Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in
Book cover

Carbon Sequestration Potential of Agroforestry Systems pp 17–42Cite as

Carbon Sequestration Potential of Agroforestry Practices in Temperate North America

  • Chapter
  • First Online:

Part of the book series: Advances in Agroforestry ((ADAG,volume 8))

Abstract

Agroforestry, an ecologically and environmentally sustainable land use, offers great promise to sequester carbon (C). The objectives of this chapter are to (1) provide a review of C sequestration opportunities available under various agroforestry practices in temperate North America, and (2) estimate C sequestration potential by agroforestry in the US. Since accurate land area under agroforestry was not available, the potential C sequestration was estimated based on several assumptions about the area under different agroforestry practices in the US: 1.69 million ha under riparian buffer, 17.9 million ha (10% of total cropland) under alley cropping, and 78 million ha under silvopasture (23.7 million ha or 10% of pasture land and 54 million ha of grazed forests). Based on these, we estimated C sequestration potential for riparian buffers, alley cropping, and silvopasture in the US as 4.7, 60.9, and 474 Tg C year–1, respectively. Establishment of windbreaks to protect cropland and farmstead could sequester another 8.79 Tg C year–1. Thus, the potential for C sequestration under agroforestry systems in the US is estimated as 548.4 Tg year–1. The C sequestered by agroforestry could help offset current US emission rate of 1,600 Tg C year–1 from burning fossil fuel (coal, oil, and gas) by 34%. These preliminary estimates indicate the important role of agroforestry as a promising CO2 mitigation strategy in the US, and possibly in other parts of North America. The analysis also reveals the need for long-term C sequestration research in all regions and for all agroforestry practices, establishment of standardized protocols for C quantification and monitoring, inventory of agroforestry practices, development of models to understand long-term C sequestration, and development of agroforestry design criteria for optimum C sequestration for all regions.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution.

Chapter
USD   29.95
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
eBook
USD   259.00
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as EPUB and PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
Softcover Book
USD   329.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Compact, lightweight edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info
Hardcover Book
USD   329.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Durable hardcover edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info

Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout

Purchases are for personal use only

Learn about institutional subscriptions

References

  • Balian E, Naiman RJ (2005) Abundance and production of dominant riparian trees in the lowland floodplain of the Queets River, Washington. Ecosystems 8:841–861

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Bambrick AD, Whalen JK, Bradley RL, Cogliastro A, Gordon AM, Olivier A, Thevathasan NV (2010) Spatial heterogeneity of soil organic carbon in tree-based intercropping systems in Quebec and Ontario, Canada. Agroforest Syst 79:343–353

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Benfield EF (1997) Comparison of litterfall inputs to streams. J North Am Benthol Soc 16:104–108

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Boggs K, Weaver T (1994) Changes in vegetation and nutrient pools during riparian succession. Wetlands 14:98–109

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Brandle JR, Wardle TD, Bratton GF (1992) Opportunities to increase tree planting in shelterbelts and the potential impacts on carbon storage and conservation. In: Sampson RN, Hair D (eds.) Forest and global change, Vol 1. Opportunities for Increasing Forest Cover. American Forests, Washington, DC, pp 157–176

    Google Scholar 

  • Brandle JR, Hodges L, Zhou XH (2004) Windbreaks in North American agricultural systems. Agroforest Syst 61:65–78

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Brandle JR, Hodges L, Tyndall J, Sudmeyer RA (2009) Windbreak practices. In: Garrett HE (ed.) North American Agroforestry, an integrated science and practice, 2nd edn. American Society of Agronomy, Madison, pp 75–104

    Google Scholar 

  • CAST (Council for Agricultural Science and Technology) (2004) Climate change and greenhouse gas mitigation: challenges and opportunities for agriculture. Ames, Ames

    Google Scholar 

  • Clason TR, Sharrow SH (2000) Silvopastural practices. In: Garrett HE, Rietveld WJ, Fisher RF (eds.) North American Agroforestry: An integrated science and practice. American Society of Agronomy, Madison, pp 119–147

    Google Scholar 

  • Conner WH, Gosselink JG, Parrondo RT (1981) Comparison of vegetation of three Louisiana swamp sites with different flooding regimes. Am J Bot 68:320–331

