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Carbon storage in the Mediterranean upland shrub communities of Montesinho Natural Park, northeast of Portugal

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Abstract

Carbon storage is one of the several important functions of shrub communities in terrestrial ecosystems and could represent an effective way to mitigate climate change. Accordingly, biomass carbon (above and belowground), litter carbon, and soil organic carbon (SOC) were studied in three shrub species: Cistus ladanifer (C. ladanifer), Cytisus multiflorus (C. multiflorus), and Erica australis spp. Aragonensis (E. australis)—representing dominant shrub communities found in Montesinho Natural Park (PNM), NE Portugal. The experimental design envisaged testing the effects of species and topography on variables mentioned and procedures carried out included assessments in areas covered by the three communities mentioned, in different topographic conditions (gentle slope, about 5 %; moderate, around 15 %; steep, around 25 %), with three replicates. Above and belowground biomass and litter were collected in 1 m2 plots, where soil samples at depths of 0–5, 5–10, and 10–20 cm were taken (disturbed for C mass concentration, undisturbed for bulk density determinations). The aboveground biomass was separated in stems, branches, branchlets, leaves, and fruits. Carbon mass concentrations determined in biomass, litter, and soil were converted to kg C m−2 ground area. Results showed that: (1) under the conditions studied, over 80 % of carbon is stored in the soil; (2) the contribution of biomass is higher in E. australis, representing about 20 % of carbon storage in the system; (3) for total carbon storage in the whole system, species followed the pattern E. australis (12.8 kg C m−2) > C. ladanifer (10.5 kg C m−2) ≅ C. multiflorus (10.5 kg C m−2); (4) effects of topographic conditions were not significant in the global C storage, with 10.6, 11.6, and 11.7 kg C m−2 in gentle slope, moderate, and steep, respectively.

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Acknowledgments

The authors wish to thank Escola Superior Agrária de Bragança for the material and financial support provided, that contributed to make this study possible. The contributions of Arsénio Araújo, for his assistance in the field work, and of Rita Diz and Ana Pinto, for performing the carbon analyses, are both much acknowledged.

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  1. Centro de Investigação de Montanha (CIMO), Instituto Politécnico de Bragança/ESAB, Apartado 1172, 5301-855, Bragança, Portugal

    Felícia Fonseca, Tomás de Figueiredo & M. A. Bompastor Ramos

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  1. Felícia Fonseca
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  2. Tomás de Figueiredo
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  3. M. A. Bompastor Ramos
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Correspondence to Felícia Fonseca.

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M. A. Bompastor Ramos is a Master degree student.

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Fonseca, F., de Figueiredo, T. & Bompastor Ramos, M.A. Carbon storage in the Mediterranean upland shrub communities of Montesinho Natural Park, northeast of Portugal. Agroforest Syst 86, 463–475 (2012). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10457-012-9509-5

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