Trees increase soil organic carbon and nutrient availability in temperate agroforestry systems

Agroforestry systems (AFS) have a large potential to deliver a wide range of ecosystem services (ES). In field and crop management, changes to factors such as regulatory ES delivery are rarely taken into account, in part due to the paucity of detailed quantification of how trees affect biophysical field characteristics. This is especially true for arable systems in temperate climates. We have therefore assessed the influence of rows of trees of varying size on the prevailing soil characteristics in arable AFS. Spatial variability of soil organic carbon, acidity and nutrient status (N, P, K, Ca, Mg and Na) of the plough layer were analysed on a set of 17 arable agroforestry fields comprising 6 young (