Miles, Albie

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https://hdl.handle.net/10790/3289

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    If we get food right, we get everything right: rethinking the food system in post-COVID-19 Hawai'i
    (2020-03) Miles, Albie
    We are facing unprecedented ecological and public health challenges driven by agriculture and the food system. We now have a choice: We can use our scientific and traditional knowledge to understand and transform the food system of Hawaii toward sustainability, climate change resilience, human health and aloha, or we can squander this opportunity only to pay dearly down the road through unfulfilled human potential, the degradation of Earth’s life support systems and immeasurable climate- and disease-related suffering and loss of life.
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    A Global Geospatial Ecosystem Services Estimate of Urban Agriculture
    (AGU Publications, 2018-01-10) Clinton, Nicholas; Stuhlmacher, Michelle; Miles, Albie; Aragon, Nazli Uludere; Wagner, Melissa; Georgescu, Matei; Herwig, Chris; Gong, Peng
    Though urban agriculture (UA), defined here as growing of crops in cities, is increasing in popularity and importance globally, little is known about the aggregate benefits of such natural capital in built-up areas. Here, we introduce a quantitative framework to assess global aggregate ecosystem services from existing vegetation in cities and an intensive UA adoption scenario based on data-driven estimates of urban morphology and vacant land. We analyzed global population, urban, meteorological, terrain, and Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) datasets in Google Earth Engine to derive global scale estimates, aggregated by country, of services provided by UA. We estimate the value of four ecosystem services provided by existing vegetation in urban areas to be on the order of $33 billion annually. We project potential annual food production of 100–180 million tonnes, energy savings ranging from 14 to 15 billion kilowatt hours, nitrogen sequestration between 100,000 and 170,000 tonnes, and avoided storm water runoff between 45 and 57 billion cubic meters annually. In addition, we estimate that food production, nitrogen fixation, energy savings, pollination, climate regulation, soil formation and biological control of pests could be worth as much as $80–160 billion annually in a scenario of intense UA implementation. Our results demonstrate significant country-to-country variability in UA-derived ecosystem services and reduction of food insecurity. These estimates represent the first effort to consistently quantify these incentives globally, and highlight the relative spatial importance of built environments to act as change agents that alleviate mounting concerns associated with global environmental change and unsustainable development.
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    Summer Flowering Cover Crops Support Wild Bees in Vineyards
    (Oxford University Press, 2017-12-30) Wilson, Houston; Wong, Jessica S.; Thorp, Robbin W.; Miles, Albie; Daane, Kent M.; Altieri, Miguel A.
    Agricultural expansion and intensification negatively affect pollinator populations and has led to reductions in pollination services across multiple cropping systems. As a result, growers and researchers have utilized the restoration of local and landscape habitat diversity to support pollinators, and wild bees in particular. Although a majority of studies to date have focussed on effects in pollinator-dependent crops such as almond, tomato, sunflower, and watermelon, supporting wild bees in self-pollinated crops, such as grapes, can contribute to broader conservation goals as well as provide other indirect benefits to growers. This study evaluates the influence of summer flowering cover crops and landscape diversity on the abundance and diversity of vineyard bee populations. We showed that diversity and abundance of wild bees were increased on the flowering cover crop, but were unaffected by changes in landscape diversity. These findings indicate that summer flowering cover crops can be used to support wild bees and this could be a useful strategy for grape growers interested in pollinator conservation as part of a broader farmscape sustainability agenda.
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    A Global Geospatial Ecosystem Services Estimate of Urban Agriculture
    (AGU Publications, 2018-01-23) Miles, Albie; Clinton, Nicholas; Stuhlmacher, Michelle; Aragon, Nazli Uludere; Wagner, Melissa; Georgescu, Matei; Herwig, Chris; Gong, Peng
    Though urban agriculture (UA), defined here as growing of crops in cities, is increasing in popularity and importance globally, little is known about the aggregate benefits of such natural capital in built-up areas. Here, we introduce a quantitative framework to assess global aggregate ecosystem services from existing vegetation in cities and an intensive UA adoption scenario based on data-driven estimates of urban morphology and vacant land. We analyzed global population, urban, meteorological, terrain, and Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) datasets in Google Earth Engine to derive global scale estimates, aggregated by country, of services provided by UA. We estimate the value of four ecosystem services provided by existing vegetation in urban areas to be on the order of $33 billion annually. We project potential annual food production of 100–180 million tonnes, energy savings ranging from 14 to 15 billion kilowatt hours, nitrogen sequestration between 100,000 and 170,000 tonnes, and avoided storm water runoff between 45 and 57 billion cubic meters annually. In addition, we estimate that food production, nitrogen fixation, energy savings, pollination, climate regulation, soil formation and biological control of pests could be worth as much as $80–160 billion annually in a scenario of intense UA implementation. Our results demonstrate significant country-to-country variability in UA-derived ecosystem services and reduction of food insecurity. These estimates represent the first effort to consistently quantify these incentives globally, and highlight the relative spatial importance of built environments to act as change agents that alleviate mounting concerns associated with global environmental change and unsustainable development.
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    Landscape diversity and crop vigor outweigh influence of local diversification on biological control of a vineyard pest
    (Wiley, 2017-04-03) Miles, Albie; Wilson, Houston; Daane, K.M.; Altieri, Miguel A.
    The influence of local and landscape habitat diversification on biological control of the Western grape leafhopper (Erythroneura elegantula Osborn) by its key parasitoids Anagrus erythroneurae S. Trjapitzin & Chiappini and Anagrus daanei Triapitsyn was studied in wine grape vineyards. At the landscape scale, Anagrus rely on alternative host species in non-crop habitats outside of the vineyard to successfully overwinter, while at the local scale vineyard diversification can provide resources, such as shelter and floral nectar, which improve parasitoid performance. In a two-year experiment, plots with and without flowering cover crops were compared in vineyards representing a gradient of landscape diversity. While the cover crops did attract natural enemies, their populations were unchanged in the crop canopy and there was no difference in parasitism rate, leafhopper density, crop quality, or yield. Vineyards in diverse landscapes had higher early-season abundance of Anagrus spp., which was linked to increased parasitism and decreased late-season populations of E. elegantula. Leafhopper densities were also positively associated with crop vigor, regardless of landscape or cover crops. Flowering cover crops did increase abundance of some natural enemy species as well as parasitism rate in vineyard landscapes with intermediate levels of diversity, indicating a local × landscape interaction, although this did not lead to reductions in E. elegantula densities. These findings indicate that, in this agroecosystem, landscape diversity mediates and in many ways outweighs the influence of local diversification and that E. elegantula densities were regulated by a combination of biological control and crop vigor.
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    Triggering a positive research and policy feedback cycle to support a transition to agroecology and sustainable food systems
    (Taylor & Francis, 2017-07-17) Miles, Albie; DeLonge, Marcia S.; Carlisle, Liz
    An ecologically sustainable and socially equitable food system, one that restores ecosystem services, enhances human welfare, and promotes community-based economic development, is urgently needed. Applied agroecological research and the development of regional and community food systems are key means through which pressing ecological and social externalities may be mitigated. However, progress in both of these areas has been limited, particularly in the USA, with constraints in each likely holding the other back. In this article, we first review and explore how public investment in agroecology research and development has been limited in the USA. We then discuss how agricultural research funds could be shifted to better support the development of more resilient and equitable food systems. Finally, we explore a broader set of structural obstacles to food system change and identify key policies that could work jointly to strengthen a positive feedback cycle of research, policy, education and practice. Such a feedback cycle could work to accelerate a transition to ecological farming and food system norms that enhance natural resources sustainability, equity and resilience.