ABSTRACT
The problem of maintaining soil fertility in the long term has become an increasingly important topic in the management of agroforestry systems as tree-crop combinations are often established on low-fertility soils. Inclusion of woody components in a production system can provide benefits from the tree products and functions (timber, fuelwood, leaf mulches, the fencing function in a living fence, etc.) and from their potential ecological advantages, especially their nutrient cycling abilities. The choice of a tree species will often depend on whether both productive and ecological advantages can be achieved in the same system, and in some cases one prevailing function, either productive or environmental, may be desired.
