: The fauna of collards (Brassica oleraceae) Ecological Monographs 43: 95–124 Schnitzer SA, Klironomos JN, HilleRisLambers J, et al (2011) Soil microbes drive the classic plant diversity-productivity pattern Ecology 92: 296–303 Tilman D, Reich PB, and Knops JMH (2006) Biodiversity and ecosystem stability in a decade-long grassland experiment Nature 441: 629–632 Tilman D, Wedin D, and Knops J (1996) Productivity and sustainability influenced by biodiversity in grassland ecosystems Nature 379: 718–720 Tscharntke T, Clough Y, Bhagwat SA, et al (2011) Multifunctional shade-tree management in tropical agroforestry landscapes – a review Journal of Applied Ecology 48: 619–629 Tscharntke T, Klein AM, Kruess A, Steffan-Dewenter I, and Thies C (2005b) Landscape perspectives on agricultural intensification and biodiversity – ecosystem service management Ecology Letters 8: 857–874 Tscharntke T, Rand TA, and Bianchi F (2005a) The landscape context of trophic interactions: Insect spillover across the crop–noncrop interface Annales Zoologici Fennici 42: 421–432 Vandermeer J (1989) The Ecology of Intercropping Cambridge: Cambridge University Press