Contribution of agroforests to landscape carbon storage

Author(s)

Schroth, Gotz ; Bede, Lucio C. ^[1] ; Paiva, Artur O. ^[2] ; Cassano, Camila R. ^{[3, 4]} ; Amorim, Andre M. ^{[3, 5]} ; Faria, Deborah ^[3] ; Mariano-Neto, Eduardo ^[6] ; Martini, Adriana M. Z. ^[7] ; Sambuichi, Regina H. R. ^[8] ; Lobo, Renato N. ^[9]

Affiliation

^[1] Inst Terra Brasilis, BR-31010060 Belo Horizonte, MG - Brazil

^[2] WWF Brazil, BR-71620430 Brasilia, DF - Brazil

^[3] Univ Estadual Santa Cruz, Dept Biol Sci, BR-45662900 Ilheus, BA - Brazil

^[4] Inst Socioenvironm Studies Southern Bahia, BR-45650015 Ilheus, BA - Brazil

^[5] CEPLAC, Herbarium CEPEC, BR-45600970 Itabuna, BA - Brazil

^[6] Univ Fed Bahia, Inst Biol, BR-40170115 Salvador, BA - Brazil

^[7] Univ Sao Paulo, Dept Ecol, Inst Biosci, BR-05508900 Sao Paulo, SP - Brazil

^[8] Inst Appl Econ Res, BR-70076900 Brasilia, DF - Brazil

^[9] Difusao Consulting Ltd, BR-70340907 Brasilia, DF - Brazil

• Document type: Journal article
• Source: MITIGATION AND ADAPTATION STRATEGIES FOR GLOBAL CHANGE; v. 20, n. 7, p. 1175-1190, OCT 2015.
• Web of Science Citations: 14

Abstract

While many studies have measured the carbon (C) stocks of traditional agroforests at the plot level, their contribution to overall landscape C storage has rarely been quantified. Here we demonstrate the significant contribution that traditional agroforests with shaded tree crops can make to landscape C storage, and thus climate change mitigation, focusing on the cocoa (Theobroma cacao) agroforests (locally known as cabrucas) of southern Bahia, Brazil. Using published allometric relationships and tree inventories of 55 shaded cocoa farms, 6 mature forests, 8 disturbed forests and 7 fallows, we calculate average aboveground C stocks of 87 and 46 Mg ha(-1) in traditional and intensified cocoa agroforests, respectively, 183 Mg ha(-1) in old-growth forests, 102 Mg ha(-1) in disturbed forests and 33 Mg ha(-1) in fallows. Based on the most recent land cover data available, we estimate that cocoa agroforests hold 59 % of the total aboveground C stocks of the tree dominated vegetation in this landscape, while forests hold 32 % and fallows hold 9 %. Carbon stocks of intensified cocoa agroforestry systems were only little over one-half of those of traditional agroforests, indicating a threat to landscape C stocks from current land use trends. We show that in agroforests as in natural forests, C stocks are highly concentrated in the largest trees. This suggests that the intensification of traditional agroforests, which generally involves increasing the density of cocoa and other tree crops and reducing the density of shade trees, is possible without greatly affecting their C storage if large trees are conserved. In order to conserve the climate stabilizing effect of traditional agroforests and steer necessary intensification measures towards climate-friendly solutions, we suggest that biodiversity and C-rich traditional agroforests should be included in current discussions about Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and Forest Degradation (REDD+) and/or their owners be rewarded for their environmental services through other incentive mechanisms. (AU)