Carbon Stocks in Agroforestry Systems: A Global Appraisal.

Carbon stocks in agroforestry systems: A global appraisal

P. K. R. Nair

School of Forest Resources and Conservation, IFAS, University of Florida, Gainesville, FL 32611

Nearly a billion hectares of agricultural landscapes already have more than 10% tree cover, and an estimated total of 1.6 billion hectares of land worldwide has the potential to be under agroforestry management in the foreseeable future. Agroforestry systems (AFS) have higher potential to sequester C because of their ability for greater capture and utilization of growth resources (better “niche complementarity”) than comparable single-species crop- or pasture systems. The paper will present global estimates of C stock and sequestration potential in various agroforestry systems around the world and discuss the role of AFS in climate change mitigation.