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Most farm-based agroforestry projects focus on the integration of trees on arable or livestock enterprises. This paper focuses on the integration of understorey crops and/or livestock within high value tree systems (e.g., apple orchards, olive groves, chestnut woodlands, and walnut plantations), and describes the components, structure, ecosystem services and economic value of ten case studies of this type of agroforestry across Europe. Although their ecological and socio-economic contexts vary, the systems share some common characteristics. The primary objective of the farmer is likely to remain the value of tree products like apples, olives, oranges, or nuts, or particularly high value timber. However there can still be production, environmental or economic benefits of integrating agricultural crops such as chickpeas and barley, or grazing an understorey grass crop with livestock. Three of the systems focused on the grazing of apple orchards with sheep in the UK and France. The introduction of sheep to apple orchards can minimise the need for mowing and provide an additional source of revenue. Throughout the Mediterranean, there is a need to improve the financial viability of olive groves. The case studies illustrate the possibility of intercropping traditional olive stands with chickpea in Greece, or the intercropping of wild asparagus in high density olive groves in Italy. Another system studied in Greece involves orange trees intercropped with chickpeas. Stands of chestnut trees in North-west Spain can provide feed for pigs when the fruit falls in November, and provide an excellent habitat for the commercial production of edible mushrooms. In Spain, in the production of high quality walnut trees using rotations of up to 50–60 years, there are options to establish a legume-based mixed pasture understorey and to introduce sheep to provide financial and environmental benefits.

Multi-functional silvopastoral systems provide a wide range of services to human society including the regulation of nutrients and water in soils and the sequestration of atmospheric carbon dioxide (CO2). Although silvopastoral systems significantly contribute to enhance aboveground carbon (C) sequestration (e.g. C accumulation in woody plant biomass), their long-term effects on soil C pools are less clear. In this study we performed soil physical fractionation analyses to quantify the C pool of different aggregate fractions across three land use types including (1) silvopastoral system with ash trees (Fraxinus excelsior L.), (2) planted woodland with ash trees, and (3) permanent grassland, which were established in 1989 at Loughgall, Northern Ireland, UK. Our results show that 26 years after the conversion of permanent grassland to either silvopastoral or woodland systems, soil C (and N) stocks (0–20 cm depth) did not significantly change between the three land use types. We found, however, that permanent grassland soils were associated with significantly higher C pools (g C kg−1 soil; P 2 mm) whereas soil C pools of the micro-aggregate (53–250 μm) and silt and clay (

AGAP : équipe CONSYT; International audience; Whilst the benefits of agroforestry are widely recognised in tropical latitudes few studies have assessed how agroforestry is perceived in temperate latitudes. This study evaluates how stakeholders and key actors including farmers, landowners, agricultural advisors, researchers and environmentalists perceive the implementation and expansion of agroforestry in Europe. Meetings were held with 30 stakeholder groups covering different agroforestry systems in 2014 in eleven EU countries (Denmark, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Italy, Netherlands, Portugal, Spain, Sweden and the United Kingdom). In total 344 valid responses were received to a questionnaire where stakeholders were asked to rank the positive and negative aspects of implementing agroforestry in their region. Improved biodiversity and wildlife habitats, animal health and welfare, and landscape aesthetics were seen as the main positive aspects of agroforestry. By contrast, increased labour, complexity of work, management costs and administrative burden were seen as the most important negative aspects. Overall, improving the environmental value of agriculture was seen as the main benefit of agroforestry, whilst management and socio-economic issues were seen as the greatest barriers. The great variability in the opportunities and barriers of the systems suggests enhanced adoption of agroforestry across Europe will be most likely to occur with specific initiatives for each type of system.

