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Re: Agroecology text ideas?

Molly,

Back in July I got a letter from Steve Gliessman out at UC Santa Cruz.  He
sent me a table of contents for his new book that he has been working on
now for some time.  The book is to be entitled "Agroecology: ecological
processes in sustainable agriculture."  I haven't contacted Steve lately to
check on his progress with the book, but I know he was pretty keen to get
it finished.  Perhaps you could check with him.  His email address is
gliess@zzyx.ucsc.edu.  Then maybe you could post your finding to the
listserve or to me directly so I am informed of his progress as well.  In
any case I would be willing to fax you a copy of the table of contents of
the upcoming book if you send me your fax number.  Steve also sent me a
copy of the syllabus he uses for his introductory agroecology course, which
you may also be interested in perusing.

To answer your question more explicitly, I have not found a completely
suitable text for use in teaching my introductory agroecology course.  I
have used the following books as resources for the course, but not as
texts:  "Agricultural Ecology" by Tivy; "Agroecology: researching the
ecological basis for sustainable agriculture" edited by Gliessman
--Ecological Studies Series #78 out of Springer-Verlag; "Agricultural
Ecology: an analysis of world food production systems" by Cox and Atkins
(now out of print and somewhat out of date , but still a good book) and
finally, "Agroecology" by Carroll, Vandermeer and Rosset -- an expensive
book.  It is still my impression that we dearly need an affordable, current
introductory text to Agroecology!!

Hope this is of some use to you.  Please keep us posted on what you find out.

Cordially yours,
William Akey
University of Wyoming


>I'll be teaching a course in "Ecology of Agriculture" next semester, and
>I'm still looking for a good textbook.  It is a graduate-level course,
>designed for students who may have little background in ecology or
>agricultural sciences.  Here's a short description of what I plan to cover:
>
>This course will deal with the biological and physical attributes of
>agricultural systems in temperate and tropical regions, and basic
>ecological principles affecting agricultural processes.  We will address
>the ecological consequences of indigenous food production systems,
>industrialized agricultural systems, and "alternative" systems
>incorporating biological and cultural nutrient management and pest
>control.  Students will work with several decision cases through the
>semester that integrate their understanding of concepts.
>
>Does anyone have ideas of a good text?  Thanks for suggestions!
>
>Molly D. Anderson
>Director, Degree Program in Agriculture, Food and Environment
>Tufts University School of Nutrition Science and Policy
>Medford, MA  02155
>Ph:  617/627-3223
>Fax:  617/627-3887