Search

Improving management practices in coffee agroecosystems to achieve sustainability is required to counter the current anthropogenic pressures on biodiversity. Identifying the specific habitat characteristics that determine the occupancy of insectivorous birds in coffee farms can represent an effective tool to improve management practices and bird conservation with minimal effort from coffee growers, thus fostering sustainability. To explore this, we modeled the occupancy of six functional groups of birds associated with the insect pest control in response to seven habitat characteristics of interest for bird conservation and coffee habitat management. In general, our results indicate that occupancy probability was correlated with habitat characteristics describing increased vegetation structure across the landscape. Epiphytes strongly influenced all studied functional groups. Most groups were also positively related with herb and shrub cover. However, contrary to our predictions, coffee dominance increased the occupancy of most insectivores, possibly due to the diverse vegetation structure and organic management practices of coffee farms. To provide management recommendations, we identified critical values for each habitat characteristic where the occupancy of most functional groups was benefited. These management recommendations sought to benefit species associated with key ecosystem services, thus possibly improving both conservation and production outcomes.

In the Hotan region of Xinjiang, where arable land is scarce, an agroforestry system integrating walnut trees with crops has been implemented to maximize land-use efficiency. While this dense planting enhances land use, it also limits the availability of light to the understory crops, potentially impacting their yield and quality. To address this issue and enhance the system's sustainability and productivity, precise delineation of the planting structure is critical. This study proposes a novel framework that leverages multi-source remote sensing data combined with advanced deep learning techniques to analyze the agroforestry planting structure. The methodological approach consists of three key phases. First, an instance segmentation model was employed to extract farmland parcels from high-resolution imagery, providing a basis for vegetation classification. Next, a time series model using irregular satellite image time series (irSITS) tracked the growth dynamics of the vegetation. Finally, the spatial planting structure of the walnut trees was quantified using the d-LinkNet model, integrated with a template filling algorithm.The results demonstrated a classification accuracy of 97.85 % in extracting parcel-level planting structures, identifying 42,955 farmland parcels, including 21,153 intercropped parcels. The temporal and spatial characteristics of the agroforestry system were then analyzed, leading to a grading of canopy cover and walnut tree density within the intercropped areas. This comprehensive spatiotemporal planting structure offers a valuable foundation for informed local agricultural policy adjustments. In conclusion, this approach advances the understanding of complex agroforestry systems and provides a robust scientific basis for optimizing intercropping practices, contributing to sustainable agricultural development in arid regions.

Coffee (Coffea arabica L.) is a globally important agricultural crop with increasing quality requirements. However, the challenges posed by climate change impact cup quality. Therefore, the objective was to evaluate the influence of tree diversity and crop segmentation under agroforestry systems on the sensory characteristics of coffee. The study employed a 4A*3B factorial design, with factor A: agroforestry systems (mixed system, shade-free system, system with Erythrina edulis and system with Inga edulis) and factor B: segmented harvest (upper, middle, and lower third cherries). Fragrance/aroma, flavor, residual flavor, acidity, body, uniformity, balance, clean cup, sweetness, cupper's score, and final score were evaluated. The results suggest that coffee trees planted in mixed systems provide the best sensory characteristics of coffee in the cup since the highest averages were obtained in most of the variables evaluated. Likewise, it is concluded that the diversity of trees (mixed system and system with Erythrina edulis) has a positive influence on the sensory quality of the coffee, reaching a score of 82.86 and 82.64 for the mixed system and the system with Erythrina edulis respectively; categorizing them as specialty coffees. Agroforestry systems constitute an option for developing sustainable agriculture while improving the sensory quality of coffee in the Peruvian Amazon.

