A robustness-based viewpoint on the production-ecology trade-off in agroecosystems

The intrinsic variability of the ecological functions underlying agroecological farming systems calls for a discussion on their robustness, i.e. their ability to maintain their performances in spite of environmental uncertainties. In this study, we apply the mathematical framework of the viability theory to assess three dimensions of robustness in relation with the production and ecological objectives in three contrasted case studies. Our results first show that robustness towards production and ecological constraints follows similar patterns across case-studies. We moreover show that robustness does not conflict with the production-ecological trade-off for the 3 case studies. From the management standpoint, this means that including the robustness criterion in the analysis helps reducing the set of possible options while ensuring the highest probability of success of the management scenarios chosen.