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Derner JD, Schuman GE (2007) Carbon sequestration and rangelands: a synthesis of land management and precipitation effects. J Soil Water Conserv 62:77–85

    Google Scholar 

  • Dixon RK (1995) Agroforestry systems: sources or sinks of greenhouse gases? Agroforest Syst 31:99–116

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Dwyer JP, Wallace DC, Larsen RD (1997) Value of woody river corridors in levee protection along the Missouri River in 1993. J Am Water Res Assoc 33(2):481–489

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Franzluebbers AJ (2005) Soil organic carbon sequestration and agricultural greenhouse gas emission in the southeastern U.S. Soil Till Res 83:120–147

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Garrett HE, McGraw RL, Walter WD (2009) Alley cropping practices. In: Garrett HE (ed.) North American Agroforestry: An integrated science and practice, 2nd edn. American Society of Agronomy, Madison, pp 133–162

    Google Scholar 

  • Giese LAB, Aust WM, Kolka RK, Trettin CC (2003) Biomass and carbon pools of disturbed riparian forests. For Ecol Manag 180:493–508

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Gold MA, Garrett HE (2009) Agroforestry nomenclature, concepts, and practices. In: Garrett HE (ed.) North American Agroforestry: An integrated science and practice, 2nd edn. American Society of Agronomy, Madison, pp 45–55

    Google Scholar 

  • Haile SG, Nair PKR, Nair VD (2008) Carbon storage of different soil-size fractions in Florida silvopastoral systems. J Environ Qual 37:1789–1797

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Haile SG, Nair VD, Nair PKR (2010) Contribution of trees to carbon storage in soils of silvopastoral systems in Florida, USA. Glob Change Biol 16:427–438

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Harner MJ, Stanfoord JA (2003) Differences in cottonwood growth between a losing and a gaining reach of an alluvial floodplain. Ecology 84:1453–1458

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hazlett PW, Gordon AM, Sibley PK, Buttle JM (2005) Stand carbon stocks and soil carbon and nitrogen storage for riparian and upland forests of boreal lakes in northeastern Ontario. For Ecol Manag 219:56–68

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hoover CM, Heath LS (2011) Potential gains in carbon storage on productive forestlands in northeastern USA through stocking management. Ecol Appl. doi:10.1890/10-0046.1

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Houghton RA, Hackler JL (2000) Changes in terrestrial carbon storage in the United States. 1. The role of agriculture and forestry. Glob Ecol Biogeogr 9:125–144

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • IPCC (2007) Intergovernmental panel on climate change 2007. Synthesis report. Available at http://www.ipcc.ch/pdf/assessment-report/ar4/syr/ar4_syr.pdf. Accessed 25 Jan 2011

  • Jones RH, Lockaby BG, Somers GL (1996) Effects of micro-topography and disturbance on fine root dynamics in wetland forests of low-order stream floodplains. Am Midl Nat 136:57–71

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Jose S (2009) Agroforestry for ecosystem services and environmental benefits: an overview. Agroforest Syst 76:1–10

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Jose S, Gillespie AR, Seifert JR, Pope PE (2001) Comparison of minirhizotron and soil core methods for quantifying root biomass in a temperate alley cropping system. Agroforest Syst 52:161–168

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Jose S, Gillespie AR, Pallardy SG (2004) Interspecific interactions in temperate agroforestry. Agroforest Syst 61:237–255

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Kiley DK, Schneider RL (2005) Riparian roots through time, space and disturbance. Plant Soil 269:259–272

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Kim D, Isenhart TM, Parkin TB, Schultz RC, Loynachan TE (2010) Methane flux in cropland and adjacent riparian buffers with different vegetation covers. J Environ Qual 39:97–105

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Kort J, Turnock R (1999) Carbon reservoir and biomass in Canadian prairie shelterbelts. Agroforest Syst 44:175–186

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Kumar S, Udawatta RP, Anderson SH (2010) Root length density and carbon content of agroforestry and grass buffers under grazed pasture systems in a Hapludalf. Agroforest Syst 80:85–96

