Growth, production and carbon sequestration of silvopastoral systems with native timber species in the dry lowlands of Costa Rica
The multiple environmental issues of lossof forest cover due to cattle farming combined withpasture degradation leading to low levels of produc-tion, consequent extensification and therefore to moredeforestation, are serious concerns in Costa Rica. Totest the feasibility of countering these by combining amore productive pasture system with indigenous treespecies, a silvopastoral experiment was established ona farm in the seasonally dry lowlands of Cañas,Guanacaste Province. A rapidly growing pasturespecies (Brachiaria brizantha) was tested against atraditional pasture dominated byHyparrhenia rufa.Three indigenous tree species were established:Pithecellobium saman,Diphysa robinioidesandDal-bergia retusa. Plots were grazed by cattle for 4 or5 days with one to 2 month intervals between grazingepisodes. After 51 months,D. robinioideswas thefastest growing species, andP. samanthe slowest,whileB. brizanthaproduced three times the aboveground and twice the below ground biomass asH. rufa, and trees had no effect upon grass yield.Contrary to competition theory, there was no effect ofpasture species upon the two faster growing treespecies. The carbon in above and below groundphytomass varied between 3.5 and 12.5 Mg C ha−1in treeless pasture controls and silvopastoral systems,respectively, and total soil organic carbon (TSOC) inthe upper 0.6 m averaged 110 Mg ha−1.B. brizanthaappeared to stimulate tree root production, which inturn was highly correlated with TSOC, resulting inannual increments in TSOC of up to 9.9 Mg ha−1year−1. These early results indicate the promisingpotential of this silvopastoral system for combiningcattle production, and increasing tree cover andcarbon sequestration.
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| Format: | biblioteca |
| Language: | eng |
| Published: |
Berlin, Alemania Springer
2008
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| Subjects: | BRACHIARIA BRIZANTHA, DALBERGIA RETUSA, HYPARRHENIA RUFA, PITHECELLOBIUM, ARBOLES, CUBIERTA DE COPAS, ORGANISMOS INDIGENOS, SISTEMAS SILVOPASCICOLAS, TIERRAS BAJAS, ZONA ARIDA, COSTA RICA, |
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