Abstract

Due to higher atmospheric greenhouse gasses concentrations, global warming is undoubtedly the most critical environmental issue that needs an immediate solution. Agroforestry has attained worldwide recognition to cope with this global problem due to its greater potential to sequester atmospheric carbon dioxide along with other ecosystem services, including food security. However, quantitative information about the biomass and carbon sequestration in poplar-maize agroforestry systems is not available in semi-arid climatic zones in Pakistan. The current study was carried out to evaluate the vegetation biomass and carbon stocks under three poplar-maize agroforestry planting patterns under semi-arid climatic conditions in a subdivision Jaranwala, District Faisalabad, Pakistan. The data was collected in three agroforestry patterns like; A (192 trees ha⁻¹), B (255 trees ha⁻¹), and C (296 trees ha⁻¹). Allometric equations were used to estimate the biomass and carbon stock in plant species. Results showed that the poplar tree carbon stock among three planting patterns was significantly different, with maximum carbon stock of 35.62 t ha⁻¹ in pattern C, and it was 8% and 33.5% greater than the carbon stock of pattern B and pattern A, respectively. The maximum aboveground biomass assimilated by maize crop was (11.95 t ha⁻¹) in pattern B, and it was 10.3% and 3.6% greater than pattern A and pattern C, respectively. The grain yield was highest in pattern A as compared to the other two patterns. Additionally, the maximum soil carbon stock in soil was estimated (22.72 t ha-1) in pattern C, at 0-15 cm depth, while it was 13.42% and 6.61% greater than pattern A and pattern B, respectively. In conclusion, the findings of this study suggested that pattern C with maximum biomass production and carbon stocks is the optimum poplar maize planting pattern in requisites of both financial and environmental benefits in the form of carbon sequestration.

摘要

由于大气温室气体浓度较高，全球变暖无疑是需要立即解决的最关键的环境问题。农林业在解决这一全球性问题方面获得了全世界的认可，因为它具有更大的潜力来隔离大气二氧化碳以及其他生态系统服务，包括粮食安全。然而，巴基斯坦半干旱气候区没有关于杨树-玉米混农林业系统中生物量和碳固存的定量信息。本研究旨在评估巴基斯坦费萨拉巴德区 Jaranwala 分区半干旱气候条件下三种杨树-玉米农林复合种植模式下的植被生物量和碳储量。数据以三种农林业模式收集，例如；A（192棵树公顷^-1 )、B (255 棵树 ha ^-1 ) 和 C (296 棵树 ha ^-1 )。异速生长方程用于估计植物物种的生物量和碳储量。结果表明，3种种植模式杨树碳储量差异显着，模式C最大碳储量为35.62 t ha ^-1，分别比模式B和模式A的碳储量高8%和33.5%，分别。玉米作物吸收的最大地上生物量为（11.95 t ha ^-1) 在模式 B 中，分别比模式 A 和模式 C 大 10.3% 和 3.6%。与其他两种模式相比，模式 A 的谷物产量最高。此外，在模式 C 中，在 0-15 厘米深度处估计土壤中的最大土壤碳储量（22.72 t ha-1），而分别比模式 A 和模式 B 高 13.42% 和 6.61%。总之，本研究的结果表明，具有最大生物量产量和碳储量的模式 C 是以碳固存形式获得经济和环境效益的最佳杨玉米种植模式。