Synthesis and characterization of methacryl glycol chitosan as a novel functionally advanced thermogel for biomedical applications.

Thermo-responsive hydrogels (thermogels), known for their sol-gel transition capabilities, have garnered significant interest for biomedical applications over recent decades. However, conventional thermogels are hindered by intrinsic physicochemical and functional limitations that impede their broader utility. This study introduces methacryl glycol chitosan (MGC) as a novel thermogel, offering enhanced functionality and addressing these limitations. MGCs, synthesized through N-methacrylation of glycol chitosan, exhibit tunable thermogelling and photo-crosslinking behaviors. The thermo-reversible sol-gel transition of MGCs occurs within a 21-54 °C range, adjustable by polymer concentration and methacryl substitution degree. Photo-crosslinking using UV light further enhances the mechanical properties of MGC thermogels, creating thermo-irreversible, chemically crosslinked hydrogels. MGCs show no cytotoxic effects and effectively support cell encapsulation. In vivo studies demonstrate stable crosslinking with minimal UV-induced skin damage. Due to their unique thermo-sensitivity, multi-functionality, and customizable properties, MGC thermogels are promising novel biomaterials for various biomedical applications, particularly injectable tissue engineering and cell encapsulation, thus overcoming the limitations of conventional thermogels.

A multi-functional coating on cotton fabric to incorporate electro-conductive, anti-bacterial, and flame-retardant properties.

Multi-functional textiles have become a growing trend among smart customers who dream of having multiple functionalities in a single product. Thus, this study aimed to develop a multi-functional textile from a common textile substrate like cotton equipped with electrically conductive, anti-bacterial, and flame-retardant properties. Herein, a bunch of compounds from various sources like petro-based poly-aniline (PANI), phosphoric acid (H3PO4), inorganic silver nanoparticles (Ag-NPs), and biomass-sourced fish scale protein (FSP) were used. The coating was prepared via in-situ polymerization of PANI with the cotton substrate, followed by the dipping in AGNPs solution, layer-by-layer deposition of FSP and sodium alginate, and finally, a dip-dry-cure technique after immersing the modified cotton substrate into the H3PO4 and citric acid solution. The key results indicated that the fabric treated with PANI/Ag-NPs/FSP/P-compound exhibited a balanced improvement in all three desired properties as the electrical resistance was reduced by 44.44 % while showing superior bacterial inhibition against gram-positive bacteria (S. aureus) and gram-negative bacteria (E. coli), and produced dense-black carbonaceous char residues, indicating its flame retardant properties as well. Thus, such amicable developments made the cotton textile substrate a multi-functional textile, which showed potential to be used in medical textiles, wearable electronics, fire-fighter suits, etc.

CTAB-crafted ZnO nanostructures for environmental remediation and pathogen control.

This study addresses the critical need for efficient and sustainable methods to tackle organic pollutants and microbial contamination in water. The present work aim was to investigate the potential of multi-structured zinc oxide nanoparticles (ZnO NPs) for the combined photocatalytic degradation of organic pollutants and antimicrobial activity. A unique fusion of precipitation-cum-hydrothermal approaches was precisely employed to synthesize the ZnO NPs, resulting in remarkable outcomes. The synthesized CTAB/ZnO NPs demonstrated exceptional properties: they were multi-structured and crystalline with a size of 40 nm and possessed a narrow band gap energy of 2.82 eV, enhancing light absorption for photocatalysis. These nanoparticles achieved an impressive degradation efficiency of 91.75% for Reactive Blue-81 dye within 105 min under UV irradiation. Furthermore, their photocatalytic performance metrics were outstanding, including a quantum yield of 1.73 × 10-4 Φ, a kinetic reaction rate of 3.89 × 102 µmol g-1 h-1, a space-time yield of 8.64 × 10-6 molecules photon-1 mg-1, and a figure-of-merit of 1.03 × 10-9 mol L J-1 g-1 h-1. Notably, the energy consumption was low at 1.73 × 10-4 J mol-1, compared to other systems. Additionally, the ZnO NPs exhibited effective antimicrobial activity against S. aureus and P. aeruginosa. This research underscores the potential of tailored ZnO NPs as a versatile solution for addressing both organic pollution and microbial contamination in water treatment processes. The low energy consumption further enhances its attractiveness as a sustainable solution.

Polymer-Assisted Graphite Exfoliation: Advancing Nanostructure Preparation and Multifunctional Composites.

