A review of ecological benefits of silvopasture systems

At present, the highly development and utilization of environmental resources has caused seriously ecological and environmental problems, however, the silvopasture systems have great potential in improving ecological environment and realizing sustainable development which can be applied as a method of importantly ecological restoration. The present paper summarizes the home and abroad research about silvopasture systems in the recent five years which including photosynthetic characteristics, microclimatic effects, biodiversity and soil function etc. Based on the problems and defects existing in the research of current silvopasture systems, we consider that the future research of silvopasture systems should be focused on comprehensive evaluation of the ecological benefits, mechanism of carbon sequestration in the ecosystem, the genetic diversity of soil microorganisms, mechanism of soil restoration and the model of quantitative systems etc.