非洲大陆的热带森林砍伐在全球碳循环中起着关键作用,对气候变化和可持续发展具有重大影响。特别是在撒哈拉以南非洲,超过三分之二的人口依靠森林和林地资源谋生,森林砍伐和作物生产的土地利用变化导致生态系统水平碳储量的大量损失。不幸的是,森林砍伐和土地利用变化的影响可能比任何其他地区都更加严重,但是这些量化很差。我们分析了主要碳库的变化(地上和地下,土壤和凋落物,分别)在森林砍伐和土地利用/土地覆盖变化后,对于Jomoro区(加纳),通过评估原始森林的碳储量的初始参考水平以及随后的储量变化和动态,作为向次生林和五种不同树木种植园的转换的结果(橡胶,椰子,可可,油棕,和混合种植园)共72个地块。结果表明,与原始森林相比,所有土地利用/覆盖以及所有碳库的碳损失总体上具有统计学意义,总碳储量损失在35%至85%之间,但在比较中没有观察到统计学上的显着差异。原始森林,混合人工林和次生林。结果还表明,地上碳和土壤有机碳是构成总碳储量的主要库,但碳损失和积累的趋势相反。可持续发展战略,减少毁林和森林退化所致排放量的政策,碳储量增加(REDD+),可持续土地利用管理的规划应仔细考虑土地利用变化背后的转换类型和碳储量动态,以实现双赢战略,同时保持热带生态系统的碳储量潜力。
Tropical
deforestation in the African continent plays a key role in the global carbon cycle and bears significant implications in terms of climate change and sustainable development. Especially in Sub-Saharan Africa, where more than two-thirds of the population rely on forest and woodland resources for their livelihoods,
deforestation and land use changes for crop production lead to a substantial loss of ecosystem-level carbon stock. Unfortunately, the impacts of
deforestation and land use change can be more critical than in any other region, but these are poorly quantified. We analyse changes in the main carbon pools (above- and below-ground, soil and litter, respectively) after
deforestation and land use/land cover change, for the Jomoro District (Ghana), by assessing the initial reference level of carbon stock for primary forest and the subsequent stock changes and dynamics as a consequence of conversion to the secondary forest and to five different tree plantations (rubber, coconut, cocoa, oil palm, and mixed plantations) on a total of 72 plots. Results indicate overall a statistically significant carbon loss across all the land uses/covers and for all the carbon pools compared to the primary forest with the total carbon stock loss ranging between 35% and 85% but with no statistically significant differences observed in the comparison between primary forest and mixed plantations and secondary forest. Results also suggest that above-ground carbon and soil organic carbon are the primary pools contributing to the total carbon stocks but with opposite trends of carbon loss and accumulation. Strategies for sustainable development, policies to reduce emissions from
deforestation and forest degradation, carbon stock enhancement (REDD+), and planning for sustainable land use management should carefully consider the type of conversion and carbon stock dynamics behind land use change for a win-win strategy while preserving carbon stocks potential in tropical ecosystems.