From manderso@emerald.tufts.eduTue Oct 24 20:45:08 1995 Date: Tue, 24 Oct 1995 10:09:20 -0400 (EDT) From: Molly Anderson To: sanet-mg@amani.ces.ncsu.edu Subject: Summary of agroecology text replies Dear SANetters: The following is a compilation of responses to my query about a good text for an agroecology course, specifically one that covers the basic ecological principles underlying agricultural production with attention to different agricultural systems and geographic regions. First, THANK YOU to everyone who took the time to respond. It is wonderful to see (and benefit from) the network in action. Second, the diversity of topics people include within "agroecology" is remarkable. The texts recommended below range far and wide. Third, many people said they would like a text similar to the one I am seeking; but they have been unable to find something comprehensive at a suitable price for students' wallets. Most people teaching agroecology courses are trying to cobble together readings and selections from books. The stars preceding references below indicate the number of times a particular book was recommended, not necessarily a quality ranking. I'm sure we are leaving out some relevant references: if your favorite text is not here, please feel free to notify the list. I checked references in my personal library and on the Library of Congress MARC file, but couldn't get complete citations or a confirmation of the information others had sent me on a few of these. Recommended books (either main texts, or supplements dealing with specific topics): ******** Altieri, Miguel. 1995. Agroecology: The Science of Sustainable Agriculture. 2nd Edition. Boulder: Westview Press. (many people recommended the first edition, but the 2nd is now available) **** Loomis, R.S. and Conner, D.J. 1992. Crop Ecology: Productivity and Management in Agricultural Systems. Cambridge University Press. *** Carroll, C. Ronald, John H. Vandermeer and Peter M. Rosset (Eds.). 1990. Agroecology. New York: McGraw-Hill. ** Edwards, C.A., R. Lal, P. Madden, R. Miller and G. House (Eds.). Sustainable Agricultural Systems. Ankeny, Iowa: Soil & Water Conservation Society. ** Gliessman, Stephen. 199_. Agroecology: Ecological Processes in Sustainable Agriculture. (forthcoming text) ** Reijntjes, Coen, Bertus Heverkort, and Ann Waters-Bayer. 19__. Farming For The Future - An Introduction to Low- External-Input and Sustainable Agriculture. Information Centre for Low-External-Input and Sustainable Agriculture (ILEIA), Netherlands. ** Tivy, Joy. 1990. Agricultural Ecology. Essex, England: Longman Scientific and Technical. * Beets, Willem. 19__. Raising and Sustaining Productivity of Smallholder Agriculture in the Tropics. AgBe Publishing. * Bender, Jim. 1994. Future Harvest. Pesticide-Free Farming. Lincoln, Nebraska: University of Nebraska Press. * Berry, Wendell. 1977. The Unsettling of America: Culture and Agriculture. San Francisco: Sierra Club Books. * Bird, Elizabeth Ann R., Gordon L. Bultena and John C. Gardner (Eds.). 1995. Planting the Future: Developing an Agriculture that Sustains Land and Community. Ames, Iowa: Iowa State University Press. * Briggs, David J. and Frank M. Courtney. 1985. Agriculture and Environment: The Physical Geography of Temperate Agricultural Systems. * Carter, Vernon Gill and Tom Dale. 1974. Topsoil and Civilization. Norman: University of Oklahoma Press. * Corson, Walter. 1990. The Global Ecology Handbook: What You Can Do about the Environmental Crisis. Washington, DC: Global Tomorrow Coalition. (Phone: 202 628-4016) * Cox, George W. and Michael D. Atkins. Agricultural Ecology: an Analysis of World Food Production Systems. San Francisco: WH Freeman. * Francis, Charles A (Ed.). 199 Multiple Cropping Systems. New York: Macmillan. * Fukuoka, Masanobu. 1978. The One Straw Revolution: An Introduction to Natural Farming. Emmaus, Pennsylvania: Rodale Press. * Gershuny, Grace and Joseph Smillie. 1986. The Soul of Soil. A Guide to Ecological Soil Management. 2nd Edition. St. Johnsbury, Vermont: Gaia Services. * Gliessman, Stephen (Ed.). 