Offered Papers Theme B: Grassland and the Environment
Description
Conversion of forests to pastures has been the most important land use change in tropical America (TA) in the last fifty years. After deforestation and pasture establishment many areas have been abandoned due to productivity declines arising through mismanagement. Over 60% of the TA's pasture area is degraded. Recent interest in carbon sequestration and environmental considerations might suggest partial reforestation of current pastoral areas but this has implications for the socio-economic welfare of farmers and food availability. However, combining agricultural production with environmental objectives (particularly carbon sequestration) could provide a sustainable alternative. Here we present 3-years of research on the evaluation of soil carbon stocks (SCS) in long-established pasture and silvo-pastoral systems (10-16 years of commercial production) relative to native forest (positive control) and degraded land (reference control) under four ecosystems of TA: Andean hillsides (Colombia), sub-humid and humid tropical forest (Costa Rica) and humid tropical forest, Amazonia (Colombia).
Included in
Agricultural Science Commons, Agronomy and Crop Sciences Commons, Plant Biology Commons, Plant Pathology Commons, Soil Science Commons, Weed Science Commons
Carbon Sequestration in Pasture and Silvo-Pastoral Systems in Ecosystems of the Latin American Tropics
Conversion of forests to pastures has been the most important land use change in tropical America (TA) in the last fifty years. After deforestation and pasture establishment many areas have been abandoned due to productivity declines arising through mismanagement. Over 60% of the TA's pasture area is degraded. Recent interest in carbon sequestration and environmental considerations might suggest partial reforestation of current pastoral areas but this has implications for the socio-economic welfare of farmers and food availability. However, combining agricultural production with environmental objectives (particularly carbon sequestration) could provide a sustainable alternative. Here we present 3-years of research on the evaluation of soil carbon stocks (SCS) in long-established pasture and silvo-pastoral systems (10-16 years of commercial production) relative to native forest (positive control) and degraded land (reference control) under four ecosystems of TA: Andean hillsides (Colombia), sub-humid and humid tropical forest (Costa Rica) and humid tropical forest, Amazonia (Colombia).