Exfoliated graphite (ExG) embedded in a polymeric matrix represents an accessible, cost-effective, and sustainable method for generating nanosized graphite-based polymer composites with multifunctional properties. This review article analyzes diverse methods currently used to exfoliate graphite into graphite nanoplatelets, few-layer graphene, and polymer-assisted graphene. It also explores engineered methods for small-scale pilot production of polymer nanocomposites. It highlights the chemistry involved during the graphite intercalation and exfoliation process, particularly emphasizing the interfacial interactions related to steric repulsion forces, van der Waals forces, hydrogen bonds, π-π stacking, and covalent bonds. These interactions promote the dispersion and stabilization of the graphite derivative structures in polymeric matrices. Finally, it compares the enhanced properties of nanocomposites, such as increased thermal and electrical conductivity and electromagnetic interference (EMI) shielding applications, with those of neat polymer materials.

Conversion of farmland to forest or grassland improves soil carbon, nitrogen, and ecosystem multi-functionality in a subtropical karst region of southwest China.

The conversion of farmland to forest in China has been recognized for its positive impact on above-ground vegetation and carbon sequestration. However, the impact on soil quality during land conversion, particularly in vulnerable karst areas, has received less attention. In this study conducted in a karst area of southwest China, eight different farmland conversion strategies were investigated to assess improvements in surface soil carbon, nitrogen, and ecosystem multi-functionality (EMF). Our results showed that farmland converted to afforestation areas or farmland that was abandoned contained higher amounts of carbon (total, organic, active) and ammonium nitrogen (NH4+-N) in the soil compared to farmland converted to grassland or maize crop. Soluble organic carbon levels were higher in afforestation and grassland areas compared to maize crop controls. By contrast, soil from grassland and abandoned land exhibited higher levels of nitrate nitrogen (NO3--N) compared to afforestation land or maize crop controls. There were no differences in NH4+-N content between any condition, except for afforestation land that specifically contained the Zenia insignis plant species. Afforestation land consistently exhibited higher EMF values than grassland. Pearson correlation analysis revealed positive relationships between soil indices and EMF scores, except for NO3--N.Random forest analysis explained 95% of the variation in soil EMF and identified specific soil factors: total carbon, organic carbon, active labile organic carbon, total nitrogen, and ammonium nitrogen, as the main drivers of soil multi-functionality. Our studies show how various reforestation strategies can enhance soil nutrient sequestration and improve soil multi-functionality of farmland in the karst areas.These findings provide insight into sustainable soil management practices for converting farmland into natural areas.

Core microbiota drive multi-functionality of the soil microbiome in the Cinnamomum camphora coppice planting.

BACKGROUND: Cinnamomum camphora (L.) Presl (C. camphora) is an evergreen broad-leaved tree cultivated in subtropical China. The use of C. camphora as clonal cuttings for coppice management has become popular recently. However, little is known about the relationship between soil core microbiota and ecosystem multi-functionality under tree planting. Particularly, the effects of soil core microbiota on maintaining ecosystem multi-functionality under C. camphora coppice planting remained unclear. MATERIALS AND METHODS: In this study, we collected soil samples from three points (i.e., the abandoned land, the root zone, and the transition zone) in the C. camphora coppice planting to investigate whether core microbiota influences ecosystem multi-functions. RESULTS: The result showed a significant difference in soil core microbiota community between the abandoned land (AL), root zone (RZ), and transition zone (TZ), and soil ecosystem multi-functionality of core microbiota in RZ had increased significantly (by 230.8%) compared to the AL. Soil core microbiota played a more significant influence on ecosystem multi-functionality than the non-core microbiota. Moreover, the co-occurrence network demonstrated that the soil ecosystem network consisted of five major ecological clusters. Soil core microbiota within cluster 1 were significantly higher than in cluster 4, and there is also a higher Copiotrophs/Oligotrophs ratio in cluster 1. Our results corroborated that soil core microbiota is crucial for maintaining ecosystem multi-functionality. Especially, the core taxa within the clusters of networks under tree planting, with the same ecological preferences, had a significant contribution to ecosystem multi-functionality. CONCLUSION: Overall, our results provide further insight into the linkage between core taxa and ecosystem multi-functionality. This enables us to predict how ecosystem functions respond to the environmental changes in areas under the C. camphora coppice planting. Thus, conserving the soil microbiota, especially the core taxa, is essential to maintaining the multiple ecosystem functions under the C. camphora coppice planting.

Nitrate Radical Induced "Two in One" Interface Engineering toward High Reversibility of Zn Metal Anode.

