Increased forest area and wood production is a key goal for the European Union, together with avoidance of hazards that damage forests. Galicia is a region of northwest Spain that belongs to the Atlantic biogeographic region with very high wood production, but due to climate fire has a major negative impact on forest productivity (i.e. it represents 16% of the fires of Europe). Silvopastoral systems offer the potential to enhance forest productivity as well as to obtain income from newly afforested areas in the short term. Herbaceous pasture production within such systems can be optimized through species selection and through fertilization. The aim of the present study was to evaluate effect of three types of fertilization on two sward mixtures established under Pinus radiata D. Don cover on abandoned agricultural land over an initial period of 7 years. Tree and pasture growth were enhanced with organic fertilization, tree growth rate not being limited by summer drought, and compared with mineral treatment, trees growing up on sludge treatment had around 35 and 30% more height and diameter, respectively. Acidity tendency of Galician soils was reduced with mineral treatment. Soil pH was positively affected by mineral fertilization as it was reduced in less extent in this treatment (pH 6) than in organic (pH 5.3) or no fertilization treatment (pH 5.6), as crop cation extractions were reduced. The proportion of Na and Mg in the effective CEC was higher in fertilization with dairy sludge and no fertilization plots due to better tree canopy development. The interchangeable potassium content in ryegrass sown plots was reduced when no fertilization was applied due to dicot extractions, which can explain lower tree growth than in non-fertilized cocksfoot plots. Correct tree and pasture management, using appropriate sowing mixtures and fertilization types, makes it possible to improve the productivity of both components of the silvopastoral system. Our present results indicate that it is better to use organic fertilizers in the establishment of cocksfoot or ryegrass on sandy soils for tree and pasture growth enhancement. #
Soil particle size and land management practices are known to have considerable influence on carbon (C) storage in soils, but such information is lacking for silvopastoral systems in Spain. This study quantified the amounts of soil C stored at various depths to 100 cm under silvopastoral plots of radiata pine ( D. Don) and birch ( Roth) in comparison to treeless pasture in Galicia, Spain. Soils were fractionated into three size classes (<53, 53-250, and 250-2000 μm), and C stored in them and in the whole (nonfractionated) soil was determined. Overall, the C stock to 1 m ranged from 80.9 to 176.9 Mg ha in these soils. Up to 1 m depth, 78.82% of C was found in the 0- to 25-cm soil depth, with 12.9, 4.92, and 3.36% in the 25- to 50-, 50- to 75-, and 75- to 100-cm depths, respectively. Soils under birch at 0 to 25 cm stored more C in the 250- to 2000-μm size class as compared with those under radiata pine; at that depth, pasture had more C than pine silvopasture in the smaller soil fractions (<53 and 53-250 μm). In the 75- to 100-cm depth, there was significantly more storage of C in the 250- to 2000-μm fraction in both silvopastures as compared with the pasture. The higher storage of soil C in larger fraction size in lower soil depths of silvopasture suggests that planting of trees into traditional agricultural landscapes will promote longer-term storage of C in the soil.
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.A. Rigueiro-Rodríguez et al. (eds.), Agroforestry in Europe: 21 Current Status and Future Prospects.
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