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Technical University of Munich

Agroforestry and Biodiversity

Roggenstein: On a 31-hectare test site, researchers from TUM, HSWT, and LfL are investigating various agroforestry plots with arable and forest plots on 80 subplots.

In agroforestry systems, agricultural production (arable farming or pasture) is combined with forestry production (trees or shrubs for fruits, nuts or timber). This form of land management is associated with positive effects such as improved water and nutrient supply, increased soil fertility, reduced erosion, groundwater protection, climate protection, preservation of biodiversity and an expansion of the product range.

A graduate programme on agroforestry systems (AF) is being established at HEF, building on interdisciplinary collaboration between agricultural and forest scientists and linking modelling approaches with experimental approaches. AF focuses on the integration of woody plants into agricultural landscapes to meet ecological, economic and social needs, with the aim of increasing landscape resilience and ecosystem services through multifunctionality and biodiversity. Within the graduate programme, different PhD projects will investigate the effects of combinations of forestry use of shrubs, fruit and nut trees and agricultural land use on the performance of land use systems at different scales. Modern digital techniques for data collection and provision, modelling and "smart farming" are used. A special feature is the close interdisciplinary cooperation of experts from a wide range of agricultural, forestry and environmental sciences at the site.

Test areas at TUM

Since 2023, TUM has been setting up its own agroforestry landscape experiments. At the Roggenstein experimental farm, around 20 kilometers west of Munich, 31 hectares of test areas have been created for this purpose. There are a total of 80 subplots where various agroforestry plots can be compared with arable and forest plots.

There is also a test site on the campus of the TUM School of Life Sciences in Freising: the agroforestry showcase in Dürnast. The demonstration area covers 1.5 hectares and showcases four agroforestry designs.

Consortium

TUM:

  • Prof. Dr. Thomas Knoke (Initiator), Professorship of Forest Management
  • Prof. Wolfgang W. Weisser, Chair for Terrestrial Ecology
  • Prof. Peter Annighöfer, Professorship Forest and Agroforest Systems
  • Prof. Senthold Asseng, Professorship Digital Agriculture
  • Dr. Lucie Chmelíková, Chair of Organic Farming and Agronomy
  • Prof. Thorsten Grams, Professorship Land Surface-Atmosphere Interactions
  • Prof. Thomas H. Kolbe, Chair of Geoinformatics
  • Prof. Johannes Kollmann, Chair of Restoration Ecology
  • Prof. Sara Diana Leonhardt, Professorship Plant-Insect Interactions
  • Prof. Luisa Menapace, Professorship Governance in International Agribusiness
  • Prof. Annette Menzel, Professorship Ecoclimatology
  • Prof. Anja Rammig, Professorship Land Surface-Atmosphere Interactions
  • Prof. Johannes Sauer, Chair of Production and Resource Economics
  • Prof. Michael Schloter, Chair of Soil Sciences
  • Prof. Kang Yu, Professorship for Precision Agriculture

HSWT:

  • Prof. Dr. Bernhard Schauberger, Professorship for Agricultural systems and climate change

LfL:

  • Dr. Annette Freibauer, Institute for Organic Farming, Soil and Resource Management 

News

Agroforestry at TUM

For about three years now, experimental plots for agroforestry systems have been established at the HEF in Dürnast and Roggenstein. Here is a brief overview of the activities to date, questions that remain open, and initial results.

More yield with less fertilizer: multispecies mixtures strengthen grassland

Grassland farming benefits from increased biodiversity, as demonstrated by the work of an international research team involving TUM. An optimized species mix can increase yields by over 10% while using less than half the usual amount of fertilizer.

How land use exacerbates extreme weather – and what we can do about it

Climate change does not just mean rising temperatures. Extreme weather events such as droughts and floods are also increasing – and not just because of CO₂. In this interview, Prof. Karl Auerswald from the Technical University of Munich explains why the way we treat our soil plays a decisive role in this – and what solutions are available.

HEF AgriScience Symposium: alternative and innovative land use systems

For the 15th time, the Hans Eisenmann-Forum (HEF) of the Technical University of Munich (TUM) hosted the agricultural science symposium on October 7-8, 2024. This year, over 100 participants from science, agriculture and industry discussed alternative land use systems for agricultural land.

Where wildlife is welcome

How do city residents feel about animals in their immediate surroundings? A recent study by the Technical University of Munich (TUM), the University of Jena and the Vienna University of Technology shows how different the acceptance of various wild animals in urban areas is. Important factors are the places where the animals are found and their level of popularity - squirrels and ladybugs come out on top here. The results have important implications for urban planning and nature conservation.

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