Advanced interfacial engineering performs a forceful modulation effect on Zn2+ plating/stripping with simultaneous inhibition of hydrogen evolution reaction, chemical corrosion, and dendrite growth, which is responsible for high reversibility of Zn anode. Herein, a "two in one" interface engineering is developed to improve the reversibility of Zn anode, in which multi-functional Zn5 (NO3 )2 (OH)8 ·2H2 O layer and preferential Zn (002) texture are constructed simultaneously. Due to nucleophilicity to Zn2+ arising from electronegativity, the layer can accelerate the desolvation process of [Zn (H2 O)6 ]2+ and transfer kinetics of Zn2+ ions, leading to uniform nucleation and effective inhibition of water-induced side reactions. Meanwhile, the latter is beneficial to guiding   Zn (002)-preferred orientation deposition with compact structure. Consequently, the Zn electrodes with such complementary interface modulation exhibit prominent reversibility. With an area capacity of 1 mAh cm-2 at 1 mA cm-2 , the symmetric cell operates steadily for 4000 h. Highly reversible Zn anode is maintained even at 50 mA cm-2 . For full cells coupled with MnO2 cathode, impressive rate capability and cycling stability with a high capacity beyond 100 mAh g-1 at 1 A g-1 after 2000 cycles are achieved. The results provide new insights into Zn anodes with high reversibility for next-generation aqueous zinc ion batteries.

Multilayered Functional Triboelectric Polymers for Self-Powered Wearable Applications: A Review.

Multifunctional wearable devices detect electric signals responsive to various biological stimuli and monitor present body motions or conditions, necessitating flexible materials with high sensitivity and sustainable operation. Although various dielectric polymers have been utilized in self-powered wearable applications in response to multiple external stimuli, their intrinsic limitations hinder further device performance enhancement. Because triboelectric devices comprising dielectric polymers are based on triboelectrification and electrostatic induction, multilayer-stacking structures of dielectric polymers enable significant improvements in device performance owing to enhanced interfacial polarization through dissimilar permittivity and conductivity between each layer, resulting in self-powered high-performance wearable devices. Moreover, novel triboelectric polymers with unique chemical structures or nano-additives can control interfacial polarization, allowing wearable devices to respond to multiple external stimuli. This review summarizes the recent insights into multilayered functional triboelectric polymers, including their fundamental dielectric principles and diverse applications.

Starch Modification with Molecular Transformation, Physicochemical Characteristics, and Industrial Usability: A State-of-the-Art Review.

Starch is a readily available and abundant source of biological raw materials and is widely used in the food, medical, and textile industries. However, native starch with insufficient functionality limits its utilization in the above applications; therefore, it is modified through various physical, chemical, enzymatic, genetic and multiple modifications. This review summarized the relationship between structural changes and functional properties of starch subjected to different modified methods, including hydrothermal treatment, microwave, pre-gelatinization, ball milling, ultrasonication, radiation, high hydrostatic pressure, supercritical CO2, oxidation, etherification, esterification, acid hydrolysis, enzymatic modification, genetic modification, and their combined modifications. A better understanding of these features has the potential to lead to starch-based products with targeted structures and optimized properties for specific applications.

Intelligent Polymers for Multi-Functional Applications: Mechanical and Electrical Aspects.

In this study, we fabricated an intelligent material, shear stiffening polymer (SSP), and reinforced it with carbon nanotube (CNT) fillers to obtain intelligent mechanical and electrical properties. The SSP was enhanced with multi-functional behavior, such as electrical conductivity and stiffening texture. Various amounts of CNT fillers were distributed in this intelligent polymer up to a loading rate of 3.5 wt%. The mechanical and electrical aspects of the materials were investigated. Regarding the mechanical properties, dynamic mechanical analysis was carried out, as well as conducting shape stability and free-fall tests. Viscoelastic behavior was investigated in the dynamic mechanical analysis, whereas cold-flowing and dynamic stiffening responses were studied in shape stability and free-fall tests, respectively. On the other hand, electrical resistance measurements were carried out to understand the conductive behavior of the polymers of the electrical properties. Based on these results, CNT fillers enhance the elastic nature of the SSP while initiating the stiffening behavior at lower frequencies. Moreover, CNT fillers provide higher shape stability, hindering the cold flow in the material. Lastly, SSP gained an electrically conductive nature from the CNT fillers.

3D Printed Graphene-Based Metamaterials: Guesting Multi-Functionality in One Gain.

