Summary
This review chapter, published in Advances in Agronomy, synthesises understanding of nutrient cycling in agroecosystems with particular attention to the ecological and biogeochemical processes governing nutrient availability and loss. Drinkwater and Snapp are recognised for their work on ecologically based nutrient management, and the paper likely argues that reintegrating biological nutrient cycling — through crop diversity, organic matter management and microbial processes — can improve nutrient use efficiency and reduce environmental losses compared with conventional fertiliser-dependent approaches. The chapter provides a conceptual and empirical framework relevant to designing more sustainable nutrient management strategies.
UK applicability
Although not UK-specific, the principles of biological nutrient cycling discussed are broadly applicable to UK arable and mixed farming systems, and align with UK agri-environment policy goals around reducing nitrogen pollution, improving soil health, and transitioning toward more sustainable farming under post-CAP schemes such as the Sustainable Farming Incentive.
Key measures
Nutrient use efficiency; nitrogen cycling rates; nutrient losses (leaching, volatilisation, runoff); soil organic matter dynamics; crop nutrient uptake
Outcomes reported
The review examines how nutrient cycling processes — particularly nitrogen, phosphorus and carbon flows — function in agroecosystems and how management practices influence nutrient use efficiency and losses. It likely contrasts conventional input-dependent systems with ecologically managed systems that rely more heavily on internal biological nutrient cycling.
Topic tags
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