Biomass and soil carbon stocks of the main land use of the Allada Plateau (Southern Benin). Issue 1 (2nd January 2022)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Houssoukpèvi, Issiakou Alladé; Aholoukpè, Hervé Nonwègnon Sayimi; Fassinou, Demayi Jorès Mauryo; Rakotondrazafy, Murielle Nancy; Amadji, Guillaume Lucien; Chapuis-Lardy, Lydie; Chevallier, Tiphaine
• Is Part Of: Carbon management. Volume 13:Issue 1(2022)
• Page Start: 249
• Page End: 265
• Publication Date: 2022-01-02
• Subjects: Organic stocks -- carbon pools -- climate change -- allometric models; Carbon dioxide mitigation -- Periodicals; Greenhouse gas mitigation -- Periodicals; Carbon dioxide -- Environmental aspects -- Periodicals; Greenhouse gases -- Environmental aspects -- Periodicals; 363.73874605
• DOI: 10.1080/17583004.2022.2074314
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 1758-3004

Abstract

Abstract: The inventory of the carbon (C) pools in Africa's ecosystems is not well documented, although it is crucial to support climate mitigation policies. We quantified the C stocks in plant biomass, woody necromass, litter and soil (0–30 and 30–100 cm) for the five main land uses – forest, tree plantation, young and adult palm groves, croplands – of Ferralsols on the Allada plateau in southeast Benin. Forests have the highest total C stocks (389 ± 54 Mg C ha −1 ) compared with other land uses (222 ± 33, 154 ± 6, 105 ± 2, 77 ± 3 Mg C ha −1 in tree plantations, adult palm groves, young palm groves and croplands, respectively). The C stocks are higher in the biomass than in the soil (0–100 cm), e.g. in the forest, stocks were 279 ± 54 Mg C ha −1 in the biomass versus 83 ± 2 Mg C ha −1 in the soil. Differences of soil C stocks between land uses are low (≈ 28 Mg C ha −1 ) and concentrated in topsoils. The structure and species diversity of the forest partly explained the variability and the high C biomass compared to tree plantations. Type of forest and plantations is important to consider in conserving C stocks in landscapes.