Advanced functional materials with fascinating properties and extended structural design have greatly broadened their applications. Metamaterials, exhibiting unprecedented physical properties (mechanical, electromagnetic, acoustic, etc.), are considered frontiers of physics, material science, and engineering. With the emerging 3D printing technology, the manufacturing of metamaterials becomes much more convenient. Graphene, due to its superior properties such as large surface area, superior electrical/thermal conductivity, and outstanding mechanical properties, shows promising applications to add multi-functionality into existing metamaterials for various applications. In this review, the aim is to outline the latest developments and applications of 3D printed graphene-based metamaterials. The structure design of different types of metamaterials and the fabrication strategies for 3D printed graphene-based materials are first reviewed. Then the representative explorations of 3D printed graphene-based metamaterials and multi-functionality that can be introduced with such a combination are further discussed. Subsequently, challenges and opportunities are provided, seeking to point out future directions of 3D printed graphene-based metamaterials.

A large share of climate impacts of beef and dairy can be attributed to ecosystem services other than food production.

Domesticated ruminants supply nutrient-dense foods but at a large environmental cost. However, many ruminant production systems are multi-functional, providing ecosystem services (ES) other than direct provision of food. When quantifying the climate impact of ruminant products using life cycle assessment (LCA), provisioning ES (i.e. beef and milk) are generally considered the only valuable outputs and other ES provided are ignored, which risks overlooking positive contributions associated with ruminant production. Non-provisioning ES can be included in LCA by economic allocation, using compensatory payments (through agri-environmental schemes) as a proxy for the economic value of ES. For example, farmers can receive payments for maintenance of pastures, which supports e.g. pollination. However, the association between different payment schemes, the ES provided, and livestock production is not always straightforward and it can be difficult to determine which payment schemes to include in the allocation. This study examined how accounting for ES in quantification of climate impact for beef and milk production on Swedish farms was affected by different ways of coupling ES to livestock production through payment schemes. Quantification was done using LCA, attributing the climate impact to beef, milk, and other ES by economic allocation. This resulted in <1-48% and 11-31% of climate impacts being allocated to other ES, instead of beef and milk, respectively, affecting suckler farms most. The results were influenced by which payment schemes, representing different ES, that were included; when only payments directly related to livestock rearing were included, the difference in the climate impact was still large between farm types, while the difference decreased considerably when all environmental schemes were included. While emissions do not disappear, ES-corrected climate impact can potentially be useful as part of consumer communication or in decision-making, reducing the risk of overlooking ES provided by ruminant production in a simpler way than using separate indicators.

Why are biodiversity-ecosystem functioning relationships so elusive? Trophic interactions may amplify ecosystem function variability.

The relationship between biodiversity and ecosystem functions (BEFs) has attracted great interest. Studies on BEF have so far focused on the average trend of ecosystem function as species diversity increases. A tantalizing but rarely addressed question is why large variations in ecosystem functions are often observed across systems with similar species diversity, likely obscuring observed BEFs. Here we use a multi-trophic food web model in combination with empirical data to examine the relationships between species richness and the variation in ecosystem functions (VEFs) including biomass, metabolism, decomposition, and primary and secondary production. We then probe the mechanisms underlying these relationships, focusing on the role of trophic interactions. While our results reinforce the previously documented positive BEF relationships, we found that ecosystem functions exhibit significant variation within each level of species richness and the magnitude of this variation displays a hump-shaped relationship with species richness. Our analyses demonstrate that VEFs is reduced when consumer diversity increases through elevated nonlinearity in trophic interactions, and/or when the diversity of basal species such as producers and decomposers decreases. This explanation is supported by a 34-year empirical food web time series from the Gulf of Riga ecosystem. Our work suggests that biodiversity loss may not only result in ecosystem function decline, but also reduce the predictability of functions by generating greater function variability among ecosystems. It thus helps to reconcile the debate on the generality of positive BEF relationships and to disentangle the drivers of ecosystem stability. The role of trophic interactions and the variation in their strengths mediated by functional responses in shaping ecosystem function variation warrants further investigations and better incorporation into biodiversity-ecosystem functioning research.

Microfluidic Methods in Janus Particle Synthesis.

Janus particles have been at the center of attention over the years due to their asymmetric nature that makes them superior in many ways to conventional monophase particles. Several techniques have been reported for the synthesis of Janus particles; however, microfluidic-based techniques are by far the most popular due to their versatility, rapid prototyping, low reagent consumption and superior control over reaction conditions. In this review, we will go through microfluidic-based Janus particle synthesis techniques and highlight how recent advances have led to complex functionalities being imparted to the Janus particles.

