Nuria Ferreiro-Domínguez

University of Santiago de Compostela | USC

Agroforestry (AF) is a sustainable land use practice and system that increases the ecosystem services delivery from agricultural lands compared with treeless systems. Agroforestry can be considered a practice when linked to plot scale (silvoarable, silvopasture, homegarden, woody linear landscape strips, and forest farming), and a system when assoc...

Silvoarable is a type of agroforestry practice where a woody component is deliberately integrated with an arable crop as part of the understory. Silvoarable practices are generally associated with the delivery of more ecosystem services than monocultures in agricultural lands. Therefore, it is necessary to develop policies to foster silvoarable pra...

The land use sector currently represents ∼25% of the global greenhouse gas emissions, thus this human activity is having a huge impact on climate change. Semi-arid climate areas, which are widely distributed, are particularly influenced by such climate change. In these areas, land use changes have transformed the entire landscape and increased the...

Silvopastoral systems play an important role in climate change mitigation, considering their effect on soil carbon sequestration. In silvopastoral systems, sewage sludge can be used as fertiliser, which is promoted by the Circular Economy Package of the European Commission. This study evaluates the soil chemical properties (pH, carbon), tree growth...

Rural Europe encompasses a variety of landscapes with differing levels of forest, agriculture, and agroforestry that can deliver multiple ecosystem services (ES). Whilst provisioning and regulating ES associated with individual land covers are comparatively well studied, less is known about the associated cultural ES. Only seldom are provisioning,...

Agroforestry is a sustainable land management system recognized worldwide but not implemented in a extensive form in temperate and developed countries. Agroforestry has been promoted in the last decades at global level as it provides more efficient and sustainable farming systems. This review aims at summarizing the main research findings explainin...

n Europe, sewage sludge has to be stabilised before its use as fertiliser in agricultural land. Stabilisation processes can cause differences in the concentration of heavy metals in sewage sludge, such as that of zinc (Zn), one of the heavy metals with the highest proportion in sewage sludge. This study was undertaken to examine during a five-year...

Short-term production in silvopastoral systems is often limited due to inappropriate soil-fertility management. Sewage sludge fertilisation could enhance productivity of silvopastoral systems (including understory and trees). After taking into account heavy metal concentrations, the main aspects related to adequate use of sewage sludge as an organi...

Silvopasture is the deliberate integration of a woody component with grazed pastures as understorey. It is one of the most extended agroforestry practices all over the world. Silvo-pasture use is key to increase the sustainability of livestock farming systems as silvopasture reduces the use of concentrates since the woody component provides feed fo...

Silvopasture is the combination of woody vegetation with forage and animal production on the same land that allows the diversification of agricultural income and productivity. In the silvopastoral systems, the fertilisation with sewage sludge could increase tree growth and pasture production at the same time that the pasture biodiversity is modifie...

Agroforestry (AF) is a climate-smart agriculture (CSA) practice of deliberately integrating woody vegetation (trees or shrubs) with crop and/or animal systems to benefit from the resulting ecological and economic interactions. It is recognized as a proactive “negative emissions technologies” (Intergovernmental Panel on Climate change (IPCC) 1.5SR)...

Mixed pasture establishment is considered as a key point to increase livestock production due to the higher quality it has compared with unmanaged shrubby species. They also provide a set of ecosystem services such as carbon sequestration and higher biodiversity. Moreover, herbaceous pasture establishment effectively contributes to biomass producti...

Sewage sludge use in agriculture is promoted by the European Union since the normative of cleaning waters related to the compulsory use of depuration plants in all cities over 2000 inhabitants was finally implemented in 2005. The University of Santiago de Compostela (USC) has been conducted long-term experiment research about the application of dif...

The Circular Economy Package adopted by the European Commission proposes that when a product reaches the end of its life, it should be used again to create further value. In this context, it is important to valorise and characterize the effect of waste on soil fertility and pasture/crops growth. In this experiment we used two types of bio-waste bas...

Policy is one of the main drivers of agricultural land management in Europe because Community Agricultural Policy spends around the 40% of the EU budget representing €55 billion per year. There are two main pillars in the CAP, the first deals with the direct payments and the second with the rural development. Lack of consistency between Pillars hav...

