1/12 Thrilled to have my first PhD chapter out in @ConLetters!

We show that it’s necessary to include land-use history in tropical #agroforestry research and policy.

A thread for scientists and coffee lovers alike!

Paper link: https://doi.org/10.1111/conl.12740

@uniGoettingen

2/12 Tropical agroforestry for crops like #coffee, #cacao or #vanilla is often seen as an opportunity to conserve ecosystem functions and #biodiversity…

…while also providing an income opportunity for smallholder farmers.

3/12 To assess the value of agroforests for biodiversity and ecosystem functions, researchers have typically compared structurally simple against structurally complex agroforests.

What did they find? Structurally complex agroforests are better!

4/12 Consequently, local and global policies, such as sustainability #certification, support farming practices that maintain structural complexity in the form of shade trees.

You might be familiar with “shade coffee” or “bird friendly coffee”.

5/12 However, in our paper, we argue that the focus on structural complexity in research and policy is too simplistic:

Instead we should incorporate land-use history – i.e. the previous land-use - in #agroforestry research and policy.

6/12 Why?

Forest-derived agroforests degrade tropical forests

Open-land-derived agroforests typically rehabilitate historically forested open land.

So the effect is contrary depending on land-use history!

7/12 We exemplify this using data from the @Diversity_Turn #vanilla agroforest plots in #Madagascar.

Basal area decreases when forest-derived agroforests are established, but increases when fallow land is converted into open-land-derived agroforest.

Data by @osen_kristina

8/12 Importantly, forest-derived agroforests will typically still outperform open-land-derived agroforests in terms of #EcosystemServices and #Biodiversity.

BUT what matters is the change compared to the previous land-use!

To illustrate this, we came up with this framework:

9/12 Policies should aim at:
- Protecting tropical forest
- Maintaining tree cover in existing forest-derived agroforests
- Encourage #rehabilitation through open-land-derived agroforestry

@ICRAF @agroforestrynw @FAOForestry

10/12 In summary, our paper shows that incorporating land-use history in tropical #agroforestry research and policy is necessary to realise the potential of agroforestry for people and nature.

11/12 Within the @Diversity_Turn project we specifically compare #vanilla agroforests of contrasting land-use history with their respective baseline.

More research on , , , , , , , yields & ecosystem functions is under review or preparation!

Follow us for more!

12/12 Thanks to my great co-authors @osen_kristina, @GrassIngo, D. Hölscher, T. Tscharntke, @annemarie_wu & @BioGeoKreft

& @Diversity_Turn, @BioGeoMacro, @VolkswagenSt funding
& @daniel_c_miller & @olivierhonnay for editing & reviewing

OA paper: https://doi.org/10.1111/conl.12740

. @uniGoettingen prepared a press release about the paper!

German : https://www.uni-goettingen.de/de/3240.html?id=5907
English : https://www.uni-goettingen.de/en/3240.html?id=5908 https://twitter.com/uniGoettingen/status/1272451360890523650