Environment Canada CU – Trees both, dead or alive are wanted according to a study at the University of Alberta. The role of the preservation and planting of shelterbelts and hedgerows, while maintaining deadwood alongside cropland can play a significant role in storing carbon and lowering greenhouse gas.
Cole Gross, post-doctoral researcher at Yale University’s School of the Environment, who is the lead author of study which he conducted for his PhD completion in soil science at the Faculty of Agricultural, Life & Environmental Sciences stated that keeping dead and live trees and planting more trees on agricultural lands is a significant avenue to reduce climate change.
The 3-year study, focused on many of central Alberta cropland sites and their woodlands and shelterbelts in the vicinity, that are rows of planted trees, and hedgerows. The plantations were naturally occurring trees and wild bushes. The findings demonstrated that shelterbelts and hedgerows stored 2 and 3 times more carbon, respectively, than other fields of wheat, barley and canola in the vicinity.
An additional factor was the lowering nitrous oxide a powerful greenhouse gas averaging 89% over the 3-year study in comparison to the cropland within the vicinity.
The study was the 1st to evaluate the advantages of deadwood in shelterbelts and hedgerows indicating that the wood was a valuable carbon storer, suggesting that farmers need to allow it to die out.
Cole Gross said “Clearing out live and even dead trees from shelterbelts and hedgerows has detrimental effects on carbon storage. Deadwood plays a valuable role, particularly in hedgerows, and likely provides additional benefits such as enhancing biodiversity,”
The study also looked into the effect of using saplings in grassland gaps within the woodlands, but saw no major effect on carbon retention or greenhouse gas in the 1st 3 years following planting.
