Agroforestry is increasingly promoted as a nature-based strategy towards a more sustainable agriculture, yet quantitative evidence of its benefits, especially in temperate regions, remains fragmented. Here, we synthesized 42 meta-analyses to map the potential of temperate agroforestry to deliver ecosystem services, assess their methodological quality, and identify knowledge gaps using the CICES classification framework. We find strong and consistent evidence for a positive effect on regulating ecosystem services: over 65% of assessments reported significantly positive outcomes for soil carbon sequestration and soil quality indicators. Effects on provisioning services are more variable, with around 50% of assessments for cultivated plant production reporting negative outcomes, a finding that likely reflects the narrow metrics (e.g. single-crop yield) used, rather than true systemlevel deficits, as more integrative indicators (such as the land equivalent ratio) are rarely reported. Mapping results onto CICES highlights that only 8 of 38 ecosystem service groups are covered by meta-analytical evidence, with cultural services entirely absent. Methodological quality was heterogeneous, with frequent shortcomings in publication bias assessment, data sharing and transparent reporting of study selection. We also provide a georeferenced database of 1495 primary studies to facilitate future syntheses and a global map of study locations. This synthesis provides a robust evidence base for policymakers, pinpointing both established benefits and critical research gaps needed to fully leverage agroforestry in temperate regions.

SCHIEVANO Andrea;  RUBEAUD Camille;  KOTHKE Margret;  BEATRICE Landoni;  BEILLOUIN Damien;  PEREZ-SOBA Marta;  BOSCO Simona;  DA SILVA CATARINO Rui;  TAMBURINI Giovanni;  MAKOWSKI David;  KAY Sonja; 

2026-09-29

ELSEVIER

JRC142365

2212-0416 (online),   

https://publications.jrc.ec.europa.eu/repository/handle/JRC142365,   

10.1016/j.ecoser.2026.101905 (online),