Much has been written about the potential and
promise of agroforestry systems. This paper evaluates
the carbon dynamics of agroforestry practices and assesses
their potential contribution to slowing the increase
of atmospheric CO2. The evaluation is based on several
criteria: (1) levels of direct carbon storage, (2) levels of
carbon conservation resulting from reduced land clearing,
(3) crop production, and (4) profitability. The focus
of the analysis is primarily on tropical agroforestry
practices; where available, information for practices in
the temperate zones will be included for comparison.
APPROACH
Over the past 10 to 15 yr or more, the body of agroforestry
knowledge has grown steadily. This information
base was exploited by conducting an extensive
survey of the published technical literature. Most of
this literature focuses on crop production by agroforestry
systems. A smaller portion concentrates on
production by the tree component, and little or none
directly assesses patterns of carbon accumulation. It
was necessary, therefore, to use published information
on tree growth patterns to estimate carbon storage.
Most of this information is reported as stem wood
volume which was converted to total aboveground
carbon mass. Accumulation of belowground carbon in
roots and soil organic matter was not included. Adding
belowground carbon would increase estimates even
mo