In Peru, the diversity of ecosystems contributes to producing high-quality coffees, generating important economic opportunities for small producers thanks to the growing value of coffee in expanding markets. This study analyzed the influence of forest species on bean yield and cup quality in agroforestry systems (AFS) located at three altitudinal levels: 500–1500 m.a.s.l., 1500–1800 m.a.s.l. and more than 1800 m.a.s.l. The characterization of these systems, the register of pests and diseases (Hemileia vastatrix and Hypothenemus hampei), the green gold bean yield, and cup quality according to altitude were evaluated. At altitudes of 1500–1800 m.a.s.l., in localities such as Rodríguez de Mendoza and Camporredondo, shade levels of up to 60 % were recorded, with 100 % incidence of H. vastatrix on leaves and 100 % infestation of H. hampei in grains, resulting in yields of less than 70 % and cup quality of 59 points. In Pisuqia, above 1800 m.a.s.l., an H. vastatrix intensity index of 40 % was observed, but the presence of H. hampei was not detected; yields of 97 % and a cup quality of 83.54 points were achieved, highlighting the advantages of agroclimatic conditions at higher altitudes. Integrating shade trees in AFS is an effective strategy to improve coffee's yield and sensory quality. Farmers are encouraged to adopt mixed AFS as a sustainable alternative that optimizes economic and environmental benefits.

Given the rapid changes in tropical agricultural production, the evaluation of different management practices has gained interest to determine the effects of land-use change on biodiversity. The conversion of forests into agricultural land is one of the main drivers of diversity loss. Agroforestry systems have been shown as a promising option to provide suitable yields in addition to conserving biodiversity. In this study we compared species richness and community composition of terrestrial ants in six different systems in a long-term experimental site established in 2009 in Bolivia: a full-sun monoculture and an agroforestry system under conventional management, a full-sun monoculture and an agroforestry system under organic management, a highly diverse and dense agroforestry system without external inputs and a secondary forest. Using pitfall traps, we sampled ants four times during a seven-year period (2015-2021). We collected a total of 85 ant species belonging to 6 sub-families and 41 genera. More than 80% of the species were recorded in less than 10% of the traps. Species richness did not significantly differ between the systems. However, species composition mainly differed between the fallow and the production systems, and within the latter, it followed the management intensity gradient, i.e., complex agroforestry, agroforestry and monocultures. The indicator species analysis clearly showed species exclusively associated with one or more production systems, whereas others were only associated with the secondary forest. Species with specialised trophic roles were more frequent in forest and agroforestry systems. Our results showed that the disturbance generated by cultivation was the main driver differentiating ant communities, but also reinforced the importance of the complexity and management intensity of the production system. These results have strong implications for landscape management and highlights the importance of preserving natural patches of forest but also diverse and complex agroforestry systems within the agricultural matrix for ant diversity conservation.

Cacao production is mostly concentrated in Africa, with this continent exporting an impressive 68.4 % of the world's cacao. The increasing demand for cacao from the Global North has already led to massive deforestation in Ghana and Ivory Coast and cacao-driven deforestation is likely to continue changing landscapes in Sub-Saharan Africa. Bats are affected by these landscape changes due to their dependence on multiple resources spread at a large spatial scale. Although bats can save cacao farmers millions of euros through pest suppression, no study has investigated how landscape context affects bat communities in African cacao plantations. Here for the first time, we studied how abundance and richness of insectivorous, frugivorous and nectarivorous bats within cacao landscapes could be affected by cover type and the distance between these habitats and each cacao plantation. We sampled bats using mist-nets in 38 cacao plantations spread throughout southern Cameroon from 2017 to 2020. We found that guilds responded differently to the distance and amount of cover of each of the land cover types, with the scale of response being habitat-dependent. Overall, insectivorous bats were associated positively with high cover of natural habitats (e.g., tree cover, rangeland, and flooded vegetation), and negatively with nearby anthropogenic disturbance (e.g., logging and intensive agriculture). Frugivorous and nectarivorous bats were associated to the presence of natural habitats with water and of nearby anthropogenic habitats (e.g., human settlements, community forests and unpaved roads), probably due to the presence of more fruiting and flowering trees. Considering the associations found between the landscape metrics and bats, we propose three different conceptual designs to manage cacao landscapes: one for insectivores, one for frugivores/nectarivores and a third design that maximises the trade-offs between these three guilds. By safeguarding the diversity of these three guilds farmers can maintain pest suppression services within their plantations and guarantee healthy and long-lasting sustainable cacao landscapes through bats' pollination and seed dispersal., Competing Interests: Declaration of competing interest The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper., (Copyright © 2024 The Authors. Published by Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.)

