Natural Areas Help Farmers Facing Drought

 

Farmers can make their fields more productive by having many kinds of plants and animals.

That is the finding of a team of international researchers. They were studying how farmers can avoid big losses from extremely dry weather. Their study was published in the Journal of the Association of Environmental and Resource Economists¹.

The researchers found that having biodiversity in natural areas near agricultural land helps farmers financially during periods of little or no rainfall.

Frederik Noack led the study. He said, “If you plant the same sort of crops next to a natural area that is very high in biodiversity versus² one that’s low in biodiversity, [the positive effect] spills over into the agricultural products.”

Noack is an Assistant Professor with the Food and Resource Economics Group at the University of British Columbia.

Experts say some of that “spillover” can be tied to the increased diversity of insects in places that have many different kinds of plants. Pollinators that help plants reproduce, such as bees and moths³, are important. So are spiders that eat harmful insects, like aphids and beetles⁴.

Noack said that he hoped to learn if biodiversity close to farms could help crops resist drought conditions. He also wanted to know if it could affect farmers’ earnings⁵.

Farms across many developing countries studied

The researchers studied records of about 7,500 homes in 300 villages in Asia, Africa and Latin America. In these areas, farmers earn money from traditional agriculture as well as forest products like firewood.

Noack and his research team considered a connection between the number of plant species in an area and how strongly drought affected⁶ the earnings of local farmers.

The researchers had expected that greater local biodiversity would help farmers, and it did. Farmers in areas with about half the local biodiversity lost two times as much money when droughts struck their areas during the growing season.

The reason for this was not what Noack and his team had expected, however. At first, he thought, maybe farmers “plant more different crops in areas with higher biodiversity.”

But that was not what the researchers found. Even when they accounted for the effects of greater crop diversity, the researchers found that just being close to natural areas improved farmers’ earnings.

The researchers also found that being close to forests helped farmers’ incomes. They said, because forest growth is less tied to a growing season, income from forest products could help farmers in time of drought.

Bruno Basso is a scientist at Michigan State University, but he was not involved in the research. He told the French News Agency that the study shows how important biodiversity is to easing the effects of changes in climate.

Noack said he hopes the study will begin a larger discussion about the protection of natural areas.

He asked, “Should we just have protected area(s) far away in areas that we don’t use or shall we try to integrate that into normal land use?”

Noack added that it is important to save biodiversity in agricultural areas “because of this positive spillover.”

The research team said that policies that support biodiversity may help ease economic pressures on farmers affected by drought.

Basso agreed, saying that new international and local policies should work to save and improve biodiversity.

I’m Mario Ritter Jr.

Words in This Story

biodiversity – n. the existence of many different kinds of plants and animals in an environment

versus – prep. used to show the difference of one thing from another

spill over – v. the condition of flowing out and going past or over a condition or situation

pollinator – n. creatures, like bees, that gather and spread a plant’s pollen⁷, aiding in its reproduction

drought – n. a long period with little or no rainfall

account for – v. to give a reason or explanation for something

integrate – v. to combine two or more things

1 economists   

n.经济学家，经济专家( economist的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The sudden rise in share prices has confounded economists. 股价的突然上涨使经济学家大惑不解。
• Foreign bankers and economists cautiously welcomed the minister's initiative. 外国银行家和经济学家对部长的倡议反应谨慎。 来自《简明英汉词典》

2 versus   

prep.以…为对手，对；与…相比之下

参考例句：

• The big match tonight is England versus Spain.今晚的大赛是英格兰对西班牙。
• The most exciting game was Harvard versus Yale.最富紧张刺激的球赛是哈佛队对耶鲁队。

3 moths   

n.蛾( moth的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The moths have eaten holes in my wool coat. 蛀虫将我的羊毛衫蛀蚀了几个小洞。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The moths tapped and blurred at the window screen. 飞蛾在窗帘上跳来跳去，弄上了许多污点。 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》

4 beetles   

n.甲虫( beetle的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Beetles bury pellets of dung and lay their eggs within them. 甲壳虫把粪粒埋起来，然后在里面产卵。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• This kind of beetles have hard shell. 这类甲虫有坚硬的外壳。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》

5 earnings   

n.工资收人；利润，利益，所得

参考例句：

• That old man lives on the earnings of his daughter.那个老人靠他女儿的收入维持生活。
• Last year there was a 20% decrease in his earnings.去年他的收入减少了20%。

6 affected   

adj.不自然的，假装的

参考例句：

• She showed an affected interest in our subject.她假装对我们的课题感到兴趣。
• His manners are affected.他的态度不自然。

7 pollen   

n.[植]花粉

参考例句：

• Hummingbirds have discovered that nectar and pollen are very nutritious.蜂鸟发现花蜜和花粉是很有营养的。
• He developed an allergy to pollen.他对花粉过敏。