Abstract

ESPINOZA-DOMINGUEZ, William; KRISHNAMURTHY, L; VAZQUEZ-ALARCON, Antonio  and  TORRES-RIVERA, Antonio. Carbon stocks in agroforestry systems with coffee plantations. Rev. Chapingo ser. cienc. for. ambient [online]. 2012, vol.18, n.1, pp.57-70. ISSN 2007-4018.  https://doi.org/10.5154/r.rchscfa.2011.04.030.

This study was conducted with the aim of estimating carbon stocks in coffee-based agroforestry systems (AFS) in the Huatusco region, a major coffee (Coffea arabica L.) producing area in the state of Veracruz, Mexico, in order to obtain quantitative data on the carbon mitigation potential of major agroforestry systems in that region. To this end, carbon stocks were estimated for plant biomass and soil organic matter in the following agroforestry systems: coffee-banana, coffee-macadamia, coffee-pink cedar, coffee-sheep and coffee-Inga spuria, as well as a primary forest and a grazing land for comparative purposes. The samples were collected from 4 x 25 m (100 m²) plots for tree biomass, herbs and litter; for soil, the sampling depth was 0 to 30 cm. The highest amount of aboveground carbon, estimated using allometric models, was recorded for coffee-pink cedar (Co + Ce), with 114 Mg C·ha^-1, followed in descending order by: coffee-macadamia (Co + Ma), with 34 C Mg·ha^-1; coffee-Inga spuria (Co + In), with 29 C Mg·ha^-1; coffee-banana (Co + Ba), with 27 Mg C·ha^-1; and lastly the grazing land (G) with 2 Mg C·ha^-1. For soil organic carbon, the Co + Ce treatment had the highest amount with 58 Mg C·ha^-1, while the grazing land (G) had the lowest with 50 Mg C·ha^-1. As far as total organic carbon is concerned, the maximum amount of 172 Mg C·ha^-1 was found in Co + Ce and the minimum, 65 Mg C·ha^-1, in the grazing land. In conclusion, among the coffee-based systems studied, the average carbon stock is 102 Mg C·ha^-1, compared to 52 Mg C·ha^-1 for the grazing land and 355 Mg C·ha^-1 for the primary forest, which stores the most total carbon.

Keywords : Carbon stock; coffee plantation; agroforestry systems; soil carbon; Mexico.

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