This special issue of the Journal of Sustainable Forestry is one of several outcomes of the First World Congress in Agroforestry that took place in Orlando, Florida, USA, 27 June to 02 July, 2004. Several sessions and symposia dealt with environmental services of agroforestry systems. Agroforestry can also have an indirect effect on carbon sequestration and on biodiversity when it helps decrease pressure on natural forests, which are the largest sink of terrestrial carbon and are also large reservoirs of biodiversity. Another indirect avenue of carbon sequestration is through the use of agroforestry technologies for soil conservation, which could enhance carbon storage in trees and soils. Agroforestry systems with perennial crops may be important carbon sinks, while intensively managed agroforestry systems with annual crops are more similar to conventional agriculture (Montagnini and Nair, 2004).
ABOUT THE AUTHOR Florencia Montagnini
Dr. Florencia Montagnini is a Professor of Tropical Forestry at yale university school of Forestry and Environmental Studies. Her Research University School of Forestry and Environmental Studies. Her research focuses on variables controlling the sustainability of managed ecosystems (e.g., primary and secondary forests, plantations and agroforestry systems) in the tropics, with special emphasis on latin America. Born in Agrentina. She has a BS in Agronomy from the national university of Rosario, Agrentina, and a Masters degree in ecology from the university of Georgia, USA. She has studied and worked extensively throughout latin America, and operates in collaboration with local institutions such as CATIE (Tropical Agriculture research and Higher education center, Costa Rica). She is currently conducting research in Costa Rica, Panama, EL Salvador, Guatemala, Nicaragua, Argentina and Mexico, on sustainable systems for restoration of degraded ecosystems.
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