Ecosystem Services and Agroforestry: Science and Practice

Agroforestry refers to a land-use management system wherein trees or shrubs are grown among crops or pastureland. Agroforestry-based ecosystem services refer to human benefits that are achieved beyond the farm scale as a result of farm trees' interaction with soil and water, carbon storage, and biodiversity. This intentional combination of agriculture and forestry has multiple benefits, such as enhanced yields from staple food crops, enhanced farmer livelihoods from income generation, increased biodiversity, improved soil structure and health, reduced erosion, and carbon sequestration. The policies that promote agroforestry-based ecosystem services result in on-farm benefits, landscape and watershed benefits, and national and global benefits. This book is compiled in such a manner, that it will provide in-depth knowledge about agroforestry-based ecosystem services. It will also provide interesting topics for research, which interested readers can take up. The book is a vital tool for all researching or studying agroforestry.