Abstract

MOLINA-ALVARADO, Daniel et al. Soil Organic Carbon Storage in Coffee Agroforestry Systems: A review. Terra Latinoam [online]. 2025, vol.43, e2195.  Epub Feb 12, 2026. ISSN 2395-8030.  https://doi.org/10.28940/terra.v43i.2195.

Agroforestry systems (AFS) are sustainable production alternatives that efficiently store more carbon than crop monoculture. However, the simplification of AFS, in terms of canopy structure and species diversity, affects their carbon sequestration capacity. This work aimed to assess the soil organic carbon (SOC) stocks of coffee agroforestry systems with distinctive shade gradients at 0-30 and 30-100 cm depths in different regions of the world. A literature review on SOC storage in coffee agroforestry systems at the global level was carried out. The coffee production systems were classified into three groups according to the shade gradient: traditional system (TS) with dense shade, specialized system (SS) with medium shade, and full-sun system (FSS) with no shade trees. TS stored 95 Mg SOC ha-1 at 0-30 cm depth, followed by SS with 83 Mg ha-1, and FSS with 69 Mg ha-1. At 30-100 cm, TS stored 224 Mg ha-1, SS 186 Mg ha-1, and in FSS 126 Mg ha-1. The coffee AFS in the tropical region has an average of 76 Mg SOC ha-1 at 0-30 cm depth and 170 Mg ha-1 at 30-100 cm. The AFS in the temperate region stored an average of 74 Mg ha-1 at 0-30 cm and 115 Mg ha-1 at 30-100 cm. The global median SOC stock of coffee AFS was 253 Mg SOC ha-1 to one-meter depth. Our study highlighted that the density of shade trees in coffee AFS significantly affects SOC storage, especially in the subsoil. Reinforcing the importance of coffee AFS for storing SOC and mitigating climate change, this review highlights the need to study SOC at deeper soil profiles to fully understand the variation in soil carbon sequestration capacity of the diverse coffee agroforestry systems around the world.

Keywords : agroecosystem; climate change mitigation; global meta-analysis; organic matter; tree cover.

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