Spatiotemporal Land Equivalent Ratio (ST-LER) for Agroforestry Design

Spatiotemporal Land Equivalent Ratio (ST-LER) for Agroforestry Design | Research Square window.SnipcartSettings = { analytics: { enabled: false } }; (function() { var accessVector = localStorage.getItem('access_vector') || ''; window.dataLayer = window.dataLayer || []; if (accessVector) { window.dataLayer.push({ user: { profile: { profileInfo: { snid: accessVector } } } }); } })(); (function(w,d,s,l,i){w[l]=w[l]||[];w[l].push({'gtm.start':new Date().getTime(),event:'gtm.js'});var f=d.getElementsByTagName(s)[0],j=d.createElement(s),dl=l!='dataLayer'?'&l='+l:'';j.async=true;j.src='https://www.googletagmanager.com/gtm.js?id='+i+dl;f.parentNode.insertBefore(j,f);})(window,document,'script','dataLayer','GTM-K279D39R'); Browse Preprints In Review Journals COVID-19 Preprints AJE Video Bytes Research Tools Research Promotion AJE Professional Editing AJE Rubriq About Preprint Platform In Review Editorial Policies Our Team Advisory Board Help Center Sign In Submit a Preprint Cite Share Download PDF Research Article Spatiotemporal Land Equivalent Ratio (ST-LER) for Agroforestry Design Eyal Ben-Simchon, Guy Yogev, Jonathan Fireman, Dvora Wolicki, and 7 more This is a preprint; it has not been peer reviewed by a journal. https://doi.org/ 10.21203/rs.3.rs-8691428/v1 This work is licensed under a CC BY 4.0 License Status: Under Review Version 1 posted 5 You are reading this latest preprint version Abstract Achieving climate resilience in Mediterranean agriculture hinges on adaptive strategies like agroforestry, yet optimization is constrained by retrospective indices that are effectively spatially blind and temporally static. Consequently, their utility is insufficient for guiding spatial design or quantifying the operational trade-offs inherent to mechanized systems. We hypothesize that decomposing land-use efficiency into geometric occupancy and biological facilitation, via a Spatially and Temporally Explicit Land Equivalent Ratio (ST-LER), enables the evidence-based optimization of productive and climate-resilient designs. To empirically parameterize the ST-LER framework, we utilized a recently established experimental platform intended for long-term research monitoring in central Israel under a Mediterranean climate. A super-high-density olive orchard was intercropped with winter crops (clover, wheat) in a silvoarable arrangement across three alley widths (4, 8, and 14 m) alongside monoculture controls. Data from the initial establishment phase (over two seasons), included high-resolution monitoring of crop yield spatial gradients and tree. These data were used to calibrate a non-linear optimization model, projecting system efficiency as a continuous function of alley spacing. Despite prevailing drought conditions, all silvoarable maintained land-use parity (ST-LER ≥ 1.0), confirming resilience to climatic stress. Efficiency drivers shifted from density-dependent compensation in narrow spacings to microclimatic facilitation in wide alleys. The model identified a biological optimum at ~ 10.7 m, balancing geometric costs against facilitation decay. Crucially, this peak reveals an inherent conflict: it falls within an operational gap incompatible with standard machinery widths. Uniquely, the ST-LER framework repurposes LER from a passive retrospective metric into a prospective design engine. By rigorously quantifying the ‘biological penalty’ of forcing agroecological systems to fit mechanical constraints, it resolves the inherent tension between operational efficiency and biological optimization, offering a scalable blueprint for mechanized agroforestry advancing climate-resilient agriculture. Agroforestry Alley cropping Intercropping Land Equivalent Ratio (LER) ST-LER Olea europaea Spatial optimization Mediterranean climate Sustainable intensification Climate resilience Full Text Cite Share Download PDF Status: Under Review Version 1 posted Reviewers agreed at journal 06 Mar, 2026 Reviewers invited by journal 26 Feb, 2026 Editor invited by journal 13 Feb, 2026 Editor assigned by journal 27 Jan, 2026 First submitted to journal 24 Jan, 2026 You are reading this latest preprint version Research Square lets you share your work early, gain feedback from the community, and start making changes to your manuscript prior to peer review in a journal. 