RT Journal Article
T1 Economic and ecological trade-offs of agricultural specialization at different spatial scales
A1 Klasen, Stephan
A1 Meyer, Katrin M.
A1 Dislich, Claudia
A1 Euler, Michael
A1 Faust, Heiko
A1 Gatto, Marcel
A1 Hettig, Elisabeth
A1 Melati, Dian N.
A1 Jaya, I. Nengah Surati
A1 Otten, Fenna
A1 Pérez Cruzado, César
A1 Steinebach, Stefanie
A1 Tarigan, Suria
A1 Wiegand, Kerstin
K1 Ecosystem services
K1 Economies of scale
K1 Indonesia
K1 Monoculture
K1 Oil Palm
K1 Rubber
AB Specialization in agricultural systems can lead to trade-offs between economic gains and ecosystem functions. We suggest and explore a conceptual framework in which economic gains can be maximized when production activities are specialized at increasingly broader scales (from the household to the village, region or above), particularly when markets for outputs and inputs function well. Conversely, more specialization likely reduces biodiversity and significantly limits ecosystem functions. When agricultural specialization increases and moves to broader scales as a result of improved infrastructure and markets or other drivers, ecosystem functions can also be endangered at broader spatial scales. Policies to improve agricultural incomes may influence the level of specialization at different scales and thus affect the severity of the trade-offs. This paper takes Jambi province in Indonesia, a current hotspot of rubber and oil palm monoculture, as a case study to illustrate these issues. We empirically show that the level of specialization differs across scales with higher specialization at household and village levels and higher diversification towards the province level. We discuss ways to resolve trade-offs between economic gains and ecological costs, including landscape design, targeted policies, and adoption of long-term perspectives.
PB Elsevier
YR 2016
FD 2016
LK https://hdl.handle.net/10347/41103
UL https://hdl.handle.net/10347/41103
LA eng
NO Klasen, S., Meyer, K. M., Dislich, C., Euler, M., Faust, H., Gatto, M., Hettig, E., Melati, D. N., Jaya, I. N. S., Otten, F., Pérez-Cruzado, C., Steinebach, S., Tarigan, S. & Wiegand, K. (2016). Economic and ecological trade-offs of agricultural specialization at different spatial scales. Ecological Economics, 122, 111–120. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ecolecon.2016.01.001
NO This study was financed by the Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) in the framework of the collaborative German - Indonesian research project CRC990. We thank the Deutsches Luft- und Raumfahrtzentrum DLR who provided the RapidEye satellite data through the RapidEye Science Archive (RESA).
DS Minerva
RD 28 abr 2026