Presentation given at the 2018 Farm Woodland Forum meeting held at the Allerton Project, UK on 10th and 11th July by Paul Burgess, Cranfield University: Lessons learnt for livestock agroforestry in the AGFORWARD project This presentation will review the lessons learnt from using trees and shrubs in livestock systems from various stakeholder groups across Europe. The improved seasonality of grass production under trees was a key benefit within beef and sheep systems in Spain and the UK. In Epping Forest near London, the use of "invisible fencing" allow unconstrained public access to an important area for recreation. In Herefordshire, the use of sheep within high stem apple orchards reduced mowing costs and provided additional grass for sheep production. Work by the Organic Research Centre highlighted how grass swards can be established in poultry systems. In Italy and the Netherlands, trees reduced the level of heat stress experienced by outdoor pigs. Partners in the Netherlands led on the production of an tree fodder database, where leaves of black locust, chestnut, white mulberry and ash can have crude protein levels of 22%.

Forest grazing has been recognised as being a useful tool in fire-risk reduction, in addition to having the potential to preserve or enhance forest biodiversity if managed correctly. Concern for natural regeneration of forest trees in Europe has also prompted interest in the effects of large herbivores on seedling and sapling growth and mortality. An investigation was carried out into sapling damage and density of natural regeneration of oak (Quercus robur) in a mature, pony-grazed, Pinus radiata forest in Galicia, NW Spain under two different grazing regimes (continuous and rotational). In all treatments significantly more oak seedlings and saplings were recorded in areas of grass sward than areas dominated by taller ground flora species. Damage to oak saplings was assessed from the form (height and canopy) relative to stem diameter. The height and average canopy diameter of similar-aged saplings were found to be significantly greater in ungrazed (control) than both continuous and rotationally grazed treatments. Height and canopy diameters of similar-aged oak were not significantly different between the two grazing treatments. Significant differences were observed in tree form, with unbrowsed saplings having the greatest height to canopy width ratio and those in the continuously browsed plots having the smallest. An obvious decrease in the goodness of fit (R2) of regression analyses were found in continuously grazed areas compared to rotational and control plots for both height and canopy data. The differences in damage observed were not significantly different enough to suggest one method of grazing over the other as being better for minimising sapling damage. Management requirements are more likely to dictate grazing regime. Overall, stock density is likely to have a more significant effect on damage than stocking system.

The zoonotic association between Campylobacter bacteria in poultry and humans has been characterized by decades of research which has attempted to elucidate the epidemiology of this complex relationship and to reduce carriage within poultry. While much work has focused on the mechanisms facilitating its success in contaminating chicken flocks (and other animal hosts), it remains difficult to consistently exclude Campylobacter under field conditions. Within the United Kingdom poultry industry, various bird genotypes with widely varying growth rates are available to meet market needs and consumer preferences. However, little is known about whether any differences in Campylobacter carriage exist across this modern broiler range. The aim of this study was to establish if a relationship exists between growth rate or breed and cecal Campylobacter concentration after natural commercial flock Campylobacter challenge. In one investigation, four pure line genotypes of various growth rates were grown together, while in the second, eight different commercial broiler genotypes were grown individually. In both studies, the Campylobacter concentration was measured in the ceca at 42 days of age, revealing no significant difference in cecal load between birds of different genotypes both in mixed- and single-genotype pens. This is important from a public health perspective and suggests that other underlying reasons beyond genotype are likely to control and affect Campylobacter colonization within chickens. Further studies to gain a better understanding of colonization dynamics and subsequent proliferation are needed, as are novel approaches to reduce the burden in poultry.

Many traditional land-use systems in Europe involved agroforestry in the pre-industrial era, but, over the years, increased mechanization led to the development of increasingly specialized crop, animal and wood production systems. As a consequence, the area under agroforestry declined in many regions of Europe, and agroforestry systems became confined to situations where understorey primary production is restricted due to cold temperatures (Boreal and Alpine areas) or drought (Mediterranean areas) and to plots that are hard to reach or too small for cultivation with modern machinery, as in Spain, Italy and the lower altitude mountain regions in southern and central Germany. On the whole, agroforestry continued to be practised only where it enabled farmers to obtain economic returns from lands that were otherwise relatively unproductive and mostly limited to silvopastoral practices. Since the mid-1990s, however, European policies have encouraged land management systems that combine production, environmental services (biodiversity, carbon sequestration, nutrient cycling and water quality) and social benefits, and this has created a new interest in agroforestry systems. Today, the major agroforestry practices in Europe include silvopasture and silvoarable. However, the benefits and opportunities offered by agroforestry can only be realized with substantial investments and coordinated efforts in research, education, knowledge transfer and appropriate national policies across Europe.

