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Carbon sequestration capability of Fagus sylvatica forests developing in the Majella National Park (Central Apennines, Italy)

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Abstract

Terrestrial ecosystems represent a major sink for atmospheric carbon (C) and temperate forests play an important role in global C cycling, contributing to lower atmospheric carbon dioxide (CO2) concentration through photosynthesis. The Intergovernmental Panel of Climate Change highlights that the forestry sector has great potential to decrease atmospheric CO2 concentration compared to other sectoral mitigation activities. The aim of this study was to evaluate CO2 sequestration (CO2S) capability of Fagus sylvatica (beech) growing in the Orfento Valley within Majella National Park (Abruzzo, Italy). We compared F. sylvatica areas subjected to thinning (one high-forest and one coppice) and no-management areas (two high-forests and two coppices). The results show a mean CO2S of 44.3 ± 2.6 Mg CO2 ha−1 a−1, corresponding to 12.1 ± 0.7 Mg C ha−1 a−1 the no-managed areas having a 28% higher value than the managed areas. The results highlight that thinning that allows seed regeneration can support traditional management practices such as civic use in some areas while no management should be carried out in the reserve in order to give priority to the objective of conservation and naturalistic improvement of the forest heritage.

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Acknowledgements

The authors thank the State Forestry Corps for valuable information and for the great support during the surveys.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Environmental Biology, Sapienza University of Rome, P.le A. Moro, 5, 00185, Rome, Italy

    Loretta Gratani, Andrea Bonito & Rosangela Catoni

  2. Majella Seed Bank, Majella National Park, loc. Colle Madonna, 66010, Lama dei Peligni, CH, Italy

    Luciano Di Martino & Valter Di Cecco

  3. Department of Life Health and Environmental Sciences, University of L’Aquila, Via Vetoio loc. Coppito, 67100, L’Aquila, Italy

    Anna Rita Frattaroli, Walter De Simone & Giorgia Ferella

Authors
  1. Loretta Gratani
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  2. Luciano Di Martino
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  3. Anna Rita Frattaroli
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  4. Andrea Bonito
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  5. Valter Di Cecco
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  6. Walter De Simone
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  7. Giorgia Ferella
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  8. Rosangela Catoni
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Loretta Gratani.

Additional information

Project funding: The work was supported by the Majella National Park.

The online version is available at www.springerlink.com

Corresponding editor: Tao Xu.

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Gratani, L., Di Martino, L., Frattaroli, A.R. et al. Carbon sequestration capability of Fagus sylvatica forests developing in the Majella National Park (Central Apennines, Italy). J. For. Res. 29, 1627–1634 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11676-017-0575-4

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11676-017-0575-4

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