Demonstration and Testing of the Improved Shelterbelt Component in the Holos Model

Roland Kröbel,Beyhan Y Amichev,Laura Poppy,Raju Y Soolanayakanahally,Ken C J Van Rees,Fardausi Akhter,Aaron Mcpherson,Colin P Laroque,Julius Moore,Tricia Ward,Yu Zhao Ni

doi:10.3389/fenvs.2020.00149

Roland Kröbel, Beyhan Y Amichev + Show 9 more

Open Access

https://doi.org/10.3389/fenvs.2020.00149

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Abstract

Using a participatory approach, the shelterbelt component of Canada’s whole-farm model Holos was upgraded from an age-determined to a circumference-determined (at breast height) calculation using a multi-stem averaging approach. The model interface was developed around the idea that a shelterbelt could have multiple rows, and a variable species composition within each row. With this, the model calculates the accumulated aboveground carbon in the standing biomass and a lookup table of modelled tree growth is used to add estimates of the belowground carbon. Going from an initial interface that asks for the current state, the model also incorporates an option of past and future shelterbelt plantings. In order to test the model’s suitability, we measured diverse shelterbelts (evergreen, deciduous, shrub type) in southern Saskatchewan, Canada representing commonly planted woody species. By making use of Caragana, Green Ash, Colorado Spruce, Siberian Elm, and a mixed Caragana/Green Ash tree rows, we tested how many tree circumference measurements would be required to yield a representative average. Later, these results were incorporated in the Holos model to calculate the accumulated above- and below-ground carbon in each shelterbelt type.

Highlights

Global food consumption causes roughly one third of the global human induced greenhouse gas emissions (GHG), with agriculture directly contributing 23% (Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change [IPCC], 2019), with the latter splitting approximately into CO2, CH4, and N2O
We set out to investigate what is the minimum required number of tree trunks that would be needed to be measured in order to properly assess the carbon accumulation in the shelterbelt with a degree of certainty (Tables 4, 5)
With an expectation that a maximum of 10 trees would be measured by a user on their own volition, an 80% probability would be achieved to be within 15 and 10% of the average for Caragana and Siberian Elm, respectively, while for Green Ash and Colorado Spruce the same number of measurements would give a 90% confidence estimate that is within 10 and 15% of the real mean (Table 4)

Summary

Introduction

Global food consumption causes roughly one third of the global human induced greenhouse gas emissions (GHG), with agriculture directly contributing 23% (Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change [IPCC], 2019), with the latter splitting approximately into CO2 (from deforestation and other land use change), CH4 (peatlands, rice cropping, and ruminant livestock), and N2O (from crop production). The Canadian federal government once invested heavily into the planting of field, livestock, and farmyard shelterbelts which were intended to reduce wind speed and windderived soil erosion (Howe, 1986; Kulshreshtha et al, 2011) and enhance microclimate for crops (Kort, 1988; Kort et al, 2012) and animal production (Prairie Farm Rehabilitation Administration [PFRA], 1980; Poppy, 2003).

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