An agroecosystem can be defined as the basic unit of study in the field of agroecology and can be described as the basic functional unit of agriculture containing the living and non – living elements of the unit as well as the way they interact with each other. Trees are, naturally, a very important facet of an agroecosystem. They have a huge role to play in the general productivity of the ecosystem. Without the aid of the trees, the effect that an agroecosystem has is hugely diminished.
Trees play a huge role in maintaining the balance and control over the different elements of an agroecosystem. Below the ground, the roots of trees grow much further than that of agriculture crops and help hold the soil in its place while above ground it not only provides homes to wild animals but also affects the water cycle by the process of transpiration (Barrios and Okubo 2018). Hence reducing the number of trees will have a hugely negative impact on an agroecosystem.
The rationale of the research is to understand and demonstrate how big and diverse the role trees play in driving the ecological principles that affect agriculture.
The problem that this research deals with is regarding the effect that trees have on the process of agriculture.
The objectives and the aims of the research are-
Ong and Kho (2015) stated that an agroecosystem can be defined as the unit of agricultural land that contains all the living and non – living elements and also the way they react and interact with each other. In the terms of mathematics, an agroecosystem can be said to be a subset of the conventional ecosystem. As is obvious from the nomenclature, the building block of an agroecosystem is agriculture. But an agroecosystem is not limited to only the area of agriculture but refers to the whole region that is affected by the process of agriculture, especially the area affected by the net nutrient flow and balance.
Research shows that nearly 42% of the world’s potential crops are lost annually due to weeds, insects, diseases, and other natural reasons. Also, the same research shows that nearly 50,000 square kilometers of soil is lost every year due to soil erosion and that has a huge negative impact on the agricultural trend of the world. Trees, on the other hand, Benegas and Malmer (2014) opined that hold the soil tighter and closer to their roots and prevent the growth of pests on crops. Hence trees are the answer to all the issues that the growth of sustainable agriculture has been facing.
Even though recent years have seen the development of newer and better methods of water harvesting, agriculture is still hugely dependent upon rainfall which is hugely impacted by the presence of trees in a region. Trees hugely affect the water cycle of a region by releasing water vapor through transpiration. Deforestation leads to less transpiration which causes less rainfall that hurts the agriculture of the region. Furthermore, cutting up of trees in a region loosens up the roots of the region which leads to problems in the agricultural process.
Researchers will use the Interpretivism Research Methodology to complete the research where the research topic is “effect of tress in an agroecosystem”. From the analysis of articles, web pages, and books – it means by the analysis of all secondary data researchers will complete this project (Lewis 2015).
Researchers will be chosen the Inductive Research Approach. It is a secondary method of the research methodology. Trees are very necessary for our ecosystem and it helps to maintain the balance between soil and ecosystem.
The descriptive Research Design method is very important to continue this research methodology. The research will take this primary research methodology for doing this project.
Unit 1 Communicating in Health and Social Care Organisations
To research on this important topic, researchers are going to choose Quantitative Research Strategy. It is totally based on the primary data (Taylor and DeVault 2015). Here, researchers will do direct conversation with the people and collect data regarding the effects of trees in an agro ecosystem.
Proper data collection is always necessary before starting any research. In this case, researchers will collect data through the way of the Secondary Quantitative Data Collection Method. It totally depends on an analysis of articles, books, and journals.
Researchers will be chosen the Non-Probability Data Sampling Method where they will take 5 articles for analyzing the numerical data related to the topic.
Unit 4: Wider Professional Practice and Development in Education and Training
To keep the topic of the research in mind, a pilot study is done. A pilot study is a miniature version of the whole research and it gives an outcome which is positive.
Some possible outcomes are –
3.9 Gnat Chart
| Milestones | Duration (Days) |
| Commencement of the research | 2 |
| Analyzing past research | 7 |
| Selection of articles | 12 |
| Secondary qualitative analysis of those selected articles | 15 |
| Drawing conclusion | 3 |
Barrios, E., Valencia, V., Jonsson, M., Brauman, A., Hannah, K., Mortimer, P.E., and Okubo, S., 2018. Contribution of trees to the conservation of biodiversity and ecosystem services in agricultural landscapes. International Journal of Biodiversity Science, Ecosystem Services & Management, 14(1), pp.1-16.
Benegas, L., Ilstedt, U., Roupsard, O., Jones, J. and Malmer, A., 2014. Effects of trees on infiltrability and preferential flow in two contrasting agroecosystems in Central America. Agriculture, ecosystems & environment, 183, pp.185-196.
Lewis, S., 2015. Qualitative inquiry and research design: Choosing among five approaches. Health promotion practice, 16(4), pp.473-475.
Ong, C.K. and Kho, R.M., 2015. A framework for quantifying the various effects of tree-crop interactions. Tree–crop interactions, 2nd edition: agroforestry in a changing climate. CAB International, Wallingford, pp.1-23.
Taylor, S.J., Bogdan, R. and DeVault, M., 2015. Introduction to qualitative research methods: A guidebook and resource. John Wiley & Sons.
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