Agroforestry boosts soil health in the humid and sub-humid tropics: A meta-analysis

Abstract

Agroforestry has been increasingly recognized as a key example of agroecological praxis contributing to the sustainable intensification of food production while providing a number of additional benefits to society. However, a quantitative synthesis of the impact of agroforestry on soil health and associated ecosystem services in the humid and sub-humid tropics is still lacking. The objective of this study was to quantify the contribution of agroforestry practices to soil-mediated ecosystem services, specifically, regulation of soil erosion, storage of soil organic carbon (SOC) and nitrogen (N), availability of soil N and phosphorus (P) to crops, and alleviation of soil acidity across the humid and sub-humid tropics. The analysis demonstrated that agroforestry can reduce soil erosion rates by 50 % compared to crop monocultures. This finding is supported by higher infiltration rates, lower runoff, higher proportion of soil macroggregates, and greater stability of soil structure under agroforestry. SOC increased by 21 %, N storage increased by 13 %, available N by 46 % and available P by 11 % while soil pH increased by 2% under agroforestry compared to crop monocultures. We conclude that agroforestry can make significant contributions to provision of soil-mediated ecosystem services in the humid and sub-humid tropics.

Keywords

Agroecology; Indicators; Soil health; Tropical agriculture

Published in

Agriculture, Ecosystems and Environment
2020, volume: 295, article number: UNSP 106899
Publisher: ELSEVIER

SLU Authors

• Jonsson, Mattias

  • Department of Ecology, Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences
    

• Pumarino, Lorena

  • Department of Ecology, Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences
    

Global goals (SDG)

SDG2 Zero hunger
SDG12 Responsible consumption and production
SDG13 Climate action
SDG15 Life on land

UKÄ Subject classification

Soil Science
Agricultural Science

Publication identifier

• DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.agee.2020.106899

Permanent link to this page (URI)

https://res.slu.se/id/publ/106966