Agroforestry systems are the last refuge habitats for many large old trees. This study assessed the management and the protection of Milicia excelsa (Iroko) trees in agricultural landscape of Dogbo district in southern Benin. A socio-economic survey with 288 respondents combined with an inventory of M. excelsa trees in agricultural lands were carried out. A total of 404 Iroko's trees were geolocated in 10 stands ranging in size from 102 to 1476 ha. The pair correlation function has been used to assess the spatial patterns of Iroko trees. The density of Iroko trees varies moderately from 1.69 ± 0.19 to 0.07 ± 0.02 stems/ha respectively in farmland and landscape with a spatial distribution ranging from gregarious to random - gregarious - random. The diametric structure of Iroko trees presents a bell-shaped appearance with a left asymmetry. The vertical structure shows a bell-like appearance centered on the modal class made up of individuals of height between 14 and 16 m. Timber exploitation (14%), rarefaction of the species and its attribute of sacred tree (98%) are the main motivations for protecting plants in agricultural lands. The medicinal use of the plant parts of Iroko is mainly based on the bark (33%) and leaves (24%). Except the socioeconomic conditions of farmers, the cultural foundations contribute the most to the preservation of M. excelsa in the agricultural lands. Thus, a participatory reforestation program integrating the endogenous values of local populations in the use of agroforestry systems as biological corridors could be successfully implemented. It would allow the preservation of large old trees from the increasing pressure on their populations in the future.

Parkia biglobosa (Jacq.) G. Don, Pterocarpus erinaceus Poir, Milicia excelsa (Welw.) C. C. Berg, Prosopis africana (Guill., Perrot. and Rich.) Taub., Afzelia africana Sm. and Khaya senegalensis (Desv.) A. Juss. are the most highly valued indigenous tree species in the agroforestry systems of the Ouémé catchment area. However, information on the population structure of these species is lacking, thus limiting the development of their sustainable conservation, utilization and restoration strategies. This study addressed this gap. It assessed the population structures and regeneration status of the six species from Don, Tan-Houègbo, Atchabita, Bétékoukou, Glazoué, Tchaorou, Zagnanado, Tévèdji, Sinaou and Bétérou along the catchment. Data were collected from 78 permanent rectangular plots (50 × 30 m) randomly installed within 10 provenances. Dendrometric data including diameter at breast height (dbh) of adult trees (dbh ≥ 10 cm), collar diameter, total height of seedlings and saplings, number of individuals per species according to adult, sapling and seedling were recorded. The population structure was described using ecological and dendrometric parameters (relative frequency, importance value index (IVI), mean densities, basal area, mean height), and diameter size-class distributions. Seedling:sapling and sapling:adult ratios were also computed and analyzed for determining regeneration patterns. Based on IVI, Parkia biglobosa (95.85%) and Khaya senegalensis (65.92%) were the most represented species in the catchment area. The analysis of variances showed that dendrometric parameters of the six species varied significantly between provenances. Seedling:sapling and sapling:adult ratios were

Crop productivity depends almost entirely on the fertility of the soil. This in turn influences food security at the household level. Thus, for crop productivity to be high and ensure food security, the level of soil fertility needs to increase. However, poor agricultural practices and other phenomena such as soil erosion have led to soil infertility across Cameroon. This necessitates that more sustainable agricultural practices should be identified and vulgarized. In this light, this study was initiated to evaluate the role of different agroforestry systems (a sustainable agricultural practice), in enhancing soil fertility in order to propose an appropriate practice to farmers as a sustainable option for soil fertility improvement. The study was carried out in Mbelenka, south west region of Cameroon. Data was collected through household surveys, key informant interviews, focus group discussions, and direct field observations. Findings revealed that, three main agroforestry systems (agrosilvopastoral, silvopastoral, and agrisilvicultural systems) were dominant characterized by several practices, components, and functions. Most farmers (52%) perceived the soils to be less fertile, and the agrosilvopastoral system was perceived by most farmers (57%) to be characterized by the highest level of soil fertility. Most farmers (53%) equally perceived that, the agrosilvopastoral system was the most effective in enhancing soil fertility. Correlation and regression analysis showed the existence of a statistically significant (p

