The ecology of agriculture is the study of the nature of the reciprocal interactions between the agricultural or agriculturally associated organismas and between these and their physical habitat. The aim of this book is to analyse some of the most important ecological characteristics and problems of agriculture with an emphasis on those factors affecting the relationships between crops, livestock and the environment and on the extent to which man has managed and modified the agro-ecosystem to his particular needs. The book falls into two parts. The first is concerned with the components (crops, livestock, climate and soil) and the processes of nutrient cycling and energy flows in crops and livestock of agro-ecosystems. The second part considers ecological characteristics and the inherent or man-created problems associated with areas where climate and/or soil imposed limitations on agricultural use or where a particular typ of agriculture is domanant as in the case of paddy rice, irrigation agriculture and modern intensive farming; and concludes with a look at agricultural and environmental impacts. The author's own interest in agricultural ecology developed early in her career as a biogeographer concerned with the use and misuse of organic resources and she has become increasingly concerned by the relative neglect of the agro-ecosystem in teaching and research in this subject.