Carbon economy: CO2 accounting in live fences of high-Andean dairy production systems in Colombia

Abstract

The carbon economy is an emerging issue in the analysis of livestock production systems. Livestock systems are constantly growing, so farming, deforestation and forest burning are frequent to expand the extension of land and, therefore, pastures, being one of the reasons why gas emissions have increased. greenhouse. However, planting trees and shrubs in pastures help reduce these emissions, since they have the capacity to store and fix carbon in considerable quantities. Therefore, the objective of this descriptive research was to determine the carbon storage and fixation capacity in the above-ground biomass of trees of the Alnus acuminata species arranged in living fences of four dairy production systems located in the Municipality of Guatavita, Colombia. The results showed stored carbon contents ranging from 0,026 to 0,100 tC and fixed carbon contents (CO2) ranging from 0,094 to 0,369 tCO2 in paths of 98 to 245 linear meters of live fences. These results were projected at 400 linear meters simulating the total enclosure of one hectare of pasture. It is concluded that the livestock systems studied have ample capacity to store and fix C in the forest biomass that makes up each farm, and can be improved by increasing the planting density and raising awareness among producers about the valuable ecosystem service that trees represent.