Ethnic homestead forests of North-East India revealed as diverse land-use systems

Ethnic homestead forests or the traditional agroforestry systems (TAFS) can achieve sustainable production, in-situ biodiversity conservation, and climate change mitigation while maintaining cultural values. The presence of trees under the TAFS increases the ecological and aesthetic value of the landscape and possesses important economic value for the farmer. This study aimed to determine the contribution of ethnic homestead forests to tree biodiversity, biomass storage and evaluated farmers’ use criteria under the piper and pineapple systems of Assam and home gardens of Mizoram, North-East India. The results showed that tree species richness, basal area, and diversity were highest in the home gardens followed by piper and pineapple-based systems. On the other hand, stand density under these systems followed a reverse order. Altogether, 112, 91, and 15 tree species were documented from home gardens, piper, and pineapple-based systems with stand density of 399, 990, and 1225 (stems ha⁻¹) under the same systems respectively. Two economically viable tree species, i.e. Aquilaria malaccensis and Parkia timoriana that are no longer found in wild are widely domesticated in the pineapple-based system. In Assam, the biomass storage in piper-based systems (129.39 Mg ha⁻¹) was 19 % more than the nearby native forest (NF). In contrast, the biomass storage in the home gardens of Mizoram (117.32 Mg ha⁻¹) was 57 % lower than the NF. The farmer’s use classes revealed that greater numbers of tree species under these TAFS provided fuelwood, timber, and economic needs. According to the farmer’s report, the environmental services provisioned by most tree species include - shade for other crop species and in soil erosion control. This study demonstrates the potentiality of TAFS in the conservation of biodiversity, and biomass storage while additionally ensuring livelihood resilience and a wide array of environmental services.