Abstract:
Agroforestry systems are of great importance to environmental conservation and sustainable development of agroforestry as an ecological system with ecological, social and economic benefits. Through literature review, different types of agroforestry systems were discussed, the mechanism and characteristics of their prevention of soil and water losses were expounded, the benefits of soil and water conservation based on previous research was estimated. The analyses revealed that agroforestry systems could reduce an average 54.0% (1.0%–95.8%) of runoff and 71.7% (17.8%–99.9%) of soil loss. Riparian vegetation buffers had the highest benefit in reducing runoff and sediment, with 60.0% (1.0%~94.4%) and 76.8% (28.0%~97.0%) of runoff and sediment reduction respectively; while silvoarable agroforestry systems, silvopastoral systems and shelterbelts reduced runoff by 56.6% (14.2%~95.3%), 49.0% (9.0%~88.5%), 49.6% (1.7%~95.8%) respectively, and reduced sediment yield by 72.4% (30.7%~99.9%), 73.5% (30.0%~96.7%), 61.4% (17.8%~99.9%) respectively. The results indicated that the agroforestry systems have significant function in soil and water conservation. Future researches on soil and water conservation benefits of agroforestry systems should be focused on its comprehensive benefits evaluation, deep mechanism research and scientific practice guidance.