1990. Agroecology: Researching the Ecological Basis for Sustainable Agriculture. New York: Springer-Verlag. * Hyams, Edward. 1976. Soil and Civilization. New York: Harper and Row. * Jackson, Wes, Wendell Berry and Bruce Colman. 1984. Meeting the Expectations of the Land. Essays in Sustainable Agriculture and Stewardship. San Francisco: North Point Press. * Jeavons, John. 1995. How to Grow More Vegetables, Fruits, Nuts, Berries, Grains and Other Crops on Less Land than You Can Imagine. Revised Edition. Berkeley, California: Ten Speed Press. * Killham, Ken. 1994. Soil Ecology. Cambridge University Press. * Leck et al. Soil Seed Banks (?) * Logsdon, Gene. 1993. The Contrary Farmer. Post Mills, Vermont: Chelsea Green Publishing. * Luken, James O. 1990. Directing Ecological Succession. London: Chapman and Hill. * Mollison, Bill C. 1988. Permaculture: A Designers' Manual. Tyalgum, Australia: Tagari. * Pimentel, David and Hugh Lehman. 1993. The Pesticide Question: Environment, Economics and Ethics. New York: Chapman and Hall. * Sanchez, P.A. 1976. Properties and Management of Soils in the Tropics. New York: Wiley. * Soule, Judith D. and Jon K. Piper. 1992 Farming in Nature's Image: An Ecological Approach to Agriculture. Washington, DC: Island Press. * Vallentine, John F. 1990. Grazing Management. San Diego: Academic Press. * Whittaker, Robert H. 1970. Communities and Ecosystems. New York: Macmillan. Other Resources: King, James W. and Charles A. Francis (eds.). 1994. Extension and Education Materials for Sustainable Agriculture. Volume I and II. Lincoln, Nebraska: University of Nebraska. (For copies, send a check for $10.00 made to the University of Nebraska to: Center for Sustainable Agricultural Systems, University of Nebraska - Lincoln, Lincoln, NE 68583-0940). Alternative Farming Systems Information Center. 1994. Sustainable Agriculture in Print: Current Books. SRB 94-06. Beltsville, MD: National Agricultural Library. Ecological Agriculture Projects, MacDonald College, McGill University, St. Anne-de-Bellevue, Quebec, Canada (for information compiled by Stuart Hill for agroecology courses) "Farmer to Farmer" magazine BGS publications (I don't recognize this acronym, but the publications were recommended by E. Ann Clark) Responders: E. Ann Clark Crop Science, University of Guelph, Guelph, ON N1G 2W1 Chelsea C. Clark Plant and Soil Science, University of Vermont Jay Daliparthy Dept. of Plant and Soil Sciences, Univ. of Massachusetts, Amherst MA 01003 Andy Fisher Steve Gliessman Agroecology Program, University of California at Santa Cruz Joel Gruver Dana Jackson Land Stewardship Project, White Bear Lake, MN 55110 Nicholas Jordan Agronomy and Plant Genetics, University of Minnesota, St. Paul, MN 55108 Michael Kay Agroecology, International Ag. Development, UC-Davis Patrick Madden Jim King University of Nebraska, Lincoln, NE Margaret Merrill Jefferson Madison Regional Library, Charlottesville, VA 22902-5287 Steven H. Muntz <75032.3011@compuserve.com> Lori Pottinger Farmer to Farmer Magazine Gina Nelson Dennis A. Shannon Department of Agronomy and Soils, Auburn University, Alabama 36849-5412 Jane Sooby High Plains Ag Lab, Sidney, NE 69162-3129 Susan Toms Agriculture and Natural Resource/Youth Development U.C. Cooperative Extension Mark Van Horn From manderso@emerald.tufts.eduThu Oct 26 22:35:21 1995 Date: Wed, 25 Oct 1995 09:36:26 -0400 (EDT) From: Molly Anderson Reply to: SAED-SHARE-L@cornell.edu To: SAED-share-L@cornell.edu Subject: Summary of agroecology text replies Since I posted this summary on SANet, two more books have been submitted: * Hillel, Daniel. 