Carbon stocks in shaded Theobroma cacao farms and adjacent secondary forests of similar age in Cameroon
Cacao is an important smallholder crop in West Africa, often grown under a forest canopy. Yields from cacao farms are low so farmers consider removing shade trees, however, the impacts on pest and disease dynamics, soil fertility and thus yield in the longer term are not understood. We estimated car...
| Autores principales: | , |
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| Formato: | Journal Article |
| Lenguaje: | Inglés |
| Publicado: |
2013
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| Acceso en línea: | https://hdl.handle.net/10568/42039 |
| _version_ | 1855529402616512512 |
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| author | Norgrove L Hauser, S. |
| author_browse | Hauser, S. Norgrove L |
| author_facet | Norgrove L Hauser, S. |
| author_sort | Norgrove L |
| collection | Repository of Agricultural Research Outputs (CGSpace) |
| description | Cacao is an important smallholder crop in West Africa, often grown under a forest canopy. Yields from cacao farms are low so farmers consider removing shade trees, however, the impacts on pest and disease dynamics, soil fertility and thus yield in the longer term are not understood. We estimated carbon stocks in shaded cacao systems in Cameroon using equations that took account of wood densities of individual species. The average C stock in cacao trees was 14.4 Mg C ha-1, compared with 121.1 Mg C ha-1 in the upper shade tree canopy, 5.8 Mg C ha-1 in necromass and 90 Mg ha-1 in soil. While total stock was comparable to that in secondary forest, only a small proportion was in the cacao per-se. Cutting shade trees would significantly reduce carbon stocks. Impacts of reduced C stock on sustainability are discussed. |
| format | Journal Article |
| id | CGSpace42039 |
| institution | CGIAR Consortium |
| language | Inglés |
| publishDate | 2013 |
| publishDateRange | 2013 |
| publishDateSort | 2013 |
| record_format | dspace |
| spelling | CGSpace420392024-01-17T12:58:34Z Carbon stocks in shaded Theobroma cacao farms and adjacent secondary forests of similar age in Cameroon Norgrove L Hauser, S. agriculture climate theobroma cacao trees carbon sequestration Cacao is an important smallholder crop in West Africa, often grown under a forest canopy. Yields from cacao farms are low so farmers consider removing shade trees, however, the impacts on pest and disease dynamics, soil fertility and thus yield in the longer term are not understood. We estimated carbon stocks in shaded cacao systems in Cameroon using equations that took account of wood densities of individual species. The average C stock in cacao trees was 14.4 Mg C ha-1, compared with 121.1 Mg C ha-1 in the upper shade tree canopy, 5.8 Mg C ha-1 in necromass and 90 Mg ha-1 in soil. While total stock was comparable to that in secondary forest, only a small proportion was in the cacao per-se. Cutting shade trees would significantly reduce carbon stocks. Impacts of reduced C stock on sustainability are discussed. 2013 2014-08-15T12:13:19Z 2014-08-15T12:13:19Z Journal Article https://hdl.handle.net/10568/42039 en Open Access Norgrove L, Hauser S. Carbon stocks in shaded Theobroma cacao farms and adjacent secondary forests of similar age in Cameroon. Tropical Ecology 54(1):15-22 |
| spellingShingle | agriculture climate theobroma cacao trees carbon sequestration Norgrove L Hauser, S. Carbon stocks in shaded Theobroma cacao farms and adjacent secondary forests of similar age in Cameroon |
| title | Carbon stocks in shaded Theobroma cacao farms and adjacent secondary forests of similar age in Cameroon |
| title_full | Carbon stocks in shaded Theobroma cacao farms and adjacent secondary forests of similar age in Cameroon |
| title_fullStr | Carbon stocks in shaded Theobroma cacao farms and adjacent secondary forests of similar age in Cameroon |
| title_full_unstemmed | Carbon stocks in shaded Theobroma cacao farms and adjacent secondary forests of similar age in Cameroon |
| title_short | Carbon stocks in shaded Theobroma cacao farms and adjacent secondary forests of similar age in Cameroon |
| title_sort | carbon stocks in shaded theobroma cacao farms and adjacent secondary forests of similar age in cameroon |
| topic | agriculture climate theobroma cacao trees carbon sequestration |
| url | https://hdl.handle.net/10568/42039 |
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