Overview of evidence on agroforestry's role in biodiversity conservation and climate change mitigation and adaptation in low- and middle-income countries

Sini Savilaakso , Shareen Sanders, Emma J. Welsh, Linda Errington, Aakar Shah, Khadiza Begum, Mohamed Abdalla, Jacqualyn Eales, Gregory N. Sixt, Jaron Porciello, Pete Smith

Agroforestry has been promoted as one solution to make agriculture more ecologically sustainable. While research has examined its effects on biodiversity and on climate change mitigation and adaptation separately, comprehensive reviews linking these outcomes remain lacking. This review fills that gap. We searched six academic databases in June 2025, retrieving 12,175 unique records. Screening against pre-defined criteria yielded 258 studies reporting at least one biodiversity and one climate outcome.

Findings reveal a strong concentration of studies on soil biota and plants in agrosilviculture systems with short-term, observational designs. When biodiversity is studied alongside climate change adaptation, outcomes cluster around soil nutrients and chemical properties, with very few studies addressing ecosystem process, such as nutrient cycling and ecosystem regulation. Studies on biodiversity and mitigation are centred around soil carbon. Overall, fruit trees are more common than timber trees, though, continental differences in system characteristics exist. There is a significant knowledge gap for studies on vertebrates and long-term studies. Further, the evidence comes from a few countries leaving significant geographical gaps.

The review underlines how current research falls short on capturing the complexity and ecological resilience of agroforestry systems. Cross-taxa, system-level perspectives offer valuable insights into the synergies between biodiversity and climate mitigation and can help to identify win-win situations for managing production landscapes. We provide the findings as an interactive database enabling stakeholders to explore the evidence by outcome and context, and discuss how to improve the global relevance of agroforestry research and help avoid overly narrow development pathways.