What is it about?
This study provides reliable estimates of aboveground biomass C stocks for forest types of National Parks in Italy. C carrying capacity (the mass of C able to be stored in living trees under prevailing environmental conditions and natural disturbance regime) of forests within the core area of each single National Park and the current C stock (that includes anthropogenic disturbance) of corresponding buffer zones (and the whole Italy) are also provided so that to outline a landscape-wide baseline against which current national C stocks can be compared. The difference between C carrying capacity and current C stock allows an estimate of the C sequestration potential of protected forest ecosystems and quantifies the amount of C lost as a result of past land-use activities.
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Why is it important?
Areas designated for nature conservation, like the terrestrial National Parks, can play an important role in C sequestration, insomuch that a large proportion of forest land is protected. For instance, in Italy more than 15% of the forestland is included within National Parks
Perspectives
The higher values of forest C stock and sink in National Parks of Italy, compared to the entire national territory, are related to the ecological characteristics of the dominant forest types occurring within protected areas. The assemblages of dominant tree species, reflecting different ecological conditions where different forest types grow, affect C sequestration significantly. The highest living biomass C density tends to occur in relatively cool, moderately wet climates in temperate moist forests, in comparison with more Mediterranean-type conditions. Optimization of forest management specifically purposed to C sequestration, which may synergistically overlap with other objectives of sustainable management (e.g. soil protection, recreation enhancement, and attentive re-evaluation of traditional forest uses), may further enhance the role of Italian National Parks for atmospheric CO2 depletion.
Piermaria Corona
CREA Research Centre for Forestry and Wood
Read the Original
This page is a summary of: Carbon sequestration by forests in the National Parks of Italy, Plant Biosystems - An International Journal Dealing with all Aspects of Plant Biology, December 2012, Taylor & Francis,
DOI: 10.1080/11263504.2012.738715.
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