Adaptation to climate change is becoming more and more relevant in the recent years due to the changing environment that are European Union is facing, but also due to the higher frequency of extreme events than before. Mediterranean countries placed in the South of Europe are the member states that will be more prone to suffer environment changes w...

Agroforestry is a sustainable land use system that has been categorized as a “negative greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions tool” by the IPCC (Global warming of 1.5°C. An IPCC Special Report) at the end of 2018 and can be implemented at the plot, farm and landscape level. Policy makers should develop strategies and direct funding to promote agriculture (...

Chestnut stands are forest and permanent crop lands of high economic importance in the north of Spain for both high timber value and fruit production. Nowadays, the lack of profitability of some chestnut stands linked to the high amount of man power needed to harvest the chestnut fruits in high step mountain areas. A good option to increase profita...

Silvoarable or alley cropping practices are one of the best forms to intensificate cropland systems based on the best optimization of the available resources (light, fertilizers) as the biomass production could be increased by 25% per unite of land. However, to perform silvoarable practices it is key to know which are the best varieties of crops to...

Nowadays, the lack of profitability of some chestnut stands linked to the high amount of man power needed to harvest the chestnut fruits in high step mountain areas. A good option to in- crease profitability of these areas is to rare animals to use fruit as feeds. Most of the mountain chestnut stands are associated to less favored areas where autoc...

Agroforestry is considered a sustainable form of land management that optimizes the use of natural resources (nutrients, radiation, water). Agroforestry was a traditional land use system in Europe before modern times. However, before the sixties land intensification and conso- lidation destroyed millions of trees all over Europe. On the contrary, s...

Agroforestry is one of the most prominent tools to make easy the transition of European agricultural and forestry farms to more sustainable land use systems such as agroforestry. The extent of agroforestry in Europe is 19.5 million of hectares, of which 85% is allocated to silvopastoralism mainly associated to European Southern countries but also p...

Rural development policies in many Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) member countries promote sustainable landscape management with the intention of providing multiple ecosystem services (ES). Yet, it remains unclear which ES benefits are perceived in different landscapes and by different people. We present an assessment...

Secuestro de carbono en las distintas fracciones del suelo de un sistema silvopastoral establecido con nogales (Juglans regia L.) en Galicia

Es un placer presentaros el libro de actas del VII Workshop de REMEDIA: Red Científica de Mitigación de Emisiones de Gases de Efecto Invernadero con un enfoque en el sector agroforestal. El cambio climático es ya un hecho que despierta muchas inquietudes a nivel social y en España necesitamos un empuje importante para llegar a los niveles de concie...

The study assessed the economic performance of marketable ecosystem services (ES) (biomass production) and non-marketable ecosystem services and dis-services (groundwater, nutrient loss, soil loss, carbon sequestration, pollination deficit) in 11 contrasting European landscapes dominated by agroforestry land use compared to business as usual agricu...

Agroforestry is an integrated land use management that combines a woody component with a lower story agricultural production recognized as one of the most important tools to mitigate and adapt to climate change. The objective of this paper is to provide a categorization and extent of agroforestry practices linked to agricultural and forest lands at...

Agroforestry combines perennial woody elements (e.g. trees) with an agricultural understory (e.g. wheat, pasture) which can also potentially be used by a livestock component. In recent decades, modern agroforestry systems have been proposed at European level as land use alternatives for conventional agricultural systems. The potential range of bene...

Agroforestry systems are known to provide ecosystem services which differ in quantity and quality from conventional agricultural practices and could enhance rural landscapes. In this study we compared ecosystem services provision of agroforestry and non-agroforestry landscapes in case study regions from three European biogeographical regions: Medit...

Potential benefits and costs of agroforestry practices have been analysed by experts, but few studies have captured farmers’ perspectives on why agroforestry might be adopted on a European scale. This study provides answers to this question, through an analysis of 183 farmer interviews in 14 case study systems in eight European countries. The study...

Most farm-based agroforestry projects focus on the integration of trees on arable or livestock enterprises. This paper focuses on the integration of understorey crops and/or livestock within high value tree systems (e.g., apple orchards, olive groves, chestnut woodlands, and walnut plantations), and describes the components, structure, ecosystem se...

Agroforestry is considered a sustainable form of land management that optimizes the use of natural resources (nutrients, radiation, water). Agroforestry is defined as the deliberate integration of woody vegetation with agricultural activities in the lower story. It provides a higher biomass production per unit of land, while providing more ecosyste...

