Götz Schroth

Gustavo A. B. da Fonseca

Celia A. Harvey

Claude Gascon

Heraldo L. Vasconcelos

Anne-Marie N. Izac

Agroforestry -- the practice of integrating trees and other large woody perennials on farms and throughout the agricultural landscape -- is increasingly recognized as a useful and promising strategy that diversifies production for greater social, economic, and environmental benefits. Agroforestry and Biodiversity Conservation in Tropical Landscapes brings together 46 scientists and practitioners from 13 countries with decades of field experience in tropical regions to explore how agroforestry practices can help promote biodiversity conservation in human-dominated landscapes, to synthesize the current state of knowledge in the field, and to identify areas where further research is needed. Agroforestry and Biodiversity Conservation in Tropical Landscapes is the first comprehensive synthesis of the role of agroforestry systems in conserving biodiversity in tropical landscapes, and contains in-depth review chapters of most agroforestry systems, with examples from many different countries. It is a valuable source of information for scientists, researchers, professors, and students in the fields of conservation biology, resource management, tropical ecology, rural development, agroforestry, and agroecology.

Agroforestry and Biodiversity Conservation in Tropical Landscapes

François Ruf

The monoculture systems that have been encouraged by governments since the 1960s have led to major socio-economic and environmental crises. Now the diversification of tree crop systems is advancing throughout the tropics. Why and when does diversification take place? What categories of farmers diversify? What obstacles do they have to overcome, and how do public and private policies interfere in this process? How do land use systems and landscapes evolve as a result of this diversification? According to the authors of this volume, diversification is certainly a response to market risks, but also to the depletion of environmental resources. Ecological changes such as declining soil fertility and increasing pressure from pests, diseases and weeds intensify at the end of monoculture cycles, driving crop change and diversification of farming systems. Through 15 case studies from Africa, Latin America, Asia and the Pacific, the authors provide us with in-depth insights into the economy and ecology of family agriculture and its recent developments.

The Case of Tropical Tree Crops

Economics and Ecology of Diversification

Götz Schroth

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