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Conversion of tropical moist forest into cacao agroforest: consequences for carbon pools and annual C sequestration

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Abstract

Tropical forests store a large part of the terrestrial carbon and play a key role in the global carbon (C) cycle. In parts of Southeast Asia, conversion of natural forest to cacao agroforestry systems is an important driver of deforestation, resulting in C losses from biomass and soil to the atmosphere. This case study from Sulawesi, Indonesia, compares natural forest with nearby shaded cacao agroforests for all major above and belowground biomass C pools (n = 6 plots) and net primary production (n = 3 plots). Total biomass (above- and belowground to 250 cm soil depth) in the forest (approx. 150 Mg C ha−1) was more than eight times higher than in the agroforest (19 Mg C ha−1). Total net primary production (NPP, above- and belowground) was larger in the forest than in the agroforest (approx. 29 vs. 20 Mg dry matter (DM) ha−1 year−1), while wood increment was twice as high in the forest (approx. 6 vs. 3 Mg DM ha−1 year−1). The SOC pools to 250 cm depth amounted to 134 and 78 Mg C ha−1 in the forest and agroforest stands, respectively. Replacement of tropical moist forest by cacao agroforest reduces the biomass C pool by approximately 130 Mg C ha−1; another 50 Mg C ha−1 may be released from the soil. Further, the replacement of forest by cacao agroforest also results in a 70–80 % decrease of the annual C sequestration potential due to a significantly smaller stem increment.

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Acknowledgments

We thank LIPI, the Indonesian Research Foundation, and the officials of the National Park Lore Lindu for the research permit and Pak Yakob for allowing us to conduct the research in his cacao plots. We thank the many field assistants from the villages of Toro and Marena that supported our research. We gratefully acknowledge the financial support provided by the German Research Foundation (DFG, SFB 552).

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Author notes

  1. Gerald Moser

    Present address: Plant Ecology, University of Giessen, Heinrich-Buff-Ring 26, 35392, Giessen, Germany

  2. Heike Culmsee

    Present address: German Federal Foundation for the Environment (DBU), An der Bornau 2, 49090, Osnabruck, Germany

  3. Luitgard Schwendenmann

    Present address: School of Environment, The University of Auckland, Private Bag 92019, Auckland, 1142, New Zealand

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Plant Ecology, Albrecht-von-Haller Institute for Plant Sciences, University of Göttingen, Untere Karspüle 2, 37073, Göttingen, Germany

    Christoph Leuschner, Gerald Moser, Dietrich Hertel & Bernhard Schuldt

  2. Cartography, GIS and Remote Sensing, Institute of Geography, University of Göttingen, Goldschmidtstr. 5, 37077, Göttingen, Germany

    Stefan Erasmi

  3. Department of Landscape Ecology, Institute of Geography, University of Göttingen, Goldschmidtstr. 5, 37077, Göttingen, Germany

    Daniela Leitner

  4. Vegetation and Phytodiversity Analysis, Albrecht-von-Haller Institute for Plant Sciences, University of Göttingen, Untere Karspüle 2, 37073, Göttingen, Germany

    Heike Culmsee

  5. Department of Tropical Silviculture and Forest Ecology, Burckhardt Institute, University of Göttingen, Büsgenweg 1, 37077, Göttingen, Germany

    Luitgard Schwendenmann

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  1. Christoph Leuschner
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Leuschner, C., Moser, G., Hertel, D. et al. Conversion of tropical moist forest into cacao agroforest: consequences for carbon pools and annual C sequestration. Agroforest Syst 87, 1173–1187 (2013). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10457-013-9628-7

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