Julián Chará photographs a cow under a canopy of trees in a pasture in Colombia, where grasslands once stripped of cover now shelter a quiet resurgence of life. His images capture more than scenery—they reflect a transformation now confirmed by science. A sweeping global analysis led by Justus Liebig University Giessen (JLU) reveals that integrating trees into cattle pastures can nearly double biodiversity compared to treeless grazing lands. This finding offers a beacon of hope in the fight to balance food production with ecological survival, especially in tropical regions where cattle ranching has long been the leading cause of deforestation.
The study, published in Ecological Applications, synthesizes data from 45 studies across 15 countries and four biogeographic regions, forming the first global quantitative review of silvopastoral systems—farms that intentionally combine trees and pasture. The results are striking: pastures with trees host 44% more species and nearly twice as many individual animals. For plants and soil-dwelling invertebrates—those most sensitive to environmental change—the gains are even greater, with plant diversity up 89% and small soil creatures like earthworms and arachnids rising by 81%. Insects, vital to ecosystem function, increased by 68%.
"We knew that trees made a difference," says Dr. Ricardo Perez-Alvarez, lead author and researcher at JLU’s Institute of Animal Ecology and Systematics, "but we were surprised that this difference was so great—and across so many different landscapes." The benefits are most pronounced in tropical and subtropical zones, where biodiversity surged by 40% and 42% respectively—regions also hardest hit by pasture expansion. These findings suggest that even modest shifts in land use could yield outsized ecological returns.
Yet the study is clear: trees in pastures are not a replacement for native forests. While silvopastoral systems approach forest-level diversity, they don’t replicate the complex, undisturbed habitats that rare and forest-specialist species depend on. "Native forests remain irreplaceable refuges," emphasizes Prof. Dr. Emily Poppenborg Martin, senior author and Professor of Animal Ecology at JLU. Instead, silvopastoral systems act as ecological bridges—connecting fragmented forests, restoring degraded land, and enhancing the resilience of entire landscapes.
For the nearly 1 billion smallholder farmers who rely on cattle, this approach offers a practical path forward. By restoring trees to pastureland, especially in the tropics, we can boost biodiversity at a scale unmatched by other agroforestry systems, given the vast global footprint of grazing. But success depends on careful implementation—ensuring that tree planting supports, rather than undermines, forest conservation. As global restoration goals take center stage, silvopastoral systems stand out not as a silver bullet, but as a scientifically grounded, scalable solution where people and nature can thrive together.