Biodiversity in agroforestry systems implemented in tropical ecoregions: A systematic review

This is a dataset containing extensive information on agroforestry systems (AFSs) and reference vegetation areas where the diversity of taxonomic groups or growth forms was measured. AFSs and their reference areas are located in tropical ecoregions across de globe, and data were gathered through a systematic review including 92 papers and 294 data sampling sites. We considered each taxonomic group or growth form studied in a sampling site (AFS or reference vegetation area) as an observation, and extracted the following information to the file “Main_data.csv”: location, ecoregion, climate, soil, size, method of biodiversity sampling, and number of species, individuals, and/or biodiversity index found in each AFS and reference area; origin (whether the AFS originated from areas with alternative land use, such as agriculture, pastures, or degraded areas, or in areas with natural vegetation that are converted into productive systems), type (simple or biodiverse), age, crop type, management strategy, presence of nearby natural vegetation areas, distance to nearby natural vegetation areas, type of nearby vegetation, and predominant matrix around each AFS; vegetation type and age of each reference area, and characterization of the forest (primary or secondary, and regeneration stage) in reference areas with forest as the vegetation type; mean diameter at breast height, basal area, canopy cover, number of regenerating tree species or individuals, number of pioneer and non-pioneer tree species, and number of invasive plant species in observations of the tree community in AFSs and reference vegetation areas. The “Main_data.csv” file contains 470 observations. The complete references included in the systematic review can be found in the file “RefID.csv” and the full ecoregion names are presented in “Ecoregion_Olson.csv”.

Methods
For our systematic review on biodiversity in agroforestry systems (AFSs) implemented in tropical ecoregions, we searched for papers using the following keywords present in the title: field 1- agroforest*; field 2- diversity OR richness OR abundance; field 3- tropical. We conducted our search in the platforms Periódicos CAPES, Web of Science, Scielo, and Google Scholar. We did not restrict the oldest publication date and we finished our search in July 2023. For a paper to be included in the systematic review, it necessarily had to compare the abundance, richness, and/or diversity index of some taxonomic group or growth form between AFSs and reference vegetation areas located in tropical ecoregions, anywhere in the world. We considered each taxonomic group or growth form studied in an AFS or reference area as an observation and extracted the information provided in Main_data.csv.