Research Archive

Quantification and comparison of shelterbelt carbon stocks within and between an organic mixed-cropping farm and a conventional dairy farm

Research Archive

Quantification and comparison of shelterbelt carbon stocks within and between an organic mixed-cropping farm and a conventional dairy farm

Welsch, Johannes ; Hale, Roderick J. ; Buckley, Hannah L. ; Case, Bradley S.
Type: Journal Article
Permalink: https://hdl.handle.net/10182/7497
Originally published: 2016 by New Zealand Natural Sciences and available at https://sites.google.com/site/nznaturalsciences/
Keywords: above-ground; below-ground; carbon stocks; groecosystem; Macrocarpa; Pinus; Populus; shelterbelt; variability; native
Fields of Research: 05 Environmental Sciences; 06 Biological Sciences

Abstract:

Although woody ecosystems provide a key carbon sink to compensate for current and future greenhouse gas emissions, the potential utility of such sinks within agroecosystems has not yet been fully investigated. We quantified shelterbelt carbon variability, within above- and below-ground pools, for two contrasting farms: a conventional dairy farm and an organic mixed-cropping farm. Shelterbelts comprised deciduous, evergreen and mixed-native species occurring on silt loams, as well as adjacent paddock soils for comparison. Considering all above- and below-ground components, woody shelterbelts contained up to fifteen times more carbon (>600 t C ha-1) than sampled paddock soils (c. 45 t C ha-1). Carbon quantities within organic farm shelterbelt soils were 2.5 times higher than dairy farm soils, suggesting a potential land use effect. Soil carbon comprised about 10 % of total ecosystem carbon within shelterbelts. This study indicates that farm shelterbelts can serve a role as relevant carbon sinks within New Zealand agroecosystems.

Show full item record

Files in this item

[PDF]
Name: Welsch et al. 2016 ...
Size: 1.439Mb
Format: PDF
Description: Published PDF version

This item appears in the following Collection(s)

Search Research Archive


Browse

My Account

Statistics