The impacts of agroforestry on soil multi-functionality depending on practices and duration.

Agroforestry systems provide a wide range of soil multiple functions (that is, soil multi-functionality) to human society, including the regulation of nutrients and water in soils and the sequestration of atmospheric carbon dioxide, whereas how these effects varied with agroforestry practices and environmental conditions remain unclear. Here, by comparing the soil multi-functionality in agroforestry systems to forests through the field experiment and global scale meta-analysis, we tested, 1) how agroforestry affected soil multi-functionality in a single field study and at the global scale, 2) whether the effects of agroforestry on soil multi-functionality changed in different agroforestry practices, 3) whether the effects of agroforestry on soil multi-functionality varied with environmental conditions. Our study showed that most of the soil functions in agroforestry systems is higher than in forests at the global scale, but show no significant differences between agroforestry and planted forests in our field study. We also found that the effects of agroforestry on soil multi-functionality were varied with agroforestry practices, showing a greater positive in forest-herbage systems than in other practices. In addition, the positive effects of agroforestry on soil organic carbon and total phosphorus declined with the extension of experimental duration. Furthermore, our analysis found that climate conditions had a minor effect on the effects of agroforestry on soil functions. Our analysis revealing that the effects of agroforestry on soil functions depend on agroforestry practices, highlighting that the effects of agroforestry may be diminished with age, and suggesting that the evaluation of ecological impacts of agroforestry should be based on long-term experiments across multiple practices.

Engineered Cell Membrane-Derived Nanocarriers: The Enhanced Delivery System for Therapeutic Applications.

There has been a rapid development of biomimetic platforms using cell membranes as nanocarriers to camouflage nanoparticles for enhancing bio-interfacial capabilities. Various sources of cell membranes have been explored for natural functions such as circulation and targeting effect. Biomedical applications of cell membranes-based delivery systems are expanding from cancer to multiple diseases. However, the natural properties of cell membranes are still far from achieving desired functions and effects as a nanocarrier platform for various diseases. To obtain multi-functionality and multitasking in complex biological systems, various functionalized modifications of cell membranes are being developed based on physical, chemical, and biological methods. Notably, many research opportunities have been initiated at the interface of multi-technologies and cell membranes, opening a promising frontier in therapeutic applications. Herein, the current exploration of natural cell membrane functionality, the design principles for engineered cell membrane-based delivery systems, and the disease applications are reviewed, with a special focus on the emerging strategies in engineering approaches.

Internal causality in agri-food Life Cycle Assessments: Solving allocation problems based on feed energy utilization in egg production.

Physical allocation in Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) should, ideally, be based on underlying causal relationships. While both cause-oriented and effect-oriented causality referred to in LCA literature are forms of external causality, internal causality addresses the actual flow of materials and inputs in a system - in other words, the real behaviour of the system under study. While a number or examples of allocation based on physical causality have been used in poultry LCAs, none of these represent the internal causality (the actual biological processes) in egg production. The current study remedies that gap by proposing such a method. Agri-food LCAs, in particular LCAs of livestock production, were used to identify existing physical allocation approaches consistent with internal causality. The most commonly used approach was found to be based on the allocation of feed energy to support the various physiological functions of the livestock species. A feed energy - Metabolizable Energy (ME) - utilization model for allocation in egg production LCAs is hence similarly proposed. Using the inventory of a previous LCA study of egg production in Canada, allocation ratios for eggs and spent hens were developed. Feed utilization models specific to each unit process were identified. The overall differences between ME utilization (∼95% eggs, 5% spent hens) and gross chemical energy content (92% eggs, 8% spent hens) for allocation were relatively small. Scenario analysis, however, showed that the allocation ratios can be considerably different if the causal relationship is interpreted differently. Differences over ∼20% was seen in a scenario which did not allocate between the co-products of each unit process in the system, but rather to the products at the end of a biological causal chain straddling multiple unit processes. The proposed approach is consistent with the interpretation of LCA as a natural sciences framework, and with the ISO 14044 multi-functionality hierarchy, because it reflects actual biological causality in egg production systems. The study results also underscore that practitioners should not only clearly justify their choice of allocation strategy, but also describe its application in detail, since small differences in methods can result in divergent outcomes.

Lignin reinforced hydrogels with fast self-recovery, multi-functionalities via calcium ion bridging for flexible smart sensing applications.

