Temperate perennial agriculture: Combining restoration with local production of food, fiber, and fuel

Annual agriculture is a root cause of many environmental problems including desertification, biodiversity loss, and climate change. Reexamining “business as usual” and modeling innovative, perennial agriculture on regionally appropriate, evolved ecosystems could dramatically alter the ecological impact of agriculture. Patterning new systems off savannas and forests, and incorporating tree crops, shrubs, vines, herbaceous plants, and animals can provide food, fiber, and fuel, while out-performing annual monocultures and simultaneously restoring ecosystem structure and function. As ecologists, we know that evolution provided diverse, productive, and beautiful ecosystems that function to support life.  Now let’s design agriculture to do the same.