Masting, the synchronized production of variable quantities of seeds, is a global phenomenon in diverse ecosystems, including treed grazing systems where trees and grazing animals coexist. This phenomenon can be interspersed with years of extreme crop failure, whose frequency and unpredictability are increasing. Yet, the combined impact of crop failure and grazing on seed dispersal and seed-to-seedling transition remains poorly understood. To address this concern, we investigated rodent-mediated cork-oak (Quercus suber) acorn predation, dispersal, and seedling emergence in cattle grazed and non-grazed areas in central Portugal during years with contrasting masting seasons. We found that the acorns supplied in the crop failure year were dispersed more rapidly and over longer distances than those supplied in the crop success year when other acorns were naturally available. The crop failure year also had 83 % more dispersal events and 84 % more predated acorns than the reproductive success year. However, the higher acorn predation was offset by a 2.4-fold higher percentage of unpredated dispersed acorns recruiting into seedlings. Both years ended up recruiting a similar number of seedlings. Acorns emerged seedlings 3.4 times farther in the crop failure year than in the crop success year. Cattle grazing was the main constraint on seed dispersal distance by rodents, reducing it by 53 %. Our study provides empirical evidence that cattle grazing modulates how an extreme crop failure year can surprisingly be an opportunity for the few existing acorns to have seedlings established farther apart than in a crop success year. If we are to better manage and preserve the high conservation and socio-economic value of Mediterranean cork oak woodlands in the face of climate change, we must prioritize fecund trees and carefully manage seed dispersal factors such as cattle grazing, particularly during years of crop failure., Competing Interests: Declaration of competing interest The authors declare the following financial interests/personal relationships which may be considered as potential competing interests: Pedro G Vaz reports financial support was provided by Portuguese Science and Technology Foundation., (Copyright © 2023 The Authors. Published by Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.)

Rubber-based agroforestry system is a vital management practice and its productivity is often controlled by soil phosphorus (P) nutrient, but little information is available on P fractions dynamics in such system. The aim of this study was to examine the seasonal, management and stand age effects on P fractions, acid phosphatase activity, microbial biomass P, other physical-chemical properties and litter and roots in four systems: 10-year-old rubber mono- (YM) and intercropping (YI) with N-fixing species (NFS), 22-year-old mono- (MM) and intercropping (MI) in Xishuangbanna, Southwestern China. Most P fractions varied seasonally at different depths, with highest values in the fog-cool season (i.e. labile P at 5-60cm, non-labile P and total P at 30-60cm). By contrast, moderately labile P varied little over time, except in MI that had lower values in the rainy season. Compared with their monoculture counterparts, YI doubled resin-P i concentration but decreased NaHCO 3 -extractable P, HCl-P i and residual-P o at the 0-30cm depth, whereas MI had hardly any changes in P species at the 60-cm depth. Surprisingly, residual-P o was enriched down to the deepest soil (30-60cm) in both YI and MI in the fog-cool season. All P fractions, except NaOH 0.1 -P i , were greatly reduced with increasing stand age. In addition to plants uptake, these changes can be explained by seasonality in soil environments (e.g. moisture, temperature, pH and microbial activity) and decomposition of litter and roots. Moreover, YI decreased labile P o stock, but MI increased moderately labile P i at the 60-cm depth across seasons. The results imply that a large amount of residual-P o exists in acidic Oxisol from China and that they can be reasonably exploited to reduce the application of P fertilizers, highlighting the importance of P o pool. Taken together, intercropping mature rubber plantation with NFS appears to be an effective way to enhance productivity while maintaining adequate soil P concentration over the long run., (Copyright © 2017 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.)

Individual tree size variation, which is generally quantified by variances in tree diameter at breast height (DBH) and height in isolation or conjunction, plays a central role in ecosystem functioning in both controlled and natural environments, including forests. However, none of the studies have been conducted in homegarden agroforestry systems. In this study, aboveground biomass, stand quality, cation exchange capacity (CEC), DBH variation, and species diversity were determined across 45 homegardens in the dry zone of Sri Lanka. We employed structural equation modeling (SEM) to test for the direct and indirect effects of stand quality and CEC, via tree size inequality and species diversity, on aboveground biomass. The SEM accounted for 26, 8, and 1% of the variation in aboveground biomass, species diversity and DBH variation, respectively. DBH variation had the strongest positive direct effect on aboveground biomass (β=0.49), followed by the non-significant direct effect of species diversity (β=0.17), stand quality (β=0.17) and CEC (β=-0.05). There were non-significant direct effects of CEC and stand quality on DBH variation and species diversity. Stand quality and CEC had also non-significant indirect effects, via DBH variation and species diversity, on aboveground biomass. Our study revealed that aboveground biomass substantially increased with individual tree size variation only, which supports the niche complementarity mechanism. However, aboveground biomass was not considerably increased with species diversity, stand quality and soil fertility, which might be attributable to the adaptation of certain productive species to the local site conditions. Stand structure shaped by few productive species or independent of species diversity is a main determinant for the variation in aboveground biomass in the studied homegardens. Maintaining stand structure through management practices could be an effective approach for enhancing aboveground biomass in these dry zone homegarden agroforestry systems., (Copyright © 2016 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.)

