One of the adaptation techniques to climate change that have been implemented through Action C3 of the LIFE AMDRYC4 project has consisted of the installation of islands of vegetation and reforestation in areas of steep slopes not suitable for cultivation, with the aim to promote the generation of areas that generate ecosystem services such as soil protection, the generation of habitats for pollinators and predators of natural pests, or the sequestration of CO2 within farms. This measure, which is in line with the new ECO-REGIMES of the Community Agrarian Policy (PAC), the Green Pact or the Strategy from the Farm to the Table, presents numerous possibilities of application and benefits for agriculture, the environment, biodiversity or climate.
One of the services that is currently being studied by the partners of the LIFE AMDRYC4 project is the CLIMATE CHANGE MITIGATION service, since the installation of these plant structures has a direct impact in terms of CO2 sequestration, by storing in stems, roots, leaves and fruits carbon, as well as indirect, since part of this carbon will be stored in the medium and long term in the soil store.
For this reason, as part of Action D1 for monitoring these ecosystem services, a calculation of the carbon stored in this green infrastructure is being carried out, through destructive sampling to calculate the dry weight of the plants installed in the agrosystem, as well as for the calculation of the relationship between phytovolume and phytomass of the species used. For this, we proceeded to the selection of specimens of interest of the species planted on the islands and vegetation margins. These specimens were measured in cross height and diameter, to obtain the phytovolume, which can then be related to their weight thanks to a correlation regression. After these measurements, the entire plant was uprooted, including the root system, for the selected and measured specimens.
Once uprooted, it was weighed using an on-site dynamometer. Subsequently, it was transferred to the laboratory to determine the dry weight, by drying in a convection oven until constant weight was reached.
The final results will be available in the coming months, where the full impact of the measures applied to the entire LIFE AMDRYC4 work surface can be verified.