Climate impact of agroforestry systems of different complexity in the humid tropics of Java, Indonesia

• Applicant: Professor Dr. Edzo Veldkamp
• Subject Area: Soil Sciences ; Forestry
• Term: since 2026
• Project identifier: Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) - Project number 572706291

Agroforestry is a common land use practice in the tropics, in which trees or bushes are deliberately integrated with crops to benefit from ecological and economic interactions. There is relatively strong evidence that agroforestry systems are effective in sequestering carbon, both above- and belowground, especially when compared to cropping monocultures. However, substantial variability in carbon stocks has been reported for different agroforestry systems. There are also indications that agroforestry may have lower emissions of nitrous oxide and/or higher methane uptake than cropping monocultures, but these are based merely on very few studies that conducted actual greenhouse gas measurements. With one exception, there is currently no study where both carbon sequestration and non-CO2 greenhouse gas fluxes are measured. A major challenge in all studies is the huge variability in agroforestry systems and their management practices. Here, I propose to investigate whether complexity of agroforestry can be used to explain the climate impact of different agroforestry systems. I propose to establish a replicated gradient of agroforest complexity on volcanic soils in East Java, Indonesia, which has a long tradition in and wide variety of agroforestry systems. Complexity will be assessed by combining paraments reflecting differences in stand structure, species richness and management practices. Greenhouse gas fluxes will be measured using chamber methods and carbon inventories. The results of this proposed project will greatly improve the quantification of the climate impact of agroforestry in tropical countries.

• DFG Programme: Research Grants
• Co-Investigator: Dr. Martin Ehbrecht