Silvopastoral transitions in Latin America: toward diverse perennial systems

Silvopastoral systems have been promoted in Latin America as a strategy to enhance climate resilience, production stability, and ecosystem services. This perspective article analyzes various pathways toward ecological intensification through silvopastoral systems. The transition from annual cropping to complex systems integrating perennial species and livestock represents a clear trajectory of ecological intensification in degraded areas like tropical dry forests or the Amazon. However, in native grassland ecosystems, the introduction of exotic tree plantations may reduce biodiversity and ecosystem services. Thus, the shift to silvopastoral systems is not always ecologically beneficial and depends on local contexts and native ecosystems.