TY - GEN A1 - Veldkamp, Edzo A1 - Schmidt, Marcus A1 - Markwitz, Christian A1 - Beule, Lukas A1 - Beuschel, René A1 - Biertümpfel, Andrea A1 - Bischel, Xenia A1 - Duan, Xiaohong A1 - Gerjets, Rowena A1 - Göbel, Leonie A1 - Graß, Rüdiger A1 - Guerra, Victor A1 - Heinlein, Florian A1 - Komainda, Martin A1 - Langhof, Maren A1 - Luo, Jie A1 - Potthoff, Martin A1 - Ramshorst, Justus G. V. van A1 - Rudolf, Carolin A1 - Seserman, Diana-Maria A1 - Shao, Guodong A1 - Siebicke, Lukas A1 - Svoboda, Nikolai A1 - Swieter, Anita A1 - Carminati, Andrea A1 - Freese, Dirk A1 - Graf, Torsten A1 - Greef, Jörg M. A1 - Isselstein, Johannes A1 - Jansen, Martin A1 - Karlovsky, Petr A1 - Knohl, Alexander A1 - Lamersdorf, Norbert A1 - Priesack, Eckart A1 - Wachendorf, Christine A1 - Wachendorf, Michael A1 - Corre, Marife D. T1 - Multifunctionality of temperate alley-cropping agroforestry outperforms open cropland and grassland T2 - Communications Earth & Environment N2 - AbstractIntensively managed open croplands are highly productive but often have deleterious environmental impacts. Temperate agroforestry potentially improves ecosystem functions, although comprehensive analysis is lacking. Here, we measured primary data on 47 indicators of seven ecosystem functions in croplands and 16 indicators of four ecosystem functions in grasslands to assess how alley-cropping agroforestry performs compared to open cropland and grassland. Carbon sequestration, habitat for soil biological activity, and wind erosion resistance improved for cropland agroforestry (P ≤ 0.03) whereas only carbon sequestration improved for grassland agroforestry (P < 0.01). In cropland agroforestry, soil nutrient cycling, soil greenhouse gas abatement, and water regulation did not improve, due to customary high fertilization rates. Alley-cropping agroforestry increased multifunctionality, compared to open croplands. To ameliorate the environmental benefits of agroforestry, more efficient use of nutrients is required. Financial incentives should focus on conversion of open croplands to alley-cropping agroforestry and incorporate fertilizer management. Y1 - 2023 U6 - https://doi.org/10.1038/s43247-023-00680-1 SN - 2662-4435 VL - 4 IS - 1 PB - Springer Science and Business Media LLC ER -