Agroforestry: working trees for sequestering carbon on agricultural lands |
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Authors: | M M Schoeneberger |
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Institution: | (1) USDA National Agroforestry Center, Southern Research Station, East Campus-University of Nebraska, Lincoln, NE 68583-0822, USA |
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Abstract: | Agroforestry is an appealing option for sequestering carbon on agricultural lands because it can sequester significant amounts
of carbon while leaving the bulk of the land in agricultural production. Simultaneously, it can help landowners and society
address many other issues facing these lands, such as economic diversification, biodiversity, and water quality. Nonetheless,
agroforestry remains under-recognized as a greenhouse gas mitigation option for agriculture in the US. Reasons for this include
the limited information-base and number of tools agroforestry can currently offer as compared to that produced from the decades-worth
of investment in agriculture and forestry, and agroforestry’s cross-cutting nature that puts it at the interface of agriculture
and forestry where it is not strongly supported or promoted by either. Agroforestry research is beginning to establish the
scientific foundation required for building carbon accounting and modeling tools, but more progress is needed before it is
readily accepted within agricultural greenhouse gas mitigation programs and, further, incorporated into the broader scope
of sustainable agricultural management. Agroforestry needs to become part of the agricultural tool box and not viewed as something
separate from it. Government policies and programs driving research direction and investment are being formulated with or
without data in order to meet pressing needs. Enhanced communication of agroforestry’s carbon co-benefit, as well as the other
benefits afforded by these plantings, will help elevate agroforestry awareness within these discussions. This will be especially
crucial in deliberations on such broad sweeping natural resource programs as the US Farm Bill. |
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Keywords: | Biomass equations Carbon credits Carbon sequestration Greenhouse gas mitigation Woody biomass |
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