1991. Out of the Earth: Civilization and the Life of the Soil. New York: The Free Press. * Magdoff, Fred. 1992. Building Soils for Better Crops: Organic Matter Management. Lincoln, Nebraska: University of Nebraska Press. This doesn't pretend to be a complete list; we could keep adding excellent references indefinitely. However, it's a start for those who are teaching agroecology; and it gives the rest of us an idea of what is being included in that field currently. Molly D. Anderson Director, Degree Program in Agriculture, Food and Environment Tufts University School of Nutrition Science & Policy Medford, MA 02155-7028 ---------- Forwarded message ---------- Date: Tue, 24 Oct 1995 10:09:20 -0400 (EDT) Dear SANetters: The following is a compilation of responses to my query about a good text for an agroecology course, specifically one that covers the basic ecological principles underlying agricultural production with attention to different agricultural systems and geographic regions. First, THANK YOU to everyone who took the time to respond. It is wonderful to see (and benefit from) the network in action. Second, the diversity of topics people include within "agroecology" is remarkable. The texts recommended below range far and wide. Third, many people said they would like a text similar to the one I am seeking; but they have been unable to find something comprehensive at a suitable price for students' wallets. Most people teaching agroecology courses are trying to cobble together readings and selections from books. The stars preceding references below indicate the number of times a particular book was recommended, not necessarily a quality ranking. I'm sure we are leaving out some relevant references: if your favorite text is not here, please feel free to notify the list. I checked references in my personal library and on the Library of Congress MARC file, but couldn't get complete citations or a confirmation of the information others had sent me on a few of these. Recommended books (either main texts, or supplements dealing with specific topics): ******** Altieri, Miguel. 1995. Agroecology: The Science of Sustainable Agriculture. 2nd Edition. Boulder: Westview Press. (many people recommended the first edition, but the 2nd is now available) **** Loomis, R.S. and Conner, D.J. 1992. Crop Ecology: Productivity and Management in Agricultural Systems. Cambridge University Press. *** Carroll, C. Ronald, John H. Vandermeer and Peter M. Rosset (Eds.). 1990. Agroecology. New York: McGraw-Hill. ** Edwards, C.A., R. Lal, P. Madden, R. Miller and G. House (Eds.). Sustainable Agricultural Systems. Ankeny, Iowa: Soil & Water Conservation Society. ** Gliessman, Stephen. 199_. Agroecology: Ecological Processes in Sustainable Agriculture. (forthcoming text) ** Reijntjes, Coen, Bertus Heverkort, and Ann Waters-Bayer. 19__. Farming For The Future - An Introduction to Low- External-Input and Sustainable Agriculture. Information Centre for Low-External-Input and Sustainable Agriculture (ILEIA), Netherlands. ** Tivy, Joy. 1990. Agricultural Ecology. Essex, England: Longman Scientific and Technical. * Beets, Willem. 19__. Raising and Sustaining Productivity of Smallholder Agriculture in the Tropics. AgBe Publishing. * Bender, Jim. 1994. Future Harvest. Pesticide-Free Farming. Lincoln, Nebraska: University of Nebraska Press. * Berry, Wendell. 1977. The Unsettling of America: Culture and Agriculture. San Francisco: Sierra Club Books. * Bird, Elizabeth Ann R., Gordon L. Bultena and John C. Gardner (Eds.). 1995. Planting the Future: Developing an Agriculture that Sustains Land and Community. Ames, Iowa: Iowa State University Press. * Briggs, David J. and Frank M. Courtney. 1985. Agriculture and Environment: The Physical Geography of Temperate Agricultural Systems. * Carter, Vernon Gill and Tom Dale. 1974. Topsoil and Civilization. Norman: University of Oklahoma Press. * Corson, Walter. 1990. The Global Ecology Handbook: What You Can Do about the Environmental Crisis. Washington, DC: Global Tomorrow Coalition. (Phone: 202 628-4016) * Cox, George W. and Michael D. Atkins. Agricultural Ecology: an Analysis of World Food Production Systems. San Francisco: WH Freeman. * Francis, Charles A (Ed.). 199 Multiple Cropping Systems. New York: Macmillan. * Fukuoka, Masanobu. 1978. The One Straw Revolution: An Introduction to Natural Farming. Emmaus, Pennsylvania: Rodale Press. * Gershuny, Grace and Joseph Smillie. 1986. The Soul of Soil. A Guide to Ecological Soil Management. 