Agrisilviculture: A refuge for above and belowground biodiversity

Abstract

Agrisilviculture is a land use system that involves the integration of trees and other large woody perennials into farming systems through the  conservation of existing trees, their active planting and tending operations. Biodiversity comprises of the variety of different form of life on earth such as plants, animals, microorganisms, the gene they contain and the ecosystem they form. It can be divided into belowground and aboveground biodiversity. This paper discussed agroforestry and biodiversity conservation, deforestation and its implication on biodiversity, agrisilviculture and mitigation of biodiversity loss. The benefits of agrisilviculture as revealed in this paper include provision of habitats for animals, preservation of  germ plasm and other ecosystem services. The paper further revealed the relationship between agrislviculture and pollination service,  agrisilviculture and belowground biodiversity with agrisilviculture and aboveground biodiversity. Despite the importance of agrsilviculture practices, it is reported not to always have positive effect on biodiversity and ecosystem services which is why there are needs to take some precautions into
consideration. It was concluded that agrisilviculture will not only help to conserve biodiversity but also will increase yield and provide other  ecosystem services. Hence, it was recommended that governments and nongovernmental organizations involved in crop production should incorporate agrisilviculture in their extension services so as to encourage more farmers on the need to introduce trees in their farming activities.

Keywords: biodiversity, agrisiviculture, conservation, aboveground, belowground