ABSTRACT Agro-ecology has been recognized as a potential route to realizing the multiple economic, social, and environmental benefits increasingly required of agricultural systems. However, views on what constitutes agro-ecology differ considerably between countries, and also between stakeholder groups such as natural scientists and farmers. To identify areas of convergence and divergence in understandings of agro-ecology in the Scottish context, we used a novel co-constructed mental modelling approach with a sample of 8 scientists and 7 farmers in the North East of Scotland. Results show that agro-ecology in Scotland is currently mainly understood as a scientific discipline applying ecological analysis to agricultural systems. Farmers’ mental models show a wider consideration of the food system, including consumer health, markets and sustainable energy. Precision farming featured prominently in farmers’ mental models but not in the scientists’ mental models. Our discussion therefore raises the question to what extent precision farming and agro-ecology support or contradict each other. We conclude that although farmers and scientists differ considerably, there are areas of shared understanding, such as the potential of novel crops and new crop rotations, which could be the starting point of working towards an agriculture that delivers multiple benefits.

中文翻译：

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使用共同构建的心智模型来理解利益相关者对农业生态的看法

摘要 农业生态学已被公认为实现农业系统日益需要的多种经济、社会和环境效益的潜在途径。然而，对于农业生态的构成，各国之间以及自然科学家和农民等利益相关者群体之间的看法存在很大差异。为了确定苏格兰背景下对农业生态学理解的趋同和分歧领域，我们使用了一种新颖的共同构建的心理建模方法，样本包括苏格兰东北部的 8 位科学家和 7 位农民。结果表明，苏格兰的农业生态学目前主要被理解为将生态分析应用于农业系统的科学学科。农民的心智模型显示出对粮食系统的更广泛考虑，包括消费者健康、市场和可持续能源。精准农业在农民的心智模型中占有突出地位，但在科学家的心智模型中却没有。因此，我们的讨论提出了这样一个问题：精准农业和农业生态在多大程度上相互支持或相互矛盾。我们得出的结论是，尽管农民和科学家差异很大，但在一些领域存在共同理解，例如新作物和新作物轮作的潜力，这可能是努力实现具有多重效益的农业的起点。