Agroforestry for biodiversity in farming systems

Abstract

Agroforestry can be used to diversify and intensify farming systems through the integration of indigenous trees producing marketable timber and non-timber forest products, and is described in terms of an agroecological succession, in which climax agroforests are biodiverse, highly productive and profitable. The role of biodiversity in agroecosystem function is one of the keystones of sustainability. Complex agroforests that combine profitability with biodiversity are presented as a model worthy of expansion. However, little is known ecologically about how best to integrate agroforestry into the landscape, or to what extent agroforestry can be used to link forest patches and expand biogeographical islands. Tree domestication is one way to diversify and intensify agroforestry systems and to make them profitable. A wise domestication strategy for indigenous trees will involve the capture and maximization of intra-specific genetic diversity and so benefit both production and the environment.