Abstract
Resource sharing between tree and forage plant components in silvopastoral systems includes a complex set of facilitative and competitive interactions. To the extent that facilitation exceeds competition, agroforests are expected to outyield monocultures of their components. Pasture and Douglas fir (Pseudotsuga menziesii) tree production of young agroforests was compared to pasture and forest monocultures under both grid and cluster patterns of tree planting near Corvallis, Oregon, USA, during 1983–1987. The height and diameter growth of forest and agroforest trees was similar, regardless of tree planting pattern. Five-year average annual forage production was 6500, 5800, and 2800 kg ha−1 on pasture, agroforest, and forest plots, respectively. The total cumulative 1982–1987 above-ground phytomass yield of forage plus trees was similar for pasture and conventional grid forest monocultures. The total productivity of agroforests, however, was over 30% greater than either pasture or forest components grown in monoculture. Approximately 1.6 ha (0.96 ha forest + 0.64 ha pasture) of monocultures would be needed to equal the productivity of 1 ha of agroforest.
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Oregon Agricultural Experiment Station Technical Paper No. 10, 825.
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Sharrow, S.H., Carlson, D.H., Emmingham, W.H. et al. Productivity of two Douglas fir/subclover/sheep agroforests compared to pasture and forest monocultures. Agroforest Syst 34, 305–313 (1996). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00046930
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00046930