The productivity-stability trade-off in global food systems

Area of Science:

• Ecology
• Environmental Science
• Food Systems Analysis

Background:

• Human food systems historically prioritized productivity, leading to global ecosystem modification.
• This has resulted in reduced species diversity and body size, creating homogenized environments.
• These changes compromise ecosystem structure, function, and stability, a critical aspect overlooked in food security discussions.

Purpose of the Study:

• To synthesize literature demonstrating the productivity-stability trade-off in managed food systems.
• To argue for the explicit inclusion of this trade-off in sustainable food system management.
• To explore the historical impacts of food system management on biodiversity and food web stability.

Main Methods:

• Literature synthesis of empirical and theoretical studies on food systems and ecosystem stability.
• Analysis of the relationship between human management, species body size, and food web structure.
• Review of large-scale ecological studies to confirm the prevalence of the productivity-stability trade-off.

Main Results:

• Human management has led to biotic homogenization and altered food web dynamics, increasing energy flux.
• Reductions in average body size are indicative of these destabilizing ecosystem changes.
• The productivity-stability trade-off is a prevalent phenomenon across various ecological scales.

Conclusions:

• Sustainable food production requires acknowledging and managing the productivity-stability trade-off.
• Strategies promoting landscape heterogeneity and maintaining key food web structures are essential.
• Explicitly incorporating ecological stability into food system management is vital for long-term food security.