Hydrogels have found applications in many different fields. However, poor mechanical properties, such as low elasticity and lack of rapid recovery under large deformation, can severely limit their applications. In this study, we developed lignin reinforced hydrogels made of calcium ion containing ternary polymers (lignosulfonate (LS), alginate (Alg), and polyacrylic acid (PAA)). The resultant hydrogel has excellent elasticity, rapid self-recovery, and multi-functionalities. The covalent PAA network acts as the elastic scaffold of hydrogel, while calcium bridging networks of LS, Alg, and PAA, as well as the strong hydrogen bonding network in the system, function as sacrifice bonds to dissipate energy and transfer stress. The PAA/LS/Alg/Ca hydrogels exhibit rapid and durable elastic recovery ability under large deformation with the highest compressive stress of 835 kPa (95% strain), highest tensile fracture stress of 357 kPa, and highest tensile strain of 1144%. In addition, these tough hydrogels show UV resistance, self-healing, antifreeze, and excellent electro-conductivity. When assembled into a strain sensor, stable and reliable electrical responses with 375 ms response time are demonstrated. The PAA/LS/Alg/Ca hydrogel strain sensors can monitor human movements with responsive and accurate physiological signals. These results support the conclusion that the PAA/LS/Alg/Ca hydrogel strain sensors have great application potential in flexible wearable electronics and smart devices.

Assessing the environmental and social co-benefits and disbenefits of natural risk management measures.

Risk management measures (RMM) participate in the sustainability of cities and communities through the protection of these socio-eco-environmental systems against threatening events, and by ensuring system recovery. They include structural measures that are grey or green/blue solutions, or hybrid solutions combining the two former types. These measures can provide environmental and social co-benefits (e.g., improved biodiversity, recreational services) and disbenefits (e.g., the development of unwanted flora, concentrations of pollutants). The aim of this article is to provide an approach to assess and compare RMMs by considering these different dimensions. An application to three natural hazards - floods, coastal floods and wildfires - is proposed. The approach takes the form of a procedure to assess the co-benefits/disbenefits of the various RMMs and some technical specifications. It allows comparing the performances of one RMM against another and collectively discussing the choice of RMMs that takes into account a wide range of dimensions. The approach is based on the formulation of eight sustainability criteria and thirty-one indicators. The results were graphically displayed as several types of diagram: one radar chart per RMM, compiling all the indicators; one radar chart by type of risk studied (flood, wildfire and coastal flooding) based on averages of indicators per criterion; a table of the global score assigned to each RMM calculated with an arithmetic mean or a weighted mean. The approach relies on an interdisciplinary research team and involves end-users in a focus group for the validation step. This approach constitutes a transparent base for decision-making processes in the context of sustainable spatial planning against natural risks.

Agroforestry trade-offs between biomass provision and aboveground carbon sequestration in the alpine Eisenwurzen region, Austria.

Mountain agroecosystems deliver essential ecosystem services to society but are prone to climate change as well as socio-economic pressures, making multi-functional land systems increasingly central to sustainable mountain land use policy. Agroforestry, the combination of woody vegetation with crops and/or livestock, is expected to simultaneously increase provisioning and regulating ecosystem services, but knowledge gaps concerning trade-offs exist especially in temperate industrialized and alpine regions. Here, we quantify the aboveground carbon (C) dynamics of a hypothetical agroforestry implementation in the Austrian long-term socio-ecological research region Eisenwurzen from 2020 to 2050. We develop three land use scenarios to differentiate conventional agriculture from an immediate and a gradual agroforestry implementation, integrate data from three distinct models (Yield-SAFE, SECLAND, MIAMI), and advance the socio-ecological indicator framework Human Appropriation of Net Primary Production (HANPP) to assess trade-offs between biomass provision and carbon sequestration. Results indicate that agroforestry strongly decreases HANPP because of a reduction in biomass harvest by up to - 47% and a simultaneous increase in actual net primary production by up to 31%, with a large amount of carbon sequestered in perennial biomass by up to 3.4 t C ha-1 yr-1. This shows that a hypothetical transition to agroforestry in the Eisenwurzen relieves the agroecosystem from human-induced pressure but results in significant trade-offs between biomass provision and carbon sequestration. We thus conclude that while harvest losses inhibit large-scale implementation in intensively used agricultural regions, agroforestry constitutes a valuable addition to sustainable land use policy, in particular when affecting extensive pastures and meadows in alpine landscapes. SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1007/s10113-021-01794-y.