Description
Book SynopsisAgroforestry refers to land use systems in which trees or shrubs are grown in association with agricultural crops, or pastures and livestock. From its inception, it has contained a strong element of soil management. Well-designed and managed agroforestry systems have the potential to control run-off and erosion, maintain soil organic matter and physical properties, and promote nutrient cycling. By these means, agroforestry can make a major contribution to sustainable land use. The previous edition of this book, entitled Agroforestry for Soil Conservation (1989), was based on indirect evidence from agriculture, forestry and soil science. The present work provides a new synthesis, drawing on over 700 published sources dating largely from the 1990s. These include both results of field trials of agronomy systems, and research into the plant-soil processes which take place within them. Soil conservation in its narrower sense, the control of erosion, is treated alongside other equally import
Table of Contents1: Preface 2: Agroforestry, soil management and sustainability 3: Effects of trees on soils 4: Soil and water conservation 5: Soil water management 6: Soil organic matter and physical properties 7: Nutrient cycling and nutrient use efficiency 8: The role of roots 9: Agroforestry systems for soil management 10: Modelling 11: Research 12: Agroforestry, land use and the environment 13: Conclusions