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Also discoverable on Platform About Our Team In Review Editorial Policies Advisory Board Help Center Resources Author Services Accessibility API Access RSS feed Manage Cookie Preferences © Research Square 2026 | ISSN 2693-5015 (online) Privacy Policy Terms of Service Do Not Sell My Personal Information {"props":{"pageProps":{"initialData":{"identity":"rs-8691428","acceptedTermsAndConditions":true,"allowDirectSubmit":false,"archivedVersions":[],"articleType":"Research Article","associatedPublications":[],"authors":[{"id":597411999,"identity":"d0153016-1769-41a3-b41b-a6d9a30b3dc1","order_by":0,"name":"Eyal Ben-Simchon","email":"","orcid":"https://orcid.org/0000-0003-1216-7505","institution":"","correspondingAuthor":false,"prefix":"","firstName":"Eyal","middleName":"","lastName":"Ben-Simchon","suffix":""},{"id":597412000,"identity":"3a8d7f80-6f04-4ce7-b474-467e24c4743e","order_by":1,"name":"Guy Yogev","email":"","orcid":"","institution":"","correspondingAuthor":false,"prefix":"","firstName":"Guy","middleName":"","lastName":"Yogev","suffix":""},{"id":597412001,"identity":"a2e97812-fa25-4985-b220-7c056eed236d","order_by":2,"name":"Jonathan Fireman","email":"","orcid":"","institution":"","correspondingAuthor":false,"prefix":"","firstName":"Jonathan","middleName":"","lastName":"Fireman","suffix":""},{"id":597412002,"identity":"c2f712dc-1500-4324-9838-1064e62d2fae","order_by":3,"name":"Dvora Wolicki","email":"","orcid":"","institution":"","correspondingAuthor":false,"prefix":"","firstName":"Dvora","middleName":"","lastName":"Wolicki","suffix":""},{"id":597412003,"identity":"1a37e4e9-dd56-4804-9c6a-84959e025647","order_by":4,"name":"Yichalal Zewdie","email":"","orcid":"","institution":"","correspondingAuthor":false,"prefix":"","firstName":"Yichalal","middleName":"","lastName":"Zewdie","suffix":""},{"id":597412004,"identity":"59f4d439-5282-4a20-9063-a5cf07bbe17e","order_by":5,"name":"Giora Ben-Ari","email":"","orcid":"https://orcid.org/0000-0002-5311-2116","institution":"","correspondingAuthor":false,"prefix":"","firstName":"Giora","middleName":"","lastName":"Ben-Ari","suffix":""},{"id":597412005,"identity":"291c6b93-6141-44c2-b30f-48e93c28d7bc","order_by":6,"name":"Roi Ben-David","email":"","orcid":"","institution":"","correspondingAuthor":false,"prefix":"","firstName":"Roi","middleName":"","lastName":"Ben-David","suffix":""},{"id":597412006,"identity":"c412ea7d-1cf0-44ac-b3b6-351ce1a74692","order_by":7,"name":"José M. 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Consequently, their utility is insufficient for guiding spatial design or quantifying the operational trade-offs inherent to mechanized systems. We hypothesize that decomposing land-use efficiency into geometric occupancy and biological facilitation, via a Spatially and Temporally Explicit Land Equivalent Ratio (ST-LER), enables the evidence-based optimization of productive and climate-resilient designs.\u003c/p\u003e \u003cp\u003eTo empirically parameterize the ST-LER framework, we utilized a recently established experimental platform intended for long-term research monitoring in central Israel under a Mediterranean climate. A super-high-density olive orchard was intercropped with winter crops (clover, wheat) in a silvoarable arrangement across three alley widths (4, 8, and 14 m) alongside monoculture controls. Data from the initial establishment phase (over two seasons), included high-resolution monitoring of crop yield spatial gradients and tree. These data were used to calibrate a non-linear optimization model, projecting system efficiency as a continuous function of alley spacing.\u003c/p\u003e \u003cp\u003eDespite prevailing drought conditions, all silvoarable maintained land-use parity (ST-LER\u0026thinsp;\u0026ge;\u0026thinsp;1.0), confirming resilience to climatic stress. Efficiency drivers shifted from density-dependent compensation in narrow spacings to microclimatic facilitation in wide alleys. The model identified a biological optimum at ~\u0026thinsp;10.7 m, balancing geometric costs against facilitation decay. Crucially, this peak reveals an inherent conflict: it falls within an operational gap incompatible with standard machinery widths. Uniquely, the ST-LER framework repurposes LER from a passive retrospective metric into a prospective design engine. 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