Los suelos del paisaje Alto-Andino de Santa Isabel (Tolima, Colombia) ¿son sumideros de carbono orgánico?

Global climate change is one of the most serious problems of mankind, caused mainly by the increase of CO2and other greenhouse gases in the atmosphere. It is recognized that net emissions of these gases can be reduced either by reducing their emission or by increasing their removal by depositing in terrestrial sinks. The soil is the largest carbon (C) sink and mitigates its increase in atmospheric concentration. The rural landscapes in high-land andean zones retain significant amounts of organic soil C (SOC), playing a key role in its global cycle. The objective of this study was to estimate the SOC stocks in the main land uses, and the impacts of land use change in high-land andean landscapes in Santa Isabel, Tolima, Colombia. Three land uses were evaluated: (i) agricultural crops (AC), (ii) silvopastoral systems of pastures with dispersed trees (SPS), and (iii) native forests (NF), estimating bulk density (BD) by cylinder method and the concentration of SOC to a depth of 0-40cm. The BD notably increased by changing from NF to AC and SPS (0.35 to 0.61 and 0.65g/ cm3, respectively). Contrasting, the concentration of SOC was reduced when NF change to agricultural and livestock uses (8.9 to 5.8%). The NF stocked more C than AC and SPS (122.4, 79.6 and 79.8t/ha, respectively), causing a potential emission of 157t CO2/ha in case of deforestation. Opposite processes imply capture of atmospheric carbon. The conservation of NF in high-land Andean zones must be highly considered in national and regional policies.

• Autores: Rojas, Andrés Sebastián; Andrade, Hernán J.; Segura M., Milena A.
• Tipo de recurso: Article of journal
• Fecha de publicación: 2018
• Institución: Universidad de Ciencias Aplicadas y Ambientales U.D.C.A
• Repositorio: Repositorio Institucional UDCA
• Idioma: spa
• OAI Identifier: oai:repository.udca.edu.co:11158/1407
• Acceso en línea: https://revistas.udca.edu.co/index.php/ruadc/article/view/662; https://doi.org/10.31910/rudca.v21.n1.2018.662
• Palabra clave: Bosques tropicales; Agroforestería; Bosques tropicales; Cultivos (agricultura); Densidad del suelo; Agroforestería; Densidad del suelo
• Rights: openAccess
• License: Derechos Reservados - Universidad de Ciencias Aplicadas y Ambientales, 2018