Abstract Cocoa production is a globally important commodity that has been a major driver of deforestation in humid tropical areas. Cocoa agroforestry systems have been credited for storing significant stocks of carbon potentially mitigating some of the negative impacts of cocoa production on ecosystem services but the impact of organic management on this potential is unclear, especially in Africa. We quantified cocoa and shade tree biomass, above and below ground and soil carbon stocks of 42 organic and 42 conventional cocoa agroforestry systems in Ghana (a globally important cocoa producing country) across three cocoa-age groups; young (≤ 15 years), mature (16–30 years) and old (≥ 31). We used the carbon stocks data to estimate the monetary value of the stored carbon in the two systems. Mean aboveground biomass C (Org. 41.3 ± 3.62 vs. Con. 22.9 ± 2.60 Mg C ha−1), belowground biomass C (Org. 7.8 ± 0.67 vs. Con. 4.2 ± 0.66 Mg C ha−1) and soil C stocks (Org. 59.7 ± 3.36 vs. Con. 49.7 ± 3.33 Mg C ha−1) were higher on organic farms compared to conventional farms. The dominant shade tree species on both organic (15 spp.) and conventional (15 spp.) stored more than 70 % of vegetation carbon stocks on both farm types. The estimated monetary value of the rate of CO2 equivalent of stored carbon by organic cocoa systems ranged from 74.58 US$ ha−1 yr−1 in old farms to 208.07 US$ ha−1 yr−1 in young farms compared to a range of 39.08 US$ ha−1 yr−1 in old farms to 99.60 US$ ha−1 yr−1 in young farms on conventional cocoa farms. The results show that organic cocoa agroforestry systems in our study area hold a greater potential to accumulate carbon and in addition benefit from carbon schemes than conventional cocoa agroforestry systems. Organic farms had higher shade tree diversity and richness which reflected the willingness of organic farmers to maintain/plant agroforestry trees. This indicate organic cocoa agroforestry system can help retain important ecosystem services within the cocoa production areas while providing some additional income to small holder cocoa farmers.

中文翻译：

---

加纳有机和传统可可农林的生物量和碳储量

摘要 可可生产是全球重要的商品，是潮湿热带地区森林砍伐的主要驱动因素。可可农林业系统因储存大量碳而受到赞誉，这可能会减轻可可生产对生态系统服务的一些负面影响，但有机管理对这种潜力的影响尚不清楚，尤其是在非洲。我们量化了加纳（全球重要的可可生产国）三个可可年龄组的 42 个有机和 42 个传统可可农林业系统的可可和遮荫树生物量、地上和地下以及土壤碳储量；年轻（≤ 15 岁）、成熟（16-30 岁）和老年（≥ 31 岁）。我们使用碳储量数据来估计两个系统中储存碳的货币价值。平均地上生物量 C（Org. 41.3 ± 3.62 vs. Con. 22。9 ± 2.60 Mg C ha−1)、地下生物量 C（Org. 7.8 ± 0.67 vs. Con. 4.2 ± 0.66 Mg C ha−1）和土壤碳储量（Org. 59.7 ± 3.36 vs. Con. 49.7 ± 3.33 Mg与传统农场相比，有机农场的 C ha-1) 更高。有机（15 种）和常规（15 种）的主要遮荫树种储存了两种农场类型超过 70% 的植被碳库。有机可可系统储存碳的二氧化碳当量比率的估计货币价值范围从老农场的 74.58 美元 ha−1 yr−1 到年轻农场的 208.07 美元 ha−1 yr−1，而范围为 39.08 US$ ha−1 yr−1 在老农场中为 99.60 US$ ha−1 yr−1 在传统可可农场的年轻农场中。结果表明，与传统的可可农林业系统相比，我们研究区的有机可可农林业系统具有更大的碳积累潜力，此外还可以从碳方案中受益。有机农场具有较高的遮荫树多样性和丰富度，这反映了有机农民维护/种植农林业树木的意愿。这表明有机可可农林业系统有助于在可可生产区内保留重要的生态系统服务，同时为小规模可可农户提供一些额外收入。