Belowground carbon storage in coffee agroforestry systems: A strategy to mitigate climate change

Abstract

Agroforestry systems can contribute to forest restoration as well as above- and belowground carbon (C) storage. The present study documents C dynamics in soils of a coffee agroforestry system (CAFS) to understand its potential for climate change mitigation. The CAFS was implemented as a restoration effort in an area experiencing rapid forest loss due to itinerant agriculture in central Mozambique. Soil samples were collected at 0–15 cm and 15–30 cm in fallow agricultural areas, two- and seven-year-old CAFS, and regenerating and natural forest fragments to compare C dynamics between land uses. C storage was similar between the CAFS and the forest fragment. Microbial biomass C and soil respiration were lowest in the seven-year-old CAFS, while microbial biomass nitrogen was highest in recently disturbed and naturally regenerating sites. Labile C was lowest in the two-year-old CAFS, where organic inputs are presumably lowest. Our results showed that soils from CAFS could play an important role to reduce negative effects of land use change, to promote C sequestration, and to engage initiatives based on the payment of ecosystem services.