Agro-environmental Systems

As societal demands for sustainable food production increase and climate change accelerates, maintaining the fragile balance between agricultural productivity and environmental preservation becomes increasingly important. Climate-smart agriculture has emerged as a critical approach to ensuring food security while safeguarding natural resources and biodiversity. 
Key challenges include making farming operations more efficient, particularly by reducing the quantities of synthetic agrochemicals and fuel needed, while enhancing Integrated Pest Management and promoting healthier ecosystems. Climate change exacerbates these challenges through unpredictable extreme weather events such as floods, droughts, heat waves and shifting pest and disease dynamics, with all these threatening crop yields, crop quality, and soil health. The decline of pollinators like honeybees poses additional risks to crop production and biodiversity, emphasizing the need to preserve ecological balance and pollinator health.

Increasingly complex atmospheric conditions, such as substantial temperature, humidity, wind speed, radiation and gas exchange variations, significantly influence plant growth, pest populations and disease outbreaks. In parallel, the emission and dispersion of air pollutants such as particulate matter, ammonia, nitrogen oxides and ozone affecr local and regional air quality, with potential repercussions for both human health and agricultural productivity.

Objectives

The Agro-environmental Systems group operates at the intersection of agro-environmental systems and regional climate change-critical areas for addressing some of the most pressing global challenges today. Its mission is to advance the understanding of complex bio-geophysical processes within these systems and to develop scientific insights and practical solutions for climate-smart agriculture.

The team applies advanced air quality monitoring techniques and micrometeorological measurements to collect detailed data on local atmospheric conditions. This information supports more accurate climate and pollution models, improving predictions of the environmental consequences on crops, soil and human health, while informing more effective mitigation and adaptation strategies.

The group’s multidisciplinary approach, integrating atmospheric science, agronomy, entomology and plant pathology, soil microbiology, environmental chemistry and remote sensing, is key to addressing these interconnected challenges holistically. It also contributes to understanding and mitigating pollinator decline, emphasizing the importance of preserving pollinator health and ecological balance.

The Agro-environmental Systems group also develops sustainable hardware and software solutions, enhancing the resilience and productivity of agro-environmental systems, in line with EU regulations and global best practices. These include digital decision-support tools based on long-term phenological, disease and pest monitoring data to optimize resource use and reduce chemical inputs. In addition, ecologically sensitive farm management strategies are being developed to enhance soil and pollinator health, improve resilience to climate stressors and support sustainable land use.

Ultimately, the team aims to support a transition towards more resilient, eco-friendly and economically viable agricultural systems, in collaboration with farmers, authorities, policymakers and industry stakeholders.

Scope of expertise 

At the forefront of sustainable agriculture and environmental stewardship, the AGRO group specializes in a comprehensive range of disciplines designed to address some of the most pressing global challenges. Expertise is centred on advancing innovative solutions that promote ecological balance, foster food security and quality, reduce chemical pollution and enhance resilience to climate change.

Environmental Monitoring & Pest and Disease Management

Multi-year, multi-sited environmental monitoring programmes are conducted, focusing on pests and diseases in cereals and oilseed rape, as well as those in viticulture.  Monitoring campaigns include resistance management and the environmental impact assessment of synthetic pesticides. Using cutting-edge diagnostic tools, such as genotyping, analytical chemistry, remote sensing, molecular biology and high-throughput data analysis, the group accurately identifies threats and informs targeted interventions for the farming sector.

Pesticide Reduction & Sustainable Practices

The group promotes pesticide reduction through the development and implementation of sustainable cropping techniques, including crop rotation, cultural management practices, disease forecasting, characterizing cultivars with reduced susceptibility towards pests and diseases and biological and biotechnological pest control method utilization. These strategies align with EU regulations and foster environmentally responsible agriculture that prioritizes crop health and biodiversity and guarantees economical sustainability for farmers.

Climate Change Adaptation & Impact Assessment

Adaptation and mitigation strategies in agriculture, viticulture and urban environments have been developed to help stakeholders respond to changing climate conditions. Expertise extends to climate change impact assessments on:

• Soil health, based on high-resolution regional climate modelling, to assess how management practices influence soil health, carbon sequestration and nutrient cycling.
• Insect pests and vectors of plant pathogens, to evaluate the impact of the changing climate on their life cycle in the future and the consequent implications for the establishment and spread of pests.
• The life cycle of agricultural crops, to transform agro-environmental systems into more resilient systems capable of withstanding future climate scenarios.

Pollinator Conservation 

In recognition of the critical role of pollinators, honeybee colony and wild pollinator health are used as bio-indicators for monitoring purposes. This work forms the basis of prevention strategies to address pollinator decline, ensuring the continued provision of vital ecosystem services for food production.

Digital & Precision Agriculture Technologies

Building on LIST’s long-term observational time series of diseases, pests and phenology, and corresponding meteorological data, advanced decision-support tools have been developed for plant growth, pest and disease forecasts.
In collaboration with other groups and platforms at LIST, advanced digital decision-support tools based on drones and laboratory-based data acquisition have been implemented. Using visible, thermal and hyperspectral imaging, these tools optimize resource use, improve crop management and facilitate precise interventions, leading to more sustainable and efficient farming systems.

Soil & Microbial Ecosystems

Research focuses on the diversity of soil microbial communities, analyzing processes that influence nutrient cycling, soil health and greenhouse gas emissions. Specialized laboratories and climate chambers are used to study the effects of environmental factors such as temperature, humidity, radiation and CO2 levels on multitrophic systems, supporting soil conservation and climate mitigation efforts.

Air Quality Assessment & Micrometeorology 

Understanding atmospheric conditions and air pollutant concentrations is vital for comprehensive environmental assessments. Advanced micrometeorological and chamber measurement techniques are employed to analyse greenhouse gases (CO₂, CH₄, N₂O) and other pollutants like NH₃; O₃ and dust in agro-environmental settings. These measurements assess gas fluxes from soils and crop canopies and the impact of farming practices on atmospheric emissions and help develop strategies to mitigate climate-relevant emissions. Integrating long-term national monitoring data with high-resolution mobile observations, health-relevant ultra-fine particles and secondary particulate matter formed from the interaction of urban (e.g. NOx) and agricultural emissions (NH₃) are monitored. A mobile online monitor detects elemental concentrations in the ambient particulate matter used as tracers to identify the contribution of urban vs. natural vs. agricultural sources.