{"title":"Ecological indicators for monitoring coffee agroforestry systems in protected areas: A case study in São Paulo State, Brazil","authors":"Vitoria Duarte Derisso , Ricardo Gomes César , Ricardo Augusto Gorne Viani , Haroldo Borges Gomes , Edson Vidal","doi":"10.1016/j.agsy.2024.104245","DOIUrl":null,"url":null,"abstract":"<div><h3>CONTEXT</h3><div>Biodiverse coffee agroforestry systems (AFS) offer high potential for forest restoration. However, long-term monitoring using appropriate indicators is necessary to ensure successful ecological restoration. In the State of São Paulo, Brazil, legal instruments define ecological indicators and reference values for monitoring AFS-mediated ecological restoration.</div></div><div><h3>OBJECTIVE</h3><div>We assessed whether biodiverse coffee AFS of different age groups achieved legal reference values in the Brazilian Atlantic Forest and recommended strategies for improving legal instruments.</div></div><div><h3>METHODS</h3><div>We evaluated four ecological indicators in AFS areas of two age groups and compared them with reference values. Additionally, we analyzed the relationships among the ecological indicators under study.</div></div><div><h3>RESULTS AND CONCLUSION</h3><div>Half of the AFS sites did not achieve reference values for all ecological indicators, primarily owing to the management practices used. Additionally, we found that canopy cover had a direct relationship with soil cover; thus, not only did most AFS areas where farmers pruned native trees had canopy cover values lower than those required by legislation but, indeed, lower than the reference value for soil cover. However, this is subject to improvement via ecological restoration-friendly practices, reinforcing the feasibility of establishing this AFS design in protected areas. Despite proper choice of ecological indicators, we recommend that tree and sapling population density be measured separately.</div></div><div><h3>SIGNIFICANCE</h3><div>Despite its narrow scope, this study provided novel insights into the effects of coffee AFS management on the trajectory of ecological restoration and on the construction of proper monitoring frameworks using ecological indicators evaluated in other Brazilian regions or countries.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":7730,"journal":{"name":"Agricultural Systems","volume":"224 ","pages":"Article 104245"},"PeriodicalIF":6.1000,"publicationDate":"2024-12-20","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":"0","resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":null,"PeriodicalName":"Agricultural Systems","FirstCategoryId":"97","ListUrlMain":"https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0308521X24003950","RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"农林科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":null,"EPubDate":"","PubModel":"","JCR":"Q1","JCRName":"AGRICULTURE, MULTIDISCIPLINARY","Score":null,"Total":0}
引用次数: 0
Abstract
CONTEXT
Biodiverse coffee agroforestry systems (AFS) offer high potential for forest restoration. However, long-term monitoring using appropriate indicators is necessary to ensure successful ecological restoration. In the State of São Paulo, Brazil, legal instruments define ecological indicators and reference values for monitoring AFS-mediated ecological restoration.
OBJECTIVE
We assessed whether biodiverse coffee AFS of different age groups achieved legal reference values in the Brazilian Atlantic Forest and recommended strategies for improving legal instruments.
METHODS
We evaluated four ecological indicators in AFS areas of two age groups and compared them with reference values. Additionally, we analyzed the relationships among the ecological indicators under study.
RESULTS AND CONCLUSION
Half of the AFS sites did not achieve reference values for all ecological indicators, primarily owing to the management practices used. Additionally, we found that canopy cover had a direct relationship with soil cover; thus, not only did most AFS areas where farmers pruned native trees had canopy cover values lower than those required by legislation but, indeed, lower than the reference value for soil cover. However, this is subject to improvement via ecological restoration-friendly practices, reinforcing the feasibility of establishing this AFS design in protected areas. Despite proper choice of ecological indicators, we recommend that tree and sapling population density be measured separately.
SIGNIFICANCE
Despite its narrow scope, this study provided novel insights into the effects of coffee AFS management on the trajectory of ecological restoration and on the construction of proper monitoring frameworks using ecological indicators evaluated in other Brazilian regions or countries.
期刊介绍:
Agricultural Systems is an international journal that deals with interactions - among the components of agricultural systems, among hierarchical levels of agricultural systems, between agricultural and other land use systems, and between agricultural systems and their natural, social and economic environments.
The scope includes the development and application of systems analysis methodologies in the following areas:
Systems approaches in the sustainable intensification of agriculture; pathways for sustainable intensification; crop-livestock integration; farm-level resource allocation; quantification of benefits and trade-offs at farm to landscape levels; integrative, participatory and dynamic modelling approaches for qualitative and quantitative assessments of agricultural systems and decision making;
The interactions between agricultural and non-agricultural landscapes; the multiple services of agricultural systems; food security and the environment;
Global change and adaptation science; transformational adaptations as driven by changes in climate, policy, values and attitudes influencing the design of farming systems;
Development and application of farming systems design tools and methods for impact, scenario and case study analysis; managing the complexities of dynamic agricultural systems; innovation systems and multi stakeholder arrangements that support or promote change and (or) inform policy decisions.