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Win-win opportunities combining high yields with high multi-taxa biodiversity in tropical agroforestry.

Annemarie WurzTeja TscharntkeDominic Andreas MartinKristina OsenAnjaharinony A N A RakotomalalaEstelle RaveloaritianaFanilo AndrianisainaSaskia DrögeThio Rosin FulgenceMarie Rolande SoazafyRouvah AndriafanomezantsoaAristide AndrianarimisaFenohaja Soavita BabarezotoJan BarkmannHendrik HänkeDirk HölscherNathan KraftBakolimalala RakouthNathaly R Guerrero-RamírezHery Lisy Tiana RanarijaonaRomual RandriamanantenaFanomezana Mihaja RatsoavinaLala Harivelo Raveloson RavaomanarivoIngo Grass
Published in: Nature communications (2022)
Resolving ecological-economic trade-offs between biodiversity and yields is a key challenge when addressing the biodiversity crisis in tropical agricultural landscapes. Here, we focused on the relation between seven different taxa (trees, herbaceous plants, birds, amphibians, reptiles, butterflies, and ants) and yields in vanilla agroforests in Madagascar. Agroforests established in forests supported overall 23% fewer species and 47% fewer endemic species than old-growth forests, and 14% fewer endemic species than forest fragments. In contrast, agroforests established on fallows had overall 12% more species and 38% more endemic species than fallows. While yields increased with vanilla vine density and length, non-yield related variables largely determined biodiversity. Nonetheless, trade-offs existed between yields and butterflies as well as  reptiles. Vanilla yields were generally unrelated to richness of trees, herbaceous plants, birds, amphibians, reptiles, and ants, opening up possibilities for conservation outside of protected areas and restoring degraded land to benefit farmers and biodiversity alike.
Keyphrases
  • climate change
  • human health
  • genetic diversity
  • magnetic resonance
  • risk assessment
  • magnetic resonance imaging