Past, Present and Future of Agroforestry Systems in Europe

Mosquera‐Losada, M. R.; Moreno, Gerardo; Pardini, A.; McAdam, J.; Papanastasis, V. P.; Burgess, Paul J.; Lamersdorf, Norbert; Castro, Marina; Liagre, Fabien; Rigueiro-Rodríguez, A.

doi:10.1007/978-94-007-4676-3_16

Cited by 65 publications

(36 citation statements)

References 45 publications

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“…Soil erosion, failure of tree natural regeneration, dieback in old or ageing oak stands and loss of biodiversity are some of the most common threats (Pulido and Díaz 2005;Eichhorn et al 2006;Moreno and Pulido 2009;Mosquera-Losada et al 2012). The increase in density and cover of a third vegetation layer composed of shrubs in zones formerly devoid of these plants has also been highlighted as a symptom of degradation (Acacio et al 2007).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Shrub encroachment of Iberian dehesas: implications on total forage productivity

et al. 2015

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The Iberian dehesa, a grazed Mediterranean open woodland, is an outstanding example of a silvopastoral system. Shrub encroachment has been proposed as an effective method to facilitate natural tree regeneration and ensure the sustainability of silvopastoral systems. At the same time, shrubs can affect both pasture understory and tree overstory production. The effects of varying intensities of shrub encroachment on the productivity of four forage components of this system-pasture, acorns, shrub browse and tree browse-were tested and the overall metabolisable energy (ME) under different scenarios of vegetation structure was calculated. Two common shrub species with contrasting plant architectures and ecological functions were studied as models: Cistus ladanifer and Retama sphaerocarpa. Cistus negatively affected acorn, tree browse and pasture production, whereas Retama positively affected pasture and browse production and was neutral for acorn production. The highest ME values were found when tree cover was ca. 70 % and C. ladanifer cover was low or R. sphaerocarpa cover was medium. The authors recommend conserving and promoting patched three-layered plots in Iberian dehesas and similar extensive silvopastoral systems where certain shrub species could simultaneously encourage the sustainability of these systems and reinforce (with R. sphaerocarpa) or maintain (with C. ladanifer) their productivity.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Shrub encroachment of Iberian dehesas: implications on total forage productivity

et al. 2015

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“…The Association for Temperate Agroforestry (AFTA) has recognized five major agroforestry practices in North America: alley cropping, forest farming, riparian buffer strips, silvopasture, and windbreaks ( Figure 1). The dehesa system, grazing under oak trees with strong linkages to recurrent cereal cropping in rangelands, is also a very old European practice (Rigueiro-Rodriguez et al, 2008;Howlett et al, 2011;Mosquera-Losada et al, 2012). ), oaks (Quercus spp.…”

Section: Agroforestry: Practices and Systemsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…For example, homegardening is reported to have been associated with fishing communities living in the moist tropical region approximately 10 000 BC (Kumar and Nair, 2004;Nair and Kumar, 2006), and in Europe, domestic animals were introduced into forests to feed approximately 4000 BC (Mosquera-Losada et al, 2012). The practice has been prevalent for many centuries in different parts of the world, especially under subsistence farming conditions.…”

Section: Introduction: a Brief History Of The Development Of Agroforementioning

confidence: 99%

“…However, it was not until the late 1970s to early 1980s that the push for ecologically and socially friendly management approaches such as integrated natural resource management, the principles of which are encompassed in agroforestry, gathered momentum. Agroforestry initiatives have also sprung up and moved forward in several industrialized regions of the world including Europe (Rigueiro-Rodriguez et al, 2008;Mosquera-Losada et al, 2012) and Australia and New Zealand (Polglase et al, 2008). Their demand for environmental accountability and application of ecologically compatible management practices increased when it became clear that the land-use and land-cover changes associated with the removal and fragmentation of natural vegetation for establishment of agricultural and forestry enterprises led to adverse ecological consequences (Garrett, 2009).…”

Section: Introduction: a Brief History Of The Development Of Agroforementioning

confidence: 99%

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Agroforestry: Practices and Systems

Nair¹

2014

Encyclopedia of Agriculture and Food Systems

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“…Instead, AC integrates trees and crops throughout a field; this is a transformative shift from typical monoculture row crop fields (Figure b). Interest in temperate AC has grown considerably in recent years with the recognition of its potential benefits (Mosquera‐Losada et al., , 2016; Smith, Pearce, & Wolfe, ).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Frontiers in alley cropping: Transformative solutions for temperate agriculture

Wolz

Lovell

Branham

et al. 2017

Global Change Biology

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Annual row crops dominate agriculture around the world and have considerable negative environmental impacts, including significant greenhouse gas emissions. Transformative land-use solutions are necessary to mitigate climate change and restore critical ecosystem services. Alley cropping (AC)-the integration of trees with crops-is an agroforestry practice that has been studied as a transformative, multifunctional land-use solution. In the temperate zone, AC has strong potential for climate change mitigation through direct emissions reductions and increases in land-use efficiency via overyielding compared to trees and crops grown separately. In addition, AC provides climate change adaptation potential and ecological benefits by buffering alley crops to weather extremes, diversifying income to hedge financial risk, increasing biodiversity, reducing soil erosion, and improving nutrient- and water-use efficiency. The scope of temperate AC research and application has been largely limited to simple systems that combine one timber tree species with an annual grain. We propose two frontiers in temperate AC that expand this scope and could transform its climate-related benefits: (i) diversification via woody polyculture and (ii) expanded use of tree crops for food and fodder. While AC is ready now for implementation on marginal lands, we discuss key considerations that could enhance the scalability of the two proposed frontiers and catalyze widespread adoption.

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Past, Present and Future of Agroforestry Systems in Europe

Cited by 65 publications

References 45 publications

Shrub encroachment of Iberian dehesas: implications on total forage productivity

Shrub encroachment of Iberian dehesas: implications on total forage productivity

Agroforestry: Practices and Systems

Frontiers in alley cropping: Transformative solutions for temperate agriculture

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