Agroforestry is a sustainable land management system that should be more strongly promoted in Europe to ensure adequate ecosystem service provision in the old continent (Decision 529/2013) through the common agricultural policy (CAP). The promotion of the woody component in Europe can be appreciated in different sections of the CAP linked to Pillar...

Agroforestry (AF) is the practice of deliberately integrating woody vegetation (trees or shrubs) with crop and/or animal systems to benefit from the resulting ecological and economic interactions. The appropriate application of AF practices is a key avenue to help the European Union to achieve more sustainable methods of food production. However, t...

In 2014, FAO suggested five principles to guide strategic global development to provide ‘a basis for developing national policies, strategies, programs, regulations and incentives that will guide the transition to an agriculture that is highly productive, economically viable, environmentally sound, and which is based on the principles of equity and...

In Europe, the adoption of agroforestry practices by farmers is limited. Therefore, it is important to understand how farmers perceive agroforestry practices to promote their adoption. The aim of this study was to understand the knowledge that farmers have on apple orchard silvopasture in Galicia (NW Spain) through an analysis of farmer qualitative...

In the silvopastoral systems one of the main factors affecting pasture production is tree density. Therefore, it would be very useful to have management tools to estimate long-term pasture production when silvopastoral systems are established. In this context, the Yield-SAFE is a biophysical model to predict long-term pasture production taking into...

Sewage sludge production has been increased in the last years because the wastewater treatment is mandatory in urban areas with more than 2000 inhabitants since 2005. Most adequate disposal of sewage sludge should be agricultural soils to improve their fertility and fulfill bioeconomy and circular economy requirements. However, the higher level of...

Agroforestry within the Pillar I can be established in arable lands, permanent grasslands and permanent crops, but the current Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) prevents from agroforestry practices extension. Some improvements have been carried out within the OMNIBUS regulation, mainly linked to avoid the reduction of loss of payments by the presenc...

Agroforestry definitions and practices are difficult to understand mainly because of both time and spatial scale understanding is needed to fully be aware of the concept. The definition of agroforestry to facilitate the identification by policy makers could be "the deliberate integration of woody vegetation (trees and/or shrubs) as an upper storey...

Agroforestry has to play a key role in the next Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) with regard to the environment. Cross-compliance, Pillar I and Pillar II intend to protect the woody component in agricultural lands. However, the implementation is rather complex and usually inefficient as highlights the court of auditors. This paper summarizes the ma...

Agroforestry practices and systems are sustainable use land management that should be fostered by the global and European Union policies. Within the Common Agrarian Policy (CAP) there are opportunities to foster agroforestry practices and systems that are not fully recognized as agroforestry but that should be improved. Main challenges of agrofores...

Foreword. It is a great pleasure to share with you the excellent book of abstracts of the 4th European Agroforestry Conference carried out in the beautiful city of Nijmejen (The Netherlands) during the European Green Capital 2018. The book is plenty of extraordinary information and experiences about agroforestry practices and systems around the wo...

Session 5c - Biology of deep soils: The final frontier?

Session 2c - C sequestration and climate change

Session 2c - C sequestration and climate change

Las prácticas agroforestales (SAF) son formas de gestión sostenible del territorio que se fundamenta en su capacidad de favorecer la ecointensificación, entendida como la optimización del uso de los recursos por unidad de superficie. Esta mejora se traduce en un incremento de la producción de biomasa por hectárea tanto a nivel aéreo como radical. E...

Fertiliser future shortage and the associated increased economic and environment transport costs are key reasons to promote the use of urban residues as fertilisers in agriculture. Sewage sludge (SS) use as a fertiliser is promoted by the EU, which also consider the harmful effects of heavy metals (HMs). It is important to characterise the levels o...

Copper (Cu) is one of the heavy metals with highest proportion in sewage sludge. In Europe, sewage sludge should be stabilised before using it as a fertiliser in agriculture. Depending on the stabilisation process, sewage sludge has different Cu contents, and soil Cu incorporation rates. This study was undertaken to examine the effect of fertilisat...

Silvopastoral systems have been considered a good tool for carbon sequestration by taking up atmospheric carbon dioxide and storing it in the soil. The effect of animal presence on carbon sequestration in this type of agroforestry system has been studied recently. However, the soil carbon storage in these systems is influenced by the stocking rate....