Both silvopasture and silvoculture have one primary component, incorporating trees and forest products into a food production system. Silvopasture, is of course grazing livestock in amongst trees, either by planting into an existing pasture, or by introducing livestock into a managed forest ecosystem. Silvoculture typically refers to the production of produce in a forested ecosystem. Both of course have similar benefits, namely the ecosystem services of water conservation, temperature regulation and improved nutrient cycling.

Other primary benefits are the added economic gains of having a short term economic strategy of either annual crops, or livestock coupled with the longer term return of nuts, fruits, or lumber.

These systems can be terribly simple, composed of two species or as wildly complex as having 4 or 5 species of grazers and dozens of species of trees. Either method has specific goals in mind by the producer.

Overall these systems have continued to demonstrate improvements to the land, the carbon sequestrative ability per acre, and long term economic stability.

According to researchers at the Institute of Grassland and Environmental Research,

The primary role of grazing animals in grassland biodiversity management is maintenance and enhancement of sward structural heterogeneity, and thus botanical and faunal diversity, by selective defoliation due to dietary choices, treading, nutrient cycling and propagule dispersal.

Grazing and pasture management for biodiversity benefit Andrew J. ROOK*, Jeremy R.B. TALLOWIN Soils, Environmental and Ecological Science Department, Institute of Grassland and Environmental Research, North Wyke, Okehampton, Devon EX20 2SB, UK (Received 19 August 2002; accepted 25 February 2003)