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Lal R, Kimble JM, Follett RF, Cole CV (1999) The potential for US crop land to sequester carbon and mitigate the greenhouse effect. Lewis Publ, Boca Raton, pp 55–82

    Google Scholar 

  • Lee JL, Dodson R (1996) Potential carbon sequestration by afforestation of pasture in south-central United States. Agroclimatology 88:381–384

    Google Scholar 

  • Lee KH, Jose S (2003) Soil respiration and microbial biomass in a pecan-cotton alley cropping system in southern USA. Agroforest Syst 58:45–54

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Lowrance R, Leonard R, Sheridan J (1985) Managing riparian ecosystems to control nonpoint source pollution. J Soil Water Conserv 40:87–91

    Google Scholar 

  • Lubowski RN, Vesterby M, Bucholtz S, Baez A, Roberts MJ (2006) Major uses of land in the United States, 2002. USDA economic research service. Econ Inf Bull EIB 14:54 p

    Google Scholar 

  • Marquez CO, Cambardella CA, Isenhart TM, Schultz RC (1999) Assessing soils quality in a riparian buffer by testing organic matter fractions in central Iowa, USA. Agroforest Syst 44:133–140

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Montagnini F, Nair PKR (2004) Carbon sequestration: an underexploited environmental benefit of agroforestry systems. Agroforest Syst 61:281–295

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Morgan JA, Follett RF, Allen LH, Grosso SD, Derner JD, Dijkstra F, Franzluebbers A, Fry R, Paustian K, Schoeneberger MM (2010) Carbon sequestration in agricultural land of the United States. J Soil Water Conserv 65:6A–13A

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Naiman RJ, Decamps H, McClain ME (2005) Structural patterns. In: Naiman RJ, Decamps H, McClain ME (eds.) Riparia: ecology, conservation, and management of streamside communities. Elsevier, New York, pp 79–123

    Google Scholar 

  • Nair PKR, Nair VD (2003) Carbon storage in North American agroforestry systems. In: Kimble JM, Heath LS, Birdsey RA, Lal R (eds.) The potential of U.S. Forest soils to sequester carbon and mitigate the greenhouse effect. CRC Press, Boca Raton, pp 333–346

    Google Scholar 

  • Nair PKR, Gordon AM, Mosquera-Losada MR (2008) Agroforestry. In: Jorgenson SE, Faith BD (eds.) Encyclopedia of ecology. Elsevier, Oxford, pp 101–110

    Chapter  Google Scholar 

  • Nair PKR, Kumar BM, Nair VD (2009) Agroforestry as a strategy for carbon sequestration. J Plant Nutr Soil Sci 172:10–23

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Nair PKR, Nair VD, Kumar BM, Showalter JM (2010) Carbon sequestration in agroforestry systems. Adv Agron 108:237–307

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • NRCS (2007) Riparian forest buffer code 391. Natural resources conservation service, conservation practice standard. Available at http://efotg.sc.egov.usda.gov//references/public/NE/NE391.pdf. Accessed Jan 2011

  • Oelbermann M (2002) Linking carbon inputs to sustainable agriculture in Canadian and Costa Rican agroforestry systems. PhD Dissertation, Dept Land Res Sci, University of Guelph, Canada, 208 p

    Google Scholar 

  • Oelbermann M, Voroney RP, Kass DCL, Schlönvoigt AM (2006a) Soil carbon and nitrogen dynamics using stable isotopes in 19- and 10-yr old tropical agroforestry systems. Geoderma 130:356–367

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Oelbermann M, Voroney RP, Thevathasan NV, Gordon AM, Kass DCL, Schlönvoigt AM (2006b) Soil carbon dynamics and residue stabilization in a Costa Rican and southern Canadian alley cropping system. Agroforest Syst 68:27–36

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Pallardy SG, Gibbins DE, Rhoads JL (2003) Biomass production by two-year-old poplar clones on floodplain sites in the lower Midwest, USA. Agroforest Syst 59:21–26

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Paudel BR, Udawatta RP, Kremer RJ, Anderson SH (2011) Agroforestry and grass buffer effects on soil quality parameters for grazed pasture and row-crop systems. Applied Soil Ecol 48:132–152

