Abstract
The production of food for man and domestic animals and of fiber is the major concern of agriculture; the managed environment that makes agriculture possible is the agroecosystem. This paper focuses on four of the pillars on which the modern agroecosystem rests: quality of management, genetical diversification of crop cultivars, industrial technology supplementing uncertainties or inadequacies of biological activity, and interactions of plant roots and soil microflora. Some of these interactions provide a high level of crop stability against soil-borne diseases and nutrient deficiencies.
Access this chapter
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
Preview
Unable to display preview. Download preview PDF.
Similar content being viewed by others
Literature Cited
Anderson, E., 1954, Plants, Man and Life, A. Melrose, London. 208 p.
Broadbent, P., Baker, K. F., and Waterworth, Y., 1971, Bacteria and actinomycetes antagonistic to fungal root pathogens in Australian soils, Austral. J. Biol. Sci. 24:925–944.
Browning, J. A., and Frey, K. J., 1969, Multiline cultivars as a means of disease control, Ann. Rev. Phytopathol. 7:355–382.
Day, B. E., 1970, Operation eco-perspective, Calif. Agr. 24(10):2.
Epstein, E., 1973, Agriculture, research, and shortages of funds and food, Science 181:997.
Gerdemann, J. W., 1968, Vesicular-arbuscular mycorrhiza and plant growth, Ann Rev. Phytopathol. 6:397–18.
Suneson, C. A., 1960. Genetic diversity—A protection against plant diseases and insects, Agron. J. 52:319–321.
Tietz, H., 1970, One centennium of soil fumigation: Its first years, in: Root Diseases and Soil-Borne Pathogens (T. A. Toussoun, R. V. Bega, and P. E. Nelson, eds.), University of California Press, Berkeley, pp. 203–207.
Wilhelm, S., and Taylor, J. B., 1965, Control of Verticillium wilt of olive through natural recovery and resistance, Phytopathology 55:310–316.
Wilhelm, S., and Nelson, P. E., 1970, A concept of rootlet health of strawberries in pathogen-free field soil achieved by fumigation, in: Root Diseases and Soil-Borne Pathogens (T. A. Toussoun, R. V. Bega, and P. E. Nelson, eds.), University of California Press, Berkeley, pp. 208–215.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Editor information
Editors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 1976 Plenum Press, New York
About this chapter
Cite this chapter
Wilhelm, S. (1976). The Agroecosystem: A Simplified Plant Community. In: Apple, J.L., Smith, R.F. (eds) Integrated Pest Management. Springer, Boston, MA. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4615-7269-5_6
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4615-7269-5_6
Publisher Name: Springer, Boston, MA
Print ISBN: 978-1-4615-7271-8
Online ISBN: 978-1-4615-7269-5
eBook Packages: Springer Book Archive