Agriculture Reference
In-Depth Information
Georeferenced plot-
level data on tree den-
sity (ha
-1
) by species
per diameter class
Satellite imagery interpreted for land
cover change, with known accuracy and
legend matching C data sets and activity
data
Tree databases:
• Use categories
• Wood density
• Allometrics
Emission estimates, by
land-use change (de-/re-
forestation) and intra-
class stock change (degra-
dation/restoration) +
recurrent emissions
Time-averaged C stock
for 'land-use system'
across its 'cover' stages
Carbo-transfer
functions
• Understorey
• Litter layer
• Macro necro-
mass
High-quality eco-
logical data and
five-pool studies
Recurrent emis-
sions and below
ground C-stock
change
Area-based
accounting
(national,
subnational
or 'project'
level)
Pedo-transfer
functions
• Soil depth
• Texture, pH
• Drainage
• C
ref
equation
• LU effects: C
ref,LU
Soil maps with
major soil types ~
C stocks and C dy-
namics: peat, wet-
land, volcanic soils
Management infor-
mation on land-use
systems: life cycle,
drainage, fertilization
Footprint
accounting of
commodities
Yields
Fig. 31.2.
Data requirements for a national C stock accounting system compliant with IPCC (2006)
standards and its derivatives for commodity footprints. (From van Noordwijk
et al
., 2012b.)
Can land use C storage effects
be compared to fossil energy C
emissions?
sectors. While there has been a tendency for
'voluntary market' approaches to set up
their own accounting rules that do not re-
late directly to national GHG inventories
and reporting, harmonization will be essen-
tial for achieving the impacts at the scale re-
quired for the current actions to make sense
(van Noordwijk
et al
., 2012b).
The same data sources plus yield data
are needed for the footprint accounting of
commodities in international trade, which
are emerging as options to break the grid-
lock of country-based negotiations (Minang
et al
., 2010; Khasanah
et al
., 2011). While
footprints have been quantified for average
production conditions, recent interest in
the swing potential or the variation in foot-
print within a realistic and plausible range
of management practices (Davis
et al
., 2013)
provides new perspectives. In the current
global economy, consumers influence land-
use decisions through selective use of cross-
border trade, through regulations and through
'green' investment (Plate 15).
A long-standing debate relates to the issue of
the timescale at which changes in terrestrial
carbon stock can be compared to the return
to the atmosphere of carbon captured in geo-
logical history of the planet and currently
stored in fossil fuel (coal, oil, gas, peat).
While return of such fossil carbon to the at-
mosphere is 'permanent', apart from its tem-
porary absorption by oceans and terrestrial
systems, the reductions in current use leave
economically attractive options in the
hands of market players. This is similar to
what happens when forests as terrestrial C
stocks are protected from immediate pres-
sures. Somehow, however, the 'permanence'
discussion has applied higher standards to
avoided emissions of terrestrial C stocks than
to avoided emissions of fossil fuel carbon
(Swallow
et al
., 2007). In fact, neither of
them is permanent at the timescale relevant
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