Review of methods for researching multistrata systems

In the introduction to the special journal issue resulting from the First Symposium on Multistrata Agroforestry Systems (1999) Muschler and Beer (2001) point out that traditional approaches to studying multistrata systems with perennial crops tend to over simplify them. They identified new questions for research focusing on complexity and processes interacting at multiple scales and conclude that ‘Undoubtedly these new questions require innovative methods appropriate at different scales including modelling approaches to cope with complexity at several scales simultaneously’. Have innovative methods been developed and proved useful? We review the literature from the 7 years since that symposium to identify and describe (a) trends in methods for researching multistrata systems (b) new research methods that have been successfully used (c) emerging methods challenges. Results suggest that there has been little innovation in research methods in this area in the last 7 years. Most of the questions being addressed are not specific to multistrata systems and use methods common in other agricultural research. There seems to be little research on complexity at several scales but it is not clear whether this is due to methodological limitations

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