Fire is infrequent in the oak woodlands of southern Portugal (montado) but large and severe fires affected these agro-forestry systems in 2003-2005. We hypothesised transition from forest to shrubland as a fire-driven process and investigated the links between fire incidence and montado change to other land cover types, particularly those related with the presence of pioneer communities (generically designed in this context as "transitions to early-successional communities"). We present a landscape-scale framework for assessing the probability of transition from montado to pioneer communities, considering three sets of explanatory variables: montado patterns in 1990 and prior changes from montado to early-successional communities (occurred between 1960 and 1990), fire patterns, and spatial factors. These three sets of factors captured 78.2% of the observed variability in the transitions from montado to pioneer vegetation. The contributions of fire patterns and spatial factors were high, respectively 60.6% and 43.4%, the influence of montado patterns and former changes in montado being lower (34.4%). The highest amount of explained variation in the occurrence of transitions from montado to early-successional communities was related to the pure effect of fire patterns (19.9%). Low spatial connectedness in montado landscape can increase vulnerability to changes, namely to pioneer vegetation, but the observed changes were mostly explained by fire characteristics and spatial factors. Among all metrics used to characterize fire patterns and extent, effective mesh size provided the best modelling results. Transitions from montado to pioneer communities are more likely in the presence of high values of the effective mesh size of total burned area. This cross-boundary metric is an indicator of the influence of large fires in the distribution of the identified transitions and, therefore, we conclude that the occurrence of large fires in montado increases its probability of transition to shrubland., (Copyright © 2015 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.)

It is widely recognized that farmers' hold important knowledge of folk soil classification for agricultural land for its uses, yet little has been studied for traditional agroforestry systems. This article explores the ethnopedology of bamboo (Bambusa sp.) based agroforestry system in North East India, and establishes the relationship of soil quality index (SQI) with bamboo productivity. The study revealed four basic folk soil (mati) types: kalo (black soil), lal (red soil), pathal (stony soil) and balu (sandy soil). Of these, lal mati soil was the most predominant soil type (~ 40%) in bamboo-based agroforestry system. Soil physio-chemical parameters were studied to validate the farmers' soil hierarchal classification and also to correlate with productivity of the bamboo stand. Farmers' hierarchal folk soil classification was consistent with the laboratory scientific analysis. Culm production (i.e. measure of productivity of bamboo) was the highest (27culmsclump(-1)) in kalo mati (black soil) and the lowest (19culmsclump(-1)) in balu mati (sandy soil). Linear correlation of individual soil quality parameter with bamboo productivity explained 16 to 49% of the variability. A multiple correlation of the best fitted linear soil quality parameter (soil organic carbon or SOC, water holding capacity or WHC, total nitrogen) with productivity improved explanatory power to 53%. Development of SQI from ten relevant soil quality parameters and its correlation with bamboo productivity explained the 64% of the variation and therefore, suggest SQI as the best determinant of bamboo yield. Data presented indicate that the kalo mati (black soil) is sustainable or sustainable with high input. However, the other three folk soil types (red, stony and sandy soil) are also sustainable but for other land uses. Therefore, ethnopedological studies may move beyond routine laboratory analysis and incorporate SQI for assessing the sustainability of land uses managed by the farmers'. Additional research is required to incorporate principal component analysis for improving the SQI and site potential assessment. It is also important to evaluate the minimum data set (MDS) required for SQI and productivity assessment in agroforestry systems., (Copyright © 2015 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.)