Abundance, Diversity, and Function of Soil Microorganisms in Temperate Alley-Cropping Agroforestry Systems: A Review.

Modern temperate alley-cropping systems combine rows of trees with rows of crops (agroforestry), which allows for diverse interspecific interactions such as the complementary and competitive use of resources. The complementary use of resources between trees and crops is considered the main advantage of these multifunctional land use systems over cropland monocultures. Moreover, several studies demonstrated that agroforestry systems are environmentally more sustainable than cropland monocultures.