Tropentag, September 11 - 13, 2024, Vienna "Explore opportunities... for managing natural resources and a better life for all"

Comparison of the amount of carbon sequestered in different land use in the Amazon highland

¹Mendel University in Brno, Dept. of Forest Botany, Dendrology and Geobiocenology, Czech Republic
²GITEC-IGIP GmbH, Dept. Climate and Natural Resources, Germany

Abstract

The Andean tropical mountain forest includes many types of ecosystems, which, to some extent, are capable of carbon sequestration. With ongoing climate change, it is very important to understand the global carbon cycle better. This study aims to assess carbon sequestered in different land use (coffee agroforestry systems, tropical cloud forests, and pastures) in the Peruvian Amazon highland. From coffee agroforestry systems (CAS), three smallholders with Coffea arabica and different shading trees (Pinus tecunumannii, P. oocarpa, P. patula, and Inga spp.), with average density of 251 ± 157 trees ha^-1, were selected. These agroforestry plantations were compared to secondary grown sparce forest stands, which represent the regional vegetation of the studied area, with average density of 220 ± 76 trees ha^-1. Pastures were composed of Setaria spp. and Cynodon nlemfuensis.
In total, 77 study plots on 8 transects were compared. Location, total tree height and diameter at breast height (1,3 m; DBH ≥ 5 cm) were recorded. To estimate aboveground biomass and carbon, allometric equations were used. Root biomass was estimated with an equation by Cairns et al. (1997).
The results varied across different land use types. In pastures, the total carbon amount was estimated on 12,71 Mg ha^-1.
The evaluation of soil carbon stocks (within the depth of 30 cm) was determined based on soil analysis using a Soli-TOC device (Elementar, Langenselbold Germany), where carbon (TOC) was determined by thermal differentiation (DIN19539 method). Soil carbon stocks were highest in forest stands in the upper soil layers. At lower depths (20–30 cm) the difference between the studied ecosystems was no longer registered.

Keywords: Agroforestry, carbon, carbon sequestration, climate change, coffee, land use, Peru

Contact Address: Karolína Chalupová, Mendel University in Brno, Dept. of Forest Botany, Dendrology and Geobiocenology, Zemědělská 3, 613 00 Brno, Czech Republic, e-mail: xchalup4mendelu.cz