Impact of climate change on mixed farming and agroforestry systems in Europe

The present report offers the results from research carried out in task 1.4 of the AGROMIX project and forms part of work package 1 which deals with the theoretical background and characterisation of mixed farming and agroforestry systems. The objectives of task 1.4 include a review of mixed farming and agroforestry (MF/AF) in Europe, their extension, spatial distribution, and recent changes. Furthermore, a physio- geographic characterisation of areas where these systems are practiced was carried out, as well as a review of climate change in Europe and how it will affect MF/AF. Furthermore, a GIS database which include a large number of variables was created which will serve for upscaling purposes in other tasks of the project.

A classification of MF/AF in Europe was proposed, recognizing seven classes: Silvopastoral, agrosilvopastoral, silvoarable, grazed permanent crops (PC), intercropped PC, grazed arable (temporary) crops and home gardens. The most recent data (2018) were used to analyse the extent and spatial distribution of MF/AF systems in Europe and the whole data set from 2009 to 2018 was applied in the study on temporal changes. Agricultural areas that were not included in the above classes, but which present woody linear features (WLF), were analysed separately, distinguishing three classes: arable land, grazed grasslands and permanent crops with WLF.