The impacts of agricultural activities on biodiversity
农业活动对生物多样性的影响

Agricultural activities, such as land use, tillage, intercropping and rotation, grazing, and extensive usage of pesticides and fertilizers, exotic germplasms introduction, and screening of varying progenies in breeding program, have significant impacts on species diversity, genetic diversity of flora and fauna. Land use in an unreasonable way results in habitat fragmentation and biodiversity decrease. Species in soil were disturbed or became extinct on a large scale by tillage activities with agricultural machines. Extensive usage of pesticides causes loss of non target insects and plants. Genetic erosion resulted from modern breeding program by means of limited interspecies hybridization decreases the genetic diversity of agroecosytem. Some agricultural activities such as intercropping, rotation, organic farming practice are favorable for biodiversity conservation. In most cases, agricultural activities focus only on crop production, while the impacts on wild plants and animals by agricultural activities are neglected. This paper provided an overview of the impacts of agricultural practices on biodiversity, and discussed how agricultural practices could be modified so as to enhance the conservation of biological resources and long term viability of agriculture.