Jinjun Wang & Huai Liu 
The Concept of Ecostacking 
Techniques and Applications

Ecostacking is a new concept and approach which aims to maximize the benefits of ecosystem service providers in cropping systems to help achieve the goal of long-term sustainable agriculture and food production. The term ‘ecostacking’ means combining synergistically the beneficial services of functional biodiversity from all levels and types. It is a comprehensive approach, where the various ecosystem service providers are fully integrated with the rest of the cropping system including agronomic practices. It is an approach which goes beyond conventional Integrated Pest Management practises, and attempts to take advantage of all the functional biodiversity of a system.

The main focus of ecostacking is on maximizing ecosystem services for biological control and pollination from beneficial arthropods, but the approach also utilizes other invertebrates (e.g., earthworms) as well as beneficial vertebrates such as bats, birds and small mammals. Microbes also provide invaluable ecosystem services including pest, disease, and weed control, either directly as components of ‘suppressive soils’ or as plant colonizers (as endophytes or as epiphytic microbial flora). The ecostacking approach also aims to maximize other nature-provided services such as maintenance of soil health and nutrient cycling.

The Concept of Ecostacking is the first book in a series which introduces ecostacking concepts to the reader and explores how this approach can be used in a variety of ways and in different cropping systems. The book defines this new concept and shows, using illustrative case studies from around the world, how ecostacking principles can be successfully employed in cropping systems in the open field, in greenhouses and in forestry.

This book:

· will serve as inspiration for developing further applications of this breakthrough technology for sustainable agricultural production.

· is a must-read for everyone with an interest in developing sustainable crop protection systems and ecosystem management.

· has been written and edited by the world’s leading experts in this new and exciting endeavour.

About the author

Heikki Hokkanen works at the Stockbridge School of Agriculture, University of Massachusetts, Amherst, USA He holds a Phd degree in ecology and natural resource management (1978, U Jyväskylä, Finland), and a Ph D in applied entomology (1983, Cornell University, USA). Hokkanen has stayed extensive periods at the Institute of Biological Control (Darmstadt, Germany), CABI Institute of Biological Control (Silwood Park, UK), University of Kiel, Germany, and at the OECD Directorate for Agriculture (Paris, France). Editor-in-Chief of Bio Control (1997-2006); Ei C of Arthropod-Plant Interactions (2006-), editor of book series ‘Progress in Biological Control’.