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Temperate agroforestry research: considering multifunctional woody polycultures and the design of long-term field trials

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Abstract

The many benefits of agroforestry are well-documented, from ecological functions such as biodiversity conservation and water quality improvement, to cultural functions including aesthetic value. In North American agroforestry, however, little emphasis has been placed on production capacity of the woody plants themselves, taking into account their ability to transform portions of the landscape from annual monoculture systems to diversified perennial systems capable of producing fruits, nuts, and timber products. In this paper, we introduce the concept of multifunctional woody polycultures (MWPs) and consider the design of long-term experimental trials for supporting research on agroforestry emphasizing tree crops. Critical aspects of long-term agroforestry experiments are summarized, and two existing well-documented research sites are presented as case studies. A new long-term agroforestry trial at the University of Illinois, “Agroforestry for Food,” is introduced as an experiment designed to test the performance of increasingly complex woody plant combinations in an alley cropping system with productive tree crops. This trial intends to address important themes of food security, climate change, multifunctionality, and applied solutions. The challenges of establishing, maintaining, and funding long-term agroforestry research trials are discussed.

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Acknowledgements

This material is based upon work that is supported by the Institute for Sustainability, Energy, and Environment at the University of Illinois and National Institute of Food and Agriculture, U.S. Department of Agriculture, Hatch project under ILLU-802-938.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Crop Sciences, Institute for Sustainability, Energy, and Environment, Plant Science Lab, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, 1201 S. Dorner Drive, Urbana, IL, USA

    Sarah Taylor Lovell

  2. Institut National de la Recherche Agronomique (INRA), UMR System, Montpellier, France

    Christian Dupraz

  3. School of Natural Resources, The Center for Agroforestry, University of Missouri, Columbia, MO, USA

    Michael Gold & Shibu Jose

  4. Department of Crop Sciences, Institute for Sustainability, Energy, and Environment, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Urbana, IL, USA

    Ronald Revord

  5. Department of Crop Sciences, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Urbana, IL, USA

    Erik Stanek

  6. Program in Ecology, Evolution and Conservation Biology, Institute for Sustainability, Energy, and Environment, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Urbana, IL, USA

    Kevin J. Wolz

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  1. Sarah Taylor Lovell
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  2. Christian Dupraz
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Correspondence to Sarah Taylor Lovell.

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Lovell, S.T., Dupraz, C., Gold, M. et al. Temperate agroforestry research: considering multifunctional woody polycultures and the design of long-term field trials. Agroforest Syst 92, 1397–1415 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10457-017-0087-4

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