Agroecological food web modelling to evaluate and design organic and conventional agricultural systems

The question of whether organic or conventional agriculture is most suitable for meeting world food requirements and improving resilience to climate change is the topic of much current research. Most comparisons, however, focus either on output efficiency such as yields or on impacts of different nutrient management strategies on the sustainability of the agrosystems, and the impacts of each on the agricultural food webs and beneficial insects responsible for pest control – or outbreaks – has been often overlooked. While standard cropping models can explain if, why and how organic nutrient and crop management work and how they should be adapted to climate change, the lack of mechanistic models of agroecology prevents us from explaining why and how passive and active biocontrol and integrated pest management function, when they do not function, and what optimal management strategies could be employed.