1. ALDAMS
By Luke Robinson 1

2. Part 1 Overview Issues with Conventional Agriculture
What is agroforestry?
Why isn't it widespread?
How an agroforestry land design and management simulation model may help? 2

3. Part 2 Overview Objective of ALDAMS Conceptual Flow Diagram
Parameters, Field Measurements, and Outputs
Conclusions 3

4. Issues with Conventional Agriculture
Heavy agricultural reliance on synthetic chemical fertilizers and pesticides is having serious impacts on public health and the environment (Pimentel et al ).
More than 90% of US corn farmers rely on herbicides for weed control (Pimentel et al. 1993), and one of the most widely used of those herbicides, atrazine, is also one of the most commonly found pesticides in streams and ground-water (USGS 2001).
The estimated environmental and health care costs of pesticide use at recommended levels in the United States run about $12 billion every year (Pimentel 2005). 4

5. What is Agroforestry?
“Agroforestry intentionally combines agriculture and forestry to create integrated and sustainable land-use systems. Agroforestry takes advantage of the interactive benefits from combining trees and shrubs with crops and/or livestock. Agroforestry practices include:
Alley Cropping
Forest Farming
Riparian Forest Buffers
Silvopasture
Windbreaks
Special Applications
Forest Gardening*
Source: USDA National Agroforestry Center Definition
*Forest Gardening is not currently recognized as an agroforestry practice by the USDA 5

6. Why isn't it widespread? Learning curve*
Unfamiliarity with technologies
Lack of awareness of successful agroforestry examples*
Competition between trees, crops, and animals*
Lack of demonstration sites*
Lack of training or expertise*
Lack of technical assistance*
Unavailability of information about agroforestry*
Apparent inconvenience*
Lack of scientific research*
Jacobson, Michael; Shiba Kar (August 2013). "Extent of Agroforestry Extension Programs in the United States".Journal of Extension 51 (4). Archived from the original on 28 September Retrieved 19 February 2014. 6

7. The Need for an Agroforestry Land Design and Management Simulation Model
ALDAMS 7

8. ALDAMS Objective
To inform design and management practices for agroforestry practitioners 8

9. 9

10. Main Crop Parameters CLAIYR* - # of Years until MAX LAI
HMX* – Max Crop Height
RDMX*- Max Root Depth
TB/TG* – Optimal temp. for plant growth
EXTINC – Light extinction coefficient (k)
DD – Degree days
WA – Energy to Biomass
Harvest Index - (crop yield/above ground biomass)
LAP1 & LAP2 – How leaf area develops over the growing season; i.e. LAP , LAP2 – 75.10
DMLA – Potential LAI 10

11. Theoretical Design Outputs
Relation & Location of Species within Sub-communities (RLSS) - The relative location and relation that plants are to one another within a given sub-community (see sub- community at the bottom).
Minimum Effective Sub-community Relation & Location* (MESRL) to inform the minimum effective relation and location from one sub-community to another.
Maximum Sub-community Amount (SA) - The maximum number of sub-communities residing in a defined space. 11

12. Other Theoretical Crop Parameters
Root Architecture (RA) - The root architecture of a given species; i.e. taproot, fibrous, cauline, tubercular, etc. If there are two species of the same root architecture within a given community, then this may change the RLSS.
Minimum Effective Light Interception for Fruit Production (MELIFP) - The minimum effective amount of light that a plant needs for ultimate production of fruit. 12

13. Conclusion Let's go back to the “Why Isn't it as Widespread?” slide.13

14. Why isn't it widespread? Learning curve*
Unfamiliarity with technologies
Lack of awareness of successful agroforestry examples*
Competition between trees, crops, and animals*
Lack of demonstration sites*
Lack of training or expertise*
Lack of technical assistance*
Unavailability of information about agroforestry*
Apparent inconvenience*
Lack of scientific research*
Jacobson, Michael; Shiba Kar (August 2013). "Extent of Agroforestry Extension Programs in the United States".Journal of Extension 51 (4). Archived from the original on 28 September Retrieved 19 February 2014. 14

15. The End! 15