2nd Edition. St. Johnsbury, Vermont: Gaia Services. * Gliessman, Stephen (Ed.). 1990. Agroecology: Researching the Ecological Basis for Sustainable Agriculture. New York: Springer-Verlag. * Hyams, Edward. 1976. Soil and Civilization. New York: Harper and Row. * Jackson, Wes, Wendell Berry and Bruce Colman. 1984. Meeting the Expectations of the Land. Essays in Sustainable Agriculture and Stewardship. San Francisco: North Point Press. * Jeavons, John. 1995. How to Grow More Vegetables, Fruits, Nuts, Berries, Grains and Other Crops on Less Land than You Can Imagine. Revised Edition. Berkeley, California: Ten Speed Press. * Killham, Ken. 1994. Soil Ecology. Cambridge University Press. * Leck et al. Soil Seed Banks (?) * Logsdon, Gene. 1993. The Contrary Farmer. Post Mills, Vermont: Chelsea Green Publishing. * Luken, James O. 1990. Directing Ecological Succession. London: Chapman and Hill. * Mollison, Bill C. 1988. Permaculture: A Designers' Manual. Tyalgum, Australia: Tagari. * Pimentel, David and Hugh Lehman. 1993. The Pesticide Question: Environment, Economics and Ethics. New York: Chapman and Hall. * Sanchez, P.A. 1976. Properties and Management of Soils in the Tropics. New York: Wiley. * Soule, Judith D. and Jon K. Piper. 1992 Farming in Nature's Image: An Ecological Approach to Agriculture. Washington, DC: Island Press. * Vallentine, John F. 1990. Grazing Management. San Diego: Academic Press. * Whittaker, Robert H. 1970. Communities and Ecosystems. New York: Macmillan. Other Resources: King, James W. and Charles A. Francis (eds.). 1994. Extension and Education Materials for Sustainable Agriculture. Volume I and II. Lincoln, Nebraska: University of Nebraska. (For copies, send a check for $10.00 made to the University of Nebraska to: Center for Sustainable Agricultural Systems, University of Nebraska - Lincoln, Lincoln, NE 68583-0940). Alternative Farming Systems Information Center. 1994. Sustainable Agriculture in Print: Current Books. SRB 94-06. Beltsville, MD: National Agricultural Library. Ecological Agriculture Projects, MacDonald College, McGill University, St. Anne-de-Bellevue, Quebec, Canada (for information compiled by Stuart Hill for agroecology courses) "Farmer to Farmer" magazine BGS publications (I don't recognize this acronym, but the publications were recommended by E. Ann Clark) Responders: E. Ann Clark Crop Science, University of Guelph, Guelph, ON N1G 2W1 Chelsea C. Clark Plant and Soil Science, University of Vermont Jay Daliparthy Dept. of Plant and Soil Sciences, Univ. of Massachusetts, Amherst MA 01003 Andy Fisher Steve Gliessman Agroecology Program, University of California at Santa Cruz Joel Gruver Dana Jackson Land Stewardship Project, White Bear Lake, MN 55110 Nicholas Jordan Agronomy and Plant Genetics, University of Minnesota, St. Paul, MN 55108 Michael Kay Agroecology, International Ag. Development, UC-Davis Patrick Madden Jim King University of Nebraska, Lincoln, NE Margaret Merrill Jefferson Madison Regional Library, Charlottesville, VA 22902-5287 Steven H. Muntz <75032.3011@compuserve.com> Lori Pottinger Farmer to Farmer Magazine Gina Nelson Dennis A. Shannon Department of Agronomy and Soils, Auburn University, Alabama 36849-5412 Jane Sooby High Plains Ag Lab, Sidney, NE 69162-3129 Susan Toms Agriculture and Natural Resource/Youth Development U.C. Cooperative Extension Mark Van Horn From eherring@hawaii.eduSat Oct 28 19:09:36 1995 Date: Thu, 26 Oct 1995 16:12:48 -1000 From: Eileen Herring To: Molly Anderson Cc: sanet-mg@amani.ces.ncsu.edu Subject: Re: Summary of agroecology text replies Aloha, Molly.... Thank you for taking the time to collate the responses that you received! I used the list to check our library's collection to make sure that we weren't missing anything significant and I think I can clarify one of the entries... Leck et al. Soil Seed Banks is probably Ecology of soil seed banks edited by Mary A. Leck, V. Thomas Parker and Robert L. Simpson. San Diego : Academic Press, 1989. Aloha, Eileen Herring Science and Technology Reference University of Hawaii at Manoa eherring@hawaii.edu