Vandermeer (U. of Michigan-Ann Arbor) sets out the fundamental natural laws of ecosystems come into play and must be taken into account in the design and operation of an agroecosystem. For some decades, industrial agriculture shills have insisted they could supplant such laws with powerful chemicals, but farmers and gardeners are relearning and integrating them again under such banners as organic, agro-ecology, and sustainable. The difference between an agroecological system and other ecological systems, he says, is the presence of Homo sapiens as the keystone species. Among his topics are constructivism and the evolution of agriculture, the biology of the soil and the emergence of an ecological vision, the problem of pests, biodiversity and imperialism, and toward a sustainable future. Annotation ©2010 Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)