Can joint carbon and biodiversity management in tropical agroforestry landscapes be optimized?

Managing ecosystems for carbon storage may also benefit biodiversity conservation, but such a potential 'win-win' scenario has not yet been assessed for tropical agroforestry landscapes. We measured above- and below-ground carbon stocks as well as the species richness of four groups of pla...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:PloS one 2012-10, Vol.7 (10), p.e47192-e47192
Main Authors: Kessler, Michael, Hertel, Dietrich, Jungkunst, Hermann F, Kluge, Jürgen, Abrahamczyk, Stefan, Bos, Merijn, Buchori, Damayanti, Gerold, Gerhard, Gradstein, S Robbert, Köhler, Stefan, Leuschner, Christoph, Moser, Gerald, Pitopang, Ramadhanil, Saleh, Shahabuddin, Schulze, Christian H, Sporn, Simone G, Steffan-Dewenter, Ingolf, Tjitrosoedirdjo, Sri S, Tscharntke, Teja
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Agriculture
Agroforestry
Animals
Biodiversity
Biodiversity conservation
Biological diversity
Biology
Biomass
Cacao - metabolism
Carbon
Carbon - analysis
Carbon - metabolism
Carbon capture and storage
Carbon sequestration
Carbon storage
Conservation
Conservation of Natural Resources - methods
Deforestation
Ecosystem biology
Ecosystem management
Ecosystems
Emissions
Environmental science
Forest management
Forestry - methods
Forests
Indonesia
Landscape
Landscape ecology
Plant ecology
Plants (botany)
Preservation
Protection and preservation
Rain forests
Rainforests
Reforestation
Shade
Soil - chemistry
Species richness
Storage
Strategic management
Trees
Trees - metabolism
Tropical Climate
Tropical environments
Wildlife conservation
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Summary:Managing ecosystems for carbon storage may also benefit biodiversity conservation, but such a potential 'win-win' scenario has not yet been assessed for tropical agroforestry landscapes. We measured above- and below-ground carbon stocks as well as the species richness of four groups of plants and eight of animals on 14 representative plots in Sulawesi, Indonesia, ranging from natural rainforest to cacao agroforests that have replaced former natural forest. The conversion of natural forests with carbon stocks of 227-362 Mg C ha(-1) to agroforests with 82-211 Mg C ha(-1) showed no relationships to overall biodiversity but led to a significant loss of forest-related species richness. We conclude that the conservation of the forest-related biodiversity, and to a lesser degree of carbon stocks, mainly depends on the preservation of natural forest habitats. In the three most carbon-rich agroforestry systems, carbon stocks were about 60% of those of natural forest, suggesting that 1.6 ha of optimally managed agroforest can contribute to the conservation of carbon stocks as much as 1 ha of natural forest. However, agroforestry systems had comparatively low biodiversity, and we found no evidence for a tight link between carbon storage and biodiversity. Yet, potential win-win agroforestry management solutions include combining high shade-tree quality which favours biodiversity with cacao-yield adapted shade levels.
ISSN:1932-6203
1932-6203
DOI:10.1371/journal.pone.0047192