Promising in theory, limited in practice: a systematic review on digital agriculture and biodiversity conservation
摘要
There is growing enthusiasm in the literature on digital agriculture regarding the benefits that new and emerging technologies could have for sustainability outcomes such as biodiversity and habitat conservation. However, the extent to which these digital agriculture technologies are adopted and then lead to biodiversity benefits in practice is less clear. Through a systematic literature review we analyse existing studies on digital agriculture to explore the claims being made regarding how technology adoption could improve biodiversity outcomes on or surrounding farm environments, and evidence of these benefits taking place. We identified 426 items that mention both digital agriculture and biodiversity with 54 records selected for analysis due to mention of biodiversity in their abstract. However, none of the articles analysed provide evidence of the ongoing application or uptake of digital agriculture for improved biodiversity outcomes, and the literature reviewed could be largely described as techno-optimist in its outlook. There is also a lack of consideration regarding how farmer values or worldviews may influence technology uptake or use in improving biodiversity outcomes on farm. We conclude that a significant research gap remains in terms of demonstrating the efficacy and utility of digital agriculture technologies for enhancing biodiversity, and the ways it is adopted by farmers, or what motivates this adoption and use.