Environmental Engineering Reference
In-Depth Information
Chapter 13
Afforestation and Reforestation: The Friuli
Venezia Giulia Case Study
Giorgio Alberti, Gemini Delle Vedove, Silvia Stefanelli
and Giuseppe Vanone
Abstract
In the last decades, the European Union has favored the conversion
of marginal croplands to forest plantations also to mitigate climate change by
increasing carbon storage in the biosphere. In Italy, recent estimates report that
forest plantations cover a total area of 122,252 ha. The aim of the present paper
was to quantify carbon stock and annual carbon flux in mixed broadleaf and pop-
lar plantation in Friuli Venezia Giulia plain. Overall, 2,592 ha of mixed broad-
leaf plantation (1992-2006) and 3,113 ha of poplar plantations (2002-2006)
have been established in the Region with a standing carbon stock of 223,400 and
397,753 Mg C, respectively. Soil is the largest carbon pool in both plantation types
(60 and 63 % of total ecosystem carbon stock). The total annual carbon sequestra-
tion is respectively 8,855 and 40,286 Mg C y
−
1
whereas soil accounts for 13 % in
broadleaf plantations and 9 % in poplar plantations.
13.1 Introduction
Since the origin of agriculture, human population and its consumption of resources
have increased and forest and other natural areas have been gradually turned into
farmlands, pasturelands and cities. In fact landscape is the result of an alternation
of periods of forest expansion (i.e. succession) and periods of reduction in forest
areas.
In the last decades, the European Union has supported the conversion of mar-
ginal croplands to forest plantations in order to achieve several targets: to diversify
