| Il ruolo della macchia mediterranea nel sequestro del carbonio | |
| Author(s) | Costa G, La Mantia T |
| Year | 2005 |
| Journal | [email protected] |
| Volume | 2 (4): 378-387 |
| Languages | Italian |
| Study area | Sicily, Italy |
| Species | Arbutus unedo L., Chamaerops humilis L., Fraxinus ornus L., Laurus nobilis L., Myrtus communis L., Olea europaea L., Phillyrea latifolia L., Pistacia lentiscus L., Pistacia terebinthus L., Quercus coccifera L., Quercus ilex L., Quercus suber L., Rhus pentaphylla (Jacq.) Desf., Spartium junceum L., Viburnum tinus L. |
| Components | 1, 4 |
| Pilot Sites | Barbara, Chréa, Djelfa, Jabal Moussa, Maamora, Siliana |
| Keywords | Greenhouse effect; Kyoto Protocol; Biomass; Shrubs; Maquis |
| Abstract | The role of the Mediterranean maquis in carbon sequestration. In the last decades human activities have fundamentally altered many biogeochemical cycles. The most prominent of these changes has been the modification of the global carbon cycle, and in particular the increase in the concentrations of atmospheric carbon dioxide. The CO2 increased from a preindustrial concentration of ca 280 ppm to 368 ppm in the year 2000. In 1997, the Third Conference of the Parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) met in Kyoto, Japan, and produced a document (the Kyoto Protocol) of appropriate actions to reduce the emission of greenhouse gases. Inside the protocol, the emission of carbon dioxide by anthropogenic activities is estimated together with the carbon stored in the vegetation. Forests play an important role to capture carbon. The vegetation accumulates through the absorption of atmospheric CO2 carbon into biomass. The carbon is stored in various pools in a ecosystem: living biomass, necromass, soil organic matter. Remarkable variations among carbon accumulates do occur, while little information on carbon stored by Mediterranean formations is available. In this review we place into context the role of Mediterranean formations in the global carbon cycle and climate change. We reviewed the studies that calculated biomass into Mediterranean vegetation and applied average values to estimate the biomass in the Mediterranean formation in Sicily. The results of present studies confirm the importance of Mediterranean vegetation, called macchia, in terms of surface and the role played in the carbon storage. In fact the surface occupied in Sicily by macchia is about 300000 ha (12% of 2500000 ha total surface of Sicily) and the carbon storage is estimated from 2.25 to 18Mt of carbon. Implementation of such studies is necessary to estimate: 1) the carbon storage with more accuracy; 2) the carbon storage within the annual growth; 3) the carbon storage into the soil during the evolution of vegetation from degraded forms (e.g., annual praires) to high forest; 4) the effects of fire. |