Silvoarable Systems in Europe – Past, Present and Future Prospects

Eichhorn, Markus P.; Paris, P.; Herzog, Félix; Incoll, L. D.; Liagre, Fabien; Mantzanas, K.; Mayus, M.; Moreno, Gerardo; Papanastasis, V. P.; Pilbeam, David J.; Pisanelli, Andrea; Dupraz, Christian

doi:10.1007/s10457-005-1111-7

Cited by 330 publications

(271 citation statements)

References 21 publications

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“…Eichhorn et al 2006;Plieninger et al 2006). Lambin and Meyfroidt (2010) emphasise the importance of profitable land-use options in combination with absolute protection of pristine areas to ensure enduring protection of valuable landscapes.…”

Section: Sustaining High Nature Value Farming Systemsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Bioenergy from “surplus” land: environmental and socio-economic implications

Dauber¹,

Brown²,

Fernando³

et al. 2012

183

158

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The increasing demand for biomass for the production of bioenergy is generating land-use conflicts. These conflicts might be solved through spatial segregation of food/feed and energy producing areas by continuing producing food on established and productive agricultural land while growing dedicated energy crops on so called "surplus" land. Ambiguity in the definition and characterization of surplus land as well as uncertainty in assessments of land availability and of future bioenergy potentials is causing confusion about the prospects and the environmental and socio-economic implications of bioenergy development in those areas. The high level of uncertainty is due to environmental, economic and social constraints not yet taken into account and to the potentials offered by those novel crops and their production methods not being fully exploited. This paper provides a scientific background in support of a reassessment of land available for bioenergy production by clarifying the terminology, identifying constraints and options for ReseARCh ARtiCle BioRisk A peer-reviewed open-access journalJens Dauber et al. / BioRisk 7: 5-50 (2012) 6 an efficient bioenergy-use of surplus land and providing policy recommendations for resolving conflicting land-use demands. A serious approach to factoring in the constraints, combined with creativity in utilizing the options provided, in our opinion, would lead to a more sustainable and efficient development of the bioenergy sector. Unless the sustainability challenge is mastered, the interdependent policy objectives of mitigating climate change, obtaining independence from fossil fuels, feeding and fuelling a growing human world population and maintaining biodiversity and ecosystem services will not be met. Despite the advanced developments of bioenergy, we still see regional solutions for designing and establishing sustainable bioenergy production systems with optimized production resulting in social, economic and ecological benefits. Where bioenergy production has been identified as the most suitable option to overcome the given problems of energy security and climate change mitigation, we need to determine which bioenergy cultivation systems are most suitable for the respective types of surplus land, by taking into account issues such as yields, inputs and costs, as well as potential environmental and socio-economic impacts.

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Section: Sustaining High Nature Value Farming Systemsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Bioenergy from “surplus” land: environmental and socio-economic implications

Dauber¹,

Brown²,

Fernando³

et al. 2012

183

158

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“…This makes a clear overview difficult (Batish, 2008;Jose and Gordon, 2008;Zhu et al, 1991). Nevertheless, with regard to factors hampering the performance of silvoarable agroforestry systems, light might be the principal limiting resource for the crop growing under trees subjected to Belgian soil and climate conditions (Eichhorn et al, 2006). The tree induces a heterogeneous light environment for the crop species below.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Impact of spatio-temporal shade dynamics on wheat growth and yield, perspectives for temperate agroforestry

Artru

Garré

Dupraz

et al. 2017

European Journal of Agronomy

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a b s t r a c tA stumbling block to the adoption of silvoarable agroforestry systems is the lack of quantitative knowledge on the performance of different crops when competing for resources with trees. In North-Western Europe, light is likely to be the principal limiting resource for understorey crops, and most agronomic studies show a systematic reduction of final yield as shade increases. However the intensity of the crop response depends on both the environmental conditions and the shade characteristics. This study addressed the issue by monitoring winter wheat (Triticum aestivum L.) growth, productivity and quality under artificial shade provided by military camouflage shade-netting, and using the Hi-sAFe model to relate the artificial shade conditions to those applying in agroforestry systems.The field experiment was carried out over two consecutive years (2013-14 and 2014-15) on the experimental farm of Gembloux Agro-Bio Tech, Belgium. The shade structures recreated two shade conditions: periodic shade (PS) and continuous shade (CS), with the former using overlapping military camouflage netting to provide discontinuous light through the day, and the latter using conventional shade cloth. The experiment simulated shading from a canopy of late-flushing hybrid walnut leaves above winter wheat. Shading was imposed 16 (2013-14) and 10 (2014-15) days before flowering and retained until harvest. The crop experienced full light conditions until the maximum leaf area index stage (LAI max ) had been reached. In both years, LAI followed the same dynamics between the different treatments, but in 2013-2014 an attack of the take-all disease (Gaeumannomyces graminis var. tritici) reduced yields overall and prevented significant treatment effects. In season 2014-15 the decrease in global radiation reaching the crop during a period of 66 days (CS: -61% and PS: -43%) significantly affected final yield (CS: -45% and PS: -25%), mainly through a reduction of the average grain weight and the number of grain per m 2 . Grain protein content increased by up to 45% under the CS treatment in 2015. Nevertheless, at the plot scale, protein yield (t/ha) did not compensate for the final grain yield decrease.The Hi-sAFe model was used to simulate an agroforestry plot with two lines of walnut trees running either north-south or east-west. The levels of artificial shade levels applied in this experiment were compared to those predicted beneath trees growing with similar climatic conditions in Belgium. The levels used in the CS treatment are only likely to occur real agroforestry conditions on 10% of the cropped area until the trees are 30 years old and only with east-west tree row orientation.

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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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Silvoarable Systems in Europe – Past, Present and Future Prospects

Cited by 330 publications

References 21 publications

Bioenergy from “surplus” land: environmental and socio-economic implications

Bioenergy from “surplus” land: environmental and socio-economic implications

Impact of spatio-temporal shade dynamics on wheat growth and yield, perspectives for temperate agroforestry

Shrub encroachment of Iberian dehesas: implications on total forage productivity

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