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Can Coarse Woody Debris Be Used for Carbon Storage in Open Grazed Woodlands?
Author(s) -
Macdonald B. C. T.,
Gillen J.,
Tuomi S.,
Newport J.,
Barton P. S.,
Manning A. D.
Publication year - 2015
Publication title -
journal of environmental quality
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.888
H-Index - 171
eISSN - 1537-2537
pISSN - 0047-2425
DOI - 10.2134/jeq2014.10.0445
Subject(s) - environmental science , woodland , coarse woody debris , carbon sequestration , soil water , biomass (ecology) , debris , carbon fibers , ecosystem , carbon dioxide , agroforestry , ecology , soil science , habitat , geography , biology , materials science , meteorology , composite number , composite material
Carbon dioxide off‐setting policy in the agricultural sector is focused on manipulating the terrestrial carbon cycle by reafforestation and increasing the retention of carbon within agricultural soils. We quantified the amount of carbon stored in the living and dead biomass and the surface soils of a previously grazed woodland ecosystem. We demonstrate that modification of coarse woody debris management could potentially store 8 to 15 t C ha −1 . This large carbon pool raises the prospect that appropriate management of temperate woodlands to retain coarse woody debris and increase its volume into the future could achieve increased landscape carbon storage.