Vincent de Leijster

19 General introduction 1 1. How does ecological performance differ between agroecological and conventional systems? 2. Howdoecosystemservice trajectoriesdevelop followingagroecological interventions? 3. How do agroecological interventions influence the economic performance of a farm, and what is the role of farming strategies and incentives? 4. Which trade-offs or synergies emerge in agroecological transitions? The research questions are addressed in the empirical research presented in Chapters 3 to 6, and finally I synthesize and discuss the main findings in Chapter 7. More specifically, two case studies are used, almonds in Spain and coffee in Colombia (Chapter 2), to analyze both the economic and the ecological performances. These case studies differ in the type of agroecological practices that are implemented and timescale on which ecological and economic impacts are measured. Figure 1-3 gives an overview of the contents of the chapters and the case studies, including the research questions they address. Chapter 3 examines how agroecological interventions in Spanish almond-growing systems affect ecosystem service supply in the short term. Then, in Chapter 4 the economic performance of the agroecological transition on almond farms is analyzed and the potential impacts of incentives are quantified. Chapter 5 investigates the long-term development of ecosystem services as a consequence of planting trees in Colombian coffee systems, and Chapter 6 addresses the economic impacts of this agroforestry transition. Last, in Chapter 7, I provide a synthesis of the findings, answer the research questions, and place my results in a broader context.