    Google Scholar 

  • Peichl M, Thevathasan NV, Gordon AM, Huss J, Abohassan RA (2006) Carbon sequestration potentials in temperate tree-based intercropping systems. southern Ontario, Canada. Agroforest Syst 66:243–257

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Piedade MTF, Worbes W, Junk WJ (2001) Geological controls of elemental fluxes in communities of higher plants in Amazonian floodplanes. In: McClain ME, Victoria RL, Richey JE (eds.) The biogeochemistry of Amazonian Basin. Oxford University Press, New York, pp 209–234

    Google Scholar 

  • Qiu Z, Prato T (2001) Physical determinants of economic value of riparian buffers in an agricultural watershed. J Am Water Res Assoc 37:295–303

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Reed D (2007) Economic and social benefits of soil carbon management: policy implications and ­recommendations. In: Kimble JM (ed.) Soil carbon management. CRC Press, New York, pp 13–43

    Chapter  Google Scholar 

  • Rhoades CC, Nissen TM, Kettler JS (1998) Soil nitrogen dynamics in alley cropping and no-till systems on ultisols of Georgia Piedmont, USA. Agroforest Syst 39:31–44

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Sanchez PA (2000) Linking climate change research with food security and poverty reduction in the tropics. Agric Ecosyst Environ 82:371–383

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Sauer TJ, Cambardella CA, Brandle JR (2007) Soil carbon and litter dynamics in a red cedar-scotch pine shelterbelt. Agroforest Syst 71:163–174

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Schoeneberger MM (2009) Agroforestry: working trees for sequestering carbon on agricultural lands. Agroforest Syst 75:27–37

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Schroeder P (1994) Carbon storage benefits of agroforestry systems. Agroforest Syst 27:89–97

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Schultz RC, Isenhart TM, Colletti JP, Simpkins WW, Udawatta RP, Schultz PL (2009) Riparian and upland buffer practices. In: Garrett HE (ed.) North American agroforestry, an integrated science and practice, 2nd edn. American Society of Agronomy, Madison, pp 163–218

    Google Scholar 

  • Sharrow SH, Ismail S (2004) Carbon and nitrogen storage in agroforests, tree plantations, and pastures in western Oregon, USA. Agroforest Syst 60:123–130

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Sharrow SH, Brauer D, Clason TR (2009) Silvopastural practices. In: Garrett HE (ed.) North American agroforestry: An integrated science and practice, 2nd edn. American Society of Agronomy, Madison, pp 105–131

    Google Scholar 

  • Smith P, Martono D, Cai Z, Gwary D, Janzen H, Kumar P, McCarl B, Olge S, O’Mara F, Rice C, Scholes B, Sirotenko O (2007) Agriculture. In: Metz B, Davidson OR, Bosch PR, Dave R, Meyer LA (eds.) Climate change 2007: mitigation. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, UK, pp 497–540

    Google Scholar 

  • Steinbeiss S, Bessler H, Engels C, Temperton VM, Buchmanns N, Roscher C, Kreutziger Y, Baade J, Habekost M, Gleixner G (2008) Plant diversity positively affects short-term soil carbon storage in experimental grasslands. Glob Change Biol 14:2937–2949

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Thevathasan NV, Gordon AM (1997) Poplar leaf biomass distribution and nitrogen dynamics in a poplar-barley intercropped system in southern Ontario, Canada. Agroforest Syst 37:79–90

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Thevathasan NV, Gordon AM (2004) Ecology of tree intercropping systems in the north temperate region: experiences from southern Ontario, Canada. Agroforest Syst 61:257–268

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Tufekcioglu A, Raich JW, Isenhart TM, Schultz RC (1999) Fine root dynamics, coarse root biomass, root distribution, and soils respiration in a multispecies riparian buffer in Central Iowa, USA. Agroforest Syst 44:163–174

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Tufekcioglu A, Raich JW, Isenhart TM, Schultz RC (2001) Soil respiration within riparian buffers and adjacent crop fields. Plant Soil 229:117–124

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Tufekcioglu A, Raich JW, Isenhart TM, Schultz RC (2003) Biomass, carbon and nitrogen dynamics of multi-species riparian buffers within an agricultural watershed in Iowa, USA. Agroforest Syst 57:187–198

