CARBON UNDER NATIVE FOREST AND ADJACENT LAND USE SYSTEMS AT GERA, JIMMA ZONE, SOUTH-WEST ETHIOPIA WONDO GENET COLLEGE OF FORESTRY AND NATURAL RESOURCES SCHOOL OF GRADUATE STUDIES (original) (raw)

Biomass and Soil Carbon Stocks of Selected Agroforestry practice and cultivated land, in Tehuledere District, South Wollo Zone, Ethiopia

This study has examined biomass and soil carbon stocks potential of different agroforestry practice home garden and woodlot and cultivated land in Tehuledere District, south wollo Zone, Ethiopia. A total of 60 sample plots (20 plots each) of 20m x 20m were randomly selected. AGB and BGB were calculated using available allometric equations. A total of 120 Soil samples (0–20 and 20–40 cm) were also collected from selected cultivated lands. The results showed that the total ecosystem carbon stock in home garden and woodlot agroforestry practice was estimated 100.4 and 72.9 Mg C ha− 1 respectively. SOC stock was significantly different among the studied land uses. The highest SOC stock was recorded in home garden agroforestry practice (94.2 Mg C ha− 1) followed by cultivated land (73 Mg C ha− 1) and woodlot agroforestry practice (68 Mg C ha− 1).The total ecosystem carbon stock ranged between (55 MgC ha− 1 -140 MgC ha− 1). Home garden holds the highest contribution for both biomass and S...

Soil Carbon in Agroforestry Systems: An Unexplored Treasure?

Nature Precedings, 2009

Soil organic matter (SOM), which contains more reactive organic carbon (C) than any other single terrestrial pool, plays a major role in determining C storage in ecosystems and regulating atmospheric concentrations of carbon dioxide (CO2)^1^. Agroforestry, the practice of growing trees and crops in interacting combinations on the same unit of land^2^, primarily by resource-poor smallholder farmers in developing countries, is recognized as a strategy for soil carbon sequestration (SCS) under the Clean Development Mechanism (CDM) of the Kyoto Protocol^3^. The understanding about C storage and dynamics under agroforestry systems (AFS), however, is minimal. Our studies under various AFS in diverse ecological conditions in five countries showed that tree-based agricultural systems, compared to treeless systems, stored more C in deeper soil layers up to 1 m depth under comparable conditions. More C is stored in soil near the tree than away from the tree; higher SOC content is associated w...

Conversion of degraded agricultural landscapes to a smallholder agroforestry system and carbon sequestration in drylands

International Journal of Climate Change Strategies and Management, 2018

Purpose This paper aims at providing the evidence about how carbon sequestration in terrestrial ecosystems could contribute to the decrease of atmospheric CO2 rates through the adoption of appropriate cropping systems such as agroforestry. Design/methodology/approach Stratified randomly selected plots were used to collect data on tree diameter at breast height (DBH). Composite soil samples were collected from three soil depths for soil carbon analysis. Above ground biomass estimation was made using an allometric equation. The spectral signature of each plot was extracted to study the statistical relationship between carbon stock and selected vegetation indices. Findings There was a significant difference in vegetation and soil carbon stocks among the different land use/land cover types (P < 0.05). The potential carbon stock was highest in the vegetation found in sparsely cultivated land (13.13 ± 1.84 tons ha−1) and in soil in bushland (19.21 ± 3.79 tons ha−1). Carbon sequestratio...