USDA ARS Poultry Production and Product Safety Research Unit, 1260 W. Maple Street, Fayetteville, AR, 72701, USA.
Department of Crop, Soil, and Environmental Sciences, University of Arkansas, 115 Plant Sciences Building, Fayetteville, AR, 72701, USA.
Sci Rep. 2023 Oct 31;13(1):18658. doi: 10.1038/s41598-023-45960-0.
Management and design affect systems' ability to deliver ecosystem services and meet sustainable intensification needs for a growing population. Soil-plant-animal health evaluations at the systems level for conventional and silvopastoral environments are lacking and challenge adoption across temperate regions. Impacts of silvopasture on soil quality, microclimate, cattle heat stress, forage quality and yield, and cattle weight gain were compared to a conventional pasture in the mid-southern US. Here, we illustrate silvopastures have greater soil organic carbon, water content, and overall quality, with lower temperatures (soil and cattle) than conventional pastures. Forage production and cattle weight gains were similar across systems; yet, conventional pasture systems would need approximately four times more land area to yield equivalent net productivity (tree, nuts, forage, and animal weight) of one ha of silvopasture. Temperate silvopastures enhanced delivery of ecosystem services by improving soil quality and promoting animal welfare without productivity losses, thus allowing sustainable production under a changing climate.
管理和设计会影响系统提供生态系统服务的能力，并满足不断增长的人口对可持续集约化的需求。传统和农林复合环境下的系统层面的土壤-植物-动物健康评估还很缺乏，这也给温带地区的推广带来了挑战。本研究比较了美国中南部的农林复合系统与传统草地对土壤质量、小气候、牛热应激、饲草质量和产量以及牛体重增加的影响。这里，我们表明农林复合系统具有更高的土壤有机碳、含水量和整体质量，土壤和牛的温度更低。两个系统的饲草产量和牛体重增加相似；然而，传统的牧场系统需要大约四倍的土地面积才能产生相当于一公顷农林复合系统的净生产力（树木、坚果、饲草和动物体重）。温带农林复合系统通过改善土壤质量和促进动物福利来提高生态系统服务的提供能力，而不会导致生产力下降，从而在气候变化下实现可持续生产。
