| dc.description.abstract | Agroforestry is a land management system which integrates forest management
practices with agriculture, often using high-value tree species planted alongside crops to
increase profits. Agroforestry has the potential to increase carbon sequestration from the
atmosphere within an area by increasing or maintaining land productivity through
preventing soil erosion and binding carbon within the soils. As carbon dioxide is the
most abundant greenhouse gas, sequestering carbon dioxide by any means will help to
mitigate the degree of climate change. In this study, I compared the potential carbon
sequestration capacity of shelterbelt agroforestry systems and silvopastoral agroforestry
systems applicable to ecosystems within Canada against that of their adjacent pure
agricultural systems. The results of this study indicated that silvopastoral systems
sequester significantly more carbon dioxide within their soils than their adjacent
agricultural counterparts while shelterbelt systems do not. Potential aboveground
biomass productivity was also compared for hardwood and softwood tree species. The
results indicated that there was no statistically significant difference between the two in
aboveground biomass production potential. Based off these results, recommendations
for resources and policies were made specific to Canada. The recommendations
included developing a strategic framework for agroforestry in Canada, increasing the
availability of grants for agroforestry in Canada, and changing property tax schemes to
make agroforestry more financially appealing to land managers over single-use systems. | en_US |
