(Introduction):

The evaluation of ecosystem services in different land use systems in family farming facilitates the development of sustainable land use strategies.

(Objective):

We studied the effects of different land uses, commonly applied in family farming in the Mbaracayú Forest Biosphere Reserve (Canindeyú, Paraguay), on the conservation of tree diversity and delivery of critical ecosystem services: above and belowground carbon storage and supporting services rendered by soil.

(Methods):

We determined the diversity of trees, the stocks of carbon above ground and in the soil, as well as chemical and physical soil properties in 7 farms with diverse land use systems: disturbed native forest, agroforestry system with yerba mate, subsistence crops and pastures. In each of the sampling points, data of the tree and shrub individuals were recorded, and samples of the herbaceous stratum, litter and soil were taken.

(Results):

We found the highest rate of both diversity and above ground carbon storage in the disturbed native forests and agroforestry systems without significant difference between the two. The values of CEC and Ca+2 in the soil were higher in disturbed native forests compared to pastures, while the remaining land uses showed intermediate values. There was no significant difference between the different land use types regarding carbon storage and physical stability of the soils. Nonetheless, the pastures had the lowest soil qualities.

(Conclusions):

We demonstrated that the altered native forests and agroforest systems with yerba mate promote better the conservation of tree diversity, carbon retention and soil quality.