Abstract
Nine Latin American countries plan to use silvopastoral practices—incorporating trees into grazing lands—to mitigate climate change. However, the cumulative potential of scaling up silvopastoral systems at national levels is not well quantified. Here, we combined previously published tree cover data based on 250 m resolution MODIS satellite remote sensing imagery for 2000–2017 with ecofloristic zone carbon stock estimates to calculate historical and potential future tree biomass carbon storage in Colombian grasslands. Between 2000 and 2017, tree cover across all Colombian grasslands increased from 15% to 18%, with total biomass carbon (TBC) stocks increasing from 0.41 to 0.48 Pg. The range in 2017 carbon stock values in grasslands based on ecofloristic zones (5 to 122 Mg ha−1) suggests a potential for further increase. Increasing all carbon stocks to the current median and 75th percentile levels for the respective eco-floristic zone would increase TBC stocks by about 0.06 and 0.15 Pg, respectively. Incorporated into national C accounting, such Tier 2 estimates can set realistic targets for silvopastoral systems in nationally determined contributions (NDCs) and nationally appropriate mitigation actions (NAMAs) implementation plans in Colombia and other Latin American countries with similar contexts.
Highlights
The ability to limit global warming below 2 ◦ C, the target set by the Paris Climate Agreement, is predicated on significant greenhouse gas (GHG) emission reductions in the agriculture and land use sector (AFOLU) [1,2]
Given that both the Colombian government and independent researchers have identified silvopastoral systems (SPS) as a priority in achieving Colombia’s agricultural emission reduction goals [15], we focused on Colombia as a case study
Tree cover increased between 2000 and 2017. We classified these results into tree cover classes (Table 2)
Summary
The ability to limit global warming below 2 ◦ C, the target set by the Paris Climate Agreement, is predicated on significant greenhouse gas (GHG) emission reductions in the agriculture and land use sector (AFOLU) [1,2]. While land use accounts for nearly 25% of net annual anthropogenic GHG emissions [3], it offers many options to mitigate climate change. Estimates suggest that land use interventions could generate up to 30% of the emission reductions and carbon sequestration needed to meet the Paris Agreement’s ambition [4,5]. Most agriculture and land use mitigation interventions target the reduction of emissions from livestock systems, rice systems, deforestation, and nitrogen fertilizer. The integration of trees in crop and pasture lands, known as agroforestry, is another potentially significant intervention option [6]. Nine Latin American countries have identified silvopastoral systems (SPS), agroforestry systems where trees are managed or planted in pasturelands, as a priority action to mitigate climate change within their nationally determined contributions (NDCs) to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) [7,8] and the Nationally Appropriate Mitigation Actions (NAMAs), Land 2020, 9, 309; doi:10.3390/land9090309 www.mdpi.com/journal/land
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