Carbon sequestration in semiarid rangelands: Comparison of Pinus ponderosa plantations and grazing exclusion in NW Patagonia

NOSETTO MD; JOBBÁGY EG; PARUELO JM

JOURNAL OF ARID ENVIRONMENTS

Elsevier

Lugar: Oxford; Año: 2006 vol. 67 p. 142 - 142

0140-1963

font face="AdvTimes" size="1"> The large global extension of arid and semi-arid regions together with their widespread degradation give these areas a high potential to sequester carbon. We explored the possibilities of semi-arid ecosystems to sequester carbon by means of rangeland exclusion and afforestation with Pinus ponderosa in NW Patagonia (Argentina). We sampled all pools where organic carbon accumulates in a network of five trios of adjacent grazed, non-grazed and afforested stands (age: 12–25 years, density 605–1052 trees ha1). After 15 years since trees were planted, afforestation added 50% more C to the initial ecosystem carbon pool, with annual sequestration rate ranging 0.5–3.3MgCha