Foreword.- Acknowledgements.- List of Contributors and Biosketches of Editors and Authors.- 1. Agroecology - interpretations, approaches and their links to nature conservation, rural development and ecotourism.- A.Wezel, J.C. Jauneau.- 1.1. Introduction.- 1.2. Historical view of Agroecology.- 1.3. Current variations in definitions and scales in Agroecology.- 1.4. Interpretaion of agroecology as a science, a movement and a practice.- 1.5. Agroecology and nature conservation.- 1.6. Agroecology and territorial development.- 1.7. Agroecology and ecotourism.- 1.8. Conclusions.- 2. Organic compost and manufactured fertilizers: economics and ecology.- D.C.Weindorf, J.P. Muir, C. Landeros-Sánchez.- 2.1. Introduction.- 2.2. Soil organic matter.- 2.3. Global compost dynamics.- 2.4. Organic and inorganic fertilization: culture, economics, and sustainability.- 2.5. Limitations of composts as fertilizers.- 2.6. Manufactured fertilizers versus composts as fertilizers.- 2.7. Conclusions.- 3. Global perspectives on birds in agricultural landscapes.- R.J. Johnson, J.A. Jedlicka, J.E. Quinn, J.R. Brandle.- 3.1. Introduction.- 3.2. Agricultural change and birds.- 3.3. Europe.- 3.4. United States and Canada.- 3.5. Latin America - Mexico, the Caribbean, Central and South America.- 3.6. Global topics.- 3.7. The roles of ecotourism and agrotourism.- 3.8. Research needs and conservation applications.- 3.9. Conclusion.- 4. A review of ecosystem services, farmer livelihoods, and value chains in shade coffee agroecosystems.- S. Jha, C.M. Bacon, S.M. Philpott, R.A. Rice, V.E. Méndez, P. Läderach.- 4.1. Introduction.- 4.2. Ecology, history, and geography of shade coffee.- 4.3. Conventional and alternative coffee value chains.- 4.4. Ecological processes and ecosystem services.- 4.5. Interacting ecosystem services and the socio-economic costs and benefits of shade coffee, 4.6. Farmer livelihoods, vulnerability and change.- 4.7. Discussion: synthesis and policy directions.- 4.8. Conclusions.- 5. Ecosystem services from smallholder forestry and agroforestry in the tropics.- T. Idol, J. Haggar, L. Cox.- 5.1. Introduction.- 5.2. Smallholder forestry and agroforestry in the tropics.- 5.3. Ecosystem services from smallholder forestry and agroforestry.- 5.4. Comparison of ecosystem services from the two systems.- 5.5. Compensation for ecosystem services.- 5.6. Promoting adoption and adaptive management of sustainable smallholder systems.- 5.7. Summary and recommendations.- 6. Sustainable development of an agricultural region - the case of the Allgäu, southern Germany.- S. Weizenegger, A. Wezel.- 6.1. Introduction.- 6.2. The study area.- 6.3. Changes in land use patterns and structure of agriculture from the Middle Ages up to the present.- 6.4. Agriculture and forestry today - strengths and weaknesses 6.5. Tourism.- 6.6. Current regional and rural development programs and project examples in the Allgäu.- 6.7. Allgäu - a development towards sustainability?.- 6.8. Conclusions and perspectives for the future