LAND: Trees as drivers of silvopastoral system function

The silvopastoral system is a livestock production option that involves the interaction of woody components (shrubs and trees), herbaceous forage and the different species of domestic herbivores. This system of meat and milk production has many advantages in the tropics both for food production and for conservation of biodiversity and ecosystem functions. Despite these advantages, the adoption of the practice in Central America faces considerable challenges that threaten the ecological sustainability of t he livestock production system. In the silvopastoral system, the properties of the tree cover, which depend on farmer decisions, have important consequences on pasture and farm productivity. The tree cover sets the environment (light, nutrients and water availability) for the pasture vegetation, and through its effect on the animal behaviour determines the spatial distribution of the impact of grazing, trampling and, dung and urine deposition. The project will study the tree cover as a driver of pasture composition and of animal grazing behaviour and their interactive effects on pasture primary productivity and soil resources for the pasture. The novelty of the study relies on the focus on the various roles of the tree cover in determining pasture speci es composition and productivity, first through a direct effect on the availability of resources for under-storey plant growth and second, by determining the spatial distribution of grazing and trampling. We will study these interactions to gain knowledge about essential ecological functions of the system that determine pasture and farm productivity and which encompasses 60% of the land-use form in Central America.