Agroforestry is a land use type which embodies agricultural and forestry elements in systems which fall between the current European definitions of exclusively forestry and agriculture. If properly implemented, they can help overcome some of the production, environmental and social problems that EU governments currently face. Agroforestry practices are extensively applied in tropical countries and promoted by international institutions. However, the degree of implementation in Europe is low and almost exclusively confined to marginal areas where the advantages of this type of land management are needed for sustainability in the short term. The main productive advantages of agroforestry systems are linked to better use of resources in a spatial and temporal scale which, at the same time, can enhance environmental benefits through reduction in nutrient losses from agricultural land, increasing carbon sequestration, enhancing biodiversity, reducing soil losses and helping manage fire risk in specific areas. The advantages of agroforestry systems can confer important social benefits at a farm level, in the different biogeographic regions of Europe and at the same time benefit the general public. These aspects will be discussed in this chapter.

Agroforestry systems have often been neglected in Europe because administrative structures within many national governments have considered that only agriculture or forestry are legitimate within their remit. This has resulted in the loss of agroforestry systems in European countries and an impoverishment of the benefits that they provide. This paper argues that agroforestry systems are a complex interaction of agricultural and forestry elements which can be classified according to their components, spatial and temporal arrangement, agro-ecological zone, and socio-economic aspects. A further breakdown can be made on the basis of ecosystem functions, and their associated goods and services. The ecosystem functions of agroforestry systems can be grouped under production (the creation of biomass), habitat (the delivery of biodiversity), regulation (maintenance of essential processes and life support systems) and culture (cultural heritage, landscape enhancement and recreation). The importance of the multi-functionality of agroforestry systems in terms of their management input and the range of their outputs is stressed and it is proposed that land use decisions should be made within the broader ecosystems perspective so that greater social well-being can be derived from rural areas in Europe.

In the western British Isles, pastoral agriculture with sheep and cattle is the dominant land use. Current changes in EU policy, specifically the implementation of farm decoupling through the Single Farm Payment, enforcing the Nitrates Directive, environmental cross-compliance measures and other initiatives within the Rural Development Plan have driven the need to find alternative land use systems which can enhance biodiversity on grassland farms. Ireland has a moist, temperate climate which suits intensive livestock production systems, and these have negatively impacted on the region's biodiversity. This represents a microcosm of the general problems facing such systems in the British Isles and north western Europe. The integration of farm woodlands and trees onto farmland can address these issues. Silvopastoral systems, where wide spaced trees are planted into grassland have been shown to be compatible with conventional grassland systems, increase biodiversity and enhance the farmed landscape. Research in Ireland with sheep on upland vegetation and sheep and cattle on lowland pastures has shown that such systems can reduce nutrient leakage, increase some invertebrates, birds and flora and create spatial heterogeneity in the canopy and soil. This delivers much more sustainable agroecosystems while still allowing the combination of farming and rural economic development. Such systems should be targeted to and adapted for farmers who wish to develop conservation, amenity, recreation and environmental ‘goods’ on their farms, be compatible with current agri-environment measures, the organic farming sector and rural community group objectives. These objectives are common to the British Isles and the example of their applicability in Ireland should encourage others to apply them more widely in the region.

Agroforestry systems are traditional land use systems that were and are used in Europe. They can be defined as those land use systems which involve two main components — trees/shrubs and an agricultural crop (which could also be pasture) and are artificially managed. Agroforestry systems can be implemented at a temporal and spatial scale for a land owner, who can use different agrofor-estry practices. Since human interaction with the environment in Europe is very important and has occurred for a long time there are different types of agroforestry practices in Europe that are described in this chapter and named, silvoarable, forest farming, riparian buffer strips, silvopasture, improved fallow and multipurpose trees. A brief description of the main agroforestry practice components, i.e. trees and agriculture (including pasture and livestock) in Europe will give an overview of the current and potential situation in Europe for the use of these systems.