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Turnock B (2001) The carbon sequestration potential of prairie and their contribution to a national greenhouse gas mitigation strategy. In: Schroeder W, Kort JK (eds.) Temperate agroforestry: adaptive and mitigation role in a changing physical and socioeconomic climate. Proceedings 7th Biennial conference. on agroforestry in North America and the 6th annual conference plains and prairie forestry association, Saskatchewan, 13–15 Aug 2001, pp 27–33

    Google Scholar 

  • Udawatta RP, Godsey LD (2010) Agroforestry comes of age: putting science into practice. Agroforest Syst 79:1–4

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Udawatta RP, Nygren PO, Garrett HE (2005) Growth of three oak species during establishment in an agroforestry practice for watershed protection. Can J For Res 35:602–609

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Udawatta RP, Kremer RJ, Adamson BW, Anderson SH (2008) Variations in soil aggregate stability and enzyme activities in a temperate agroforestry practice. Appl Soil Ecol 39:153–160

    Google Scholar 

  • Udawatta RP, Kremer RJ, Garrett HE, Anderson SH (2009) Soil enzyme activities and physical properties in a watershed managed under agroforestry and row-crop system. Agric Ecosyst Environ 131:98–104

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • USDA NRCS (2003) USDA natural resources conservation service. Annual NRI-Land use. Available at http://www.nrcs.usda.gov/technical/NRI. Accessed 28 May 2010

  • USDA NASS (2008) Crop production. Historical track records. April 2008. USDA national agricultural statistics service, Washington DC. Available at http://usda.mannlib.cornell.edu/usda/nass/htrcp//2000s/2008/htrcp-04-30-2008.pdf. Accessed Feb 2011

  • USEPA (US Environmental Protection Agency) (2010) Water quality assessment and total maximum daily loads information: National summery of state information. Available at http://iaspub.epa.gov/waters10/attains_nation_cy.control. Accessed 28 May 2010

  • Watson RT, Noble IR, Bolin B, Ravindranathan NR, Verardo DJ, Dokken DJ (2000) IPCC special report on landuse, land use change, and forestry. Available at http://www.rida.no/climate/ipcc/land_use/. Accessed 28 May 2010

  • Welsh DJ (1991) Riparian forest buffers: function and design for protection and enhancement of water resources. NA-PR-07-91, USDA forest service, Radnor, PA

    Google Scholar 

  • Young A (1997) Agroforestry for soil management. CAB International, Wallingford, UK, 297 p

    Google Scholar 

Download references

Acknowledgements

The authors express their sincere gratitude to Dr. P.K.R. Nair and three anonymous reviewers for their comments on an earlier version of the manuscript. We also thank Yarrow Titus for her help during the development of this chapter.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Soil, Environmental and Atmospheric Sciences, School of Natural Resources, University of Missouri, 203 ABNR, Columbia, MO, 65211, USA

    Ranjith P. Udawatta

  2. The Center for Agroforestry, School of Natural Resources, University of Missouri, Columbia, MO, 65211, USA

    Ranjith P. Udawatta

  3. The Center for Agroforestry, School of Natural Resources, University of Missouri, 203 ABNR, Columbia, MO, 65211, USA

    Shibu Jose

Authors
  1. Ranjith P. Udawatta
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Shibu Jose
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Ranjith P. Udawatta .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Kau Po, Thrissur, Kerala,, 680 656, India

    B. Mohan Kumar

  2. School of Forest Resources &, Conservation, University of Florida, Newins-Ziegler Hall 351, Gainesville, 32611-0410, Florida, USA

    P. K. Ramachandran Nair

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

Copyright information

© 2011 Springer Science+Business Media B.V.

About this chapter

Cite this chapter

Udawatta, R.P., Jose, S. (2011). Carbon Sequestration Potential of Agroforestry Practices in Temperate North America. In: Kumar, B., Nair, P. (eds) Carbon Sequestration Potential of Agroforestry Systems. Advances in Agroforestry, vol 8. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-007-1630-8_2

Download citation

Publish with us

Policies and ethics

Search

Navigation