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Which is the contribution to the carbon sequestration of the forest ecosystems in the Castelporziano Reserve? Evidences from an integrated study on humus and vegetation

  • Coastal Forest Ecosystem near Rome
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Abstract

Soil is a major carbon sink or source on terrestrial ecosystems. Despite their great importance, humus forms, which constitute the small portion above the soil, have been often neglected in local studies and in international research projects. In the present work we evaluated the organic carbon stocked in the different humus forms in a Mediterranean lowland forest, to highlight the carbon concentration in different vegetation types, particularly between evergreen and deciduous woodlands. Results showed that the carbon stock stored in the organic and organo-mineral horizons of humus and soil, expressed in Tons/Ha, had a wide range for each vegetation type, reflecting the high diversity of the forest vegetation and the variability within each type. The vegetation with the highest value of carbon stock despite its small extension was represented by humid woodlands dominated by Fraxinus oxycarpa, a relic forest type occurring in the dune slacks within the study area, which gives, therefore, an important contribution to the climate warming reduction. We demonstrated as the humus forms play a role in the carbon sequestration in a forest ecosystem; therefore, it may be important to add the evaluation of carbon stock when carbon concentration is evaluated for the soil and above and plants below ground biomass.

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Acknowledgments

We thank the staff of the Castel Porziano Reserve (Ing. Aleandro Tinelli, Dr. Luca Maffei, Prof. Ervedo Giordano), Dr. Giuseppina Dowgiallo for the availability of soil and humus analysis on the laboratory of the Department of Environmental Biology, La Sapienza University and Dr Diego D’Angeli for the vegetation survey. The project was financially supported by the Castelporziano Research Programme on “Ecological researches on Humus and Vegetation in relationship with the climate change” (Grant Number 302 to De Nicola Cristina).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Center for Integrative Conservation, Xishuangbanna Tropical Botanical Garden, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Menglun, Mengla, Yunnan, 666303, Peoples Republic of China

    Daniele Cicuzza

  2. Department of Environmental Biology, La Sapienza, Botanical Garden, Largo Cristina di Svezia 24, Rome, Italy

    Cristina De Nicola, Anna Testi & Sandro Pignatti

  3. Department Land, Environment, Agriculture and Forestry (TESAF), University of Padua, Viale dell’Università 16, 35020, Legnaro, Padova, Italy

    Augusto Zanella

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  1. Daniele Cicuzza
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  2. Cristina De Nicola
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  3. Anna Testi
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  4. Sandro Pignatti
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  5. Augusto Zanella
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Correspondence to Cristina De Nicola.

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This peer-reviewed article is a result of the multidisciplinary project coordinated by the “Accademia Nazionale delle Scienze detta dei XL”, Rome, Italy, in the area of the Presidential Estate of Castelporziano near Rome.

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Cicuzza, D., De Nicola, C., Testi, A. et al. Which is the contribution to the carbon sequestration of the forest ecosystems in the Castelporziano Reserve? Evidences from an integrated study on humus and vegetation. Rend. Fis. Acc. Lincei 26 (Suppl 3), 403–411 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12210-014-0352-7

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