Ensuring That Protected Areas Play an Effective Role in Mitigating Climate Change - Ecological Consequences of Climate Change - page 237

TABLE 11.1
Role of Natural Ecosystems in Mitigating and Adapting to Climate Change

Role in Climate Response
Strategies Ecosystem Examples and Notes

Mitigation :.Preliminary.research.shows.that.protected.areas.contain.a.huge.carbon.store,.conservatively.
judged.to.be.at.least.15%.of.terrestrial.carbon.stock.(UNEP-WCMC.2008).
Forests Forests.are.the.world's.largest.

terrestrial.carbon.stock.(including.
soil.carbon.underneath.forests).and.
continue.to.sequester.in.old-growth.
phases.(e.g.,.Baker.et.al..2004).

Tropical.forests.in.protected.areas.in.
Bolivia.store.an.estimated.745.
million.t.C,.worth.US$3.7-14.9.
billion.at.international.carbon.prices.
(Emerton.and.Pabon-Zamora.2009).

Inland.wetland.and.
peat

Inland.wetlands,.particularly.peat,.
contain.huge.carbon.stores..They.
can.be.net.sources.or.sinks,.
depending.on.conditions.and.
management..Intact.peat.contains.
up.to.1,300.t.of.C/ha . (Pena.2008).or.
550.Gt.globally.(Sabine.et.al.2004).

In.Belarus.40,000.ha.of.degraded.peat.
has.been.restored.and.150,000.ha.
more.is.planned..Annual.greenhouse.
gas.emissions.from.ires.and.
mineralization.were.reduced.by.
448,000.t.CO 2. (Rakovich.and.
Bambalov.in.press).

Marine.and.coastal.
systems

Coastal.and.marine.areas.also.
contain.carbon;.in.coastal.zones.
capture.is.equivalent.to.0.2.Gt/year..
Salt.marshes,.mangroves,.and.sea.
grass.beds.all.have.potential.to.
sequester.carbon.(Laffoley.and.
Grimsditch.2009).

Analysis.of.154.studies.of.carbon.
sequestration.in.mangroves.and.salt.
marshes.(Chmura.et.al..2003).found.
an.average.value.of.around.18.4.Tg.
C.per.year.assuming.a.global.area.of.
160,000.km².

Grasslands Grasslands.hold.10-30%.of.global.

soil.carbon.(Schuman.et.al..2002).
but.can.be.a.source.or.sink.
depending.on.management,.
precipitation,.and.CO 2 .levels;.loss.
and.degradation.currently.release.
large.amounts.of.carbon..

A.meta-analysis.found.careful.
management.increased.soil.carbon.
content.in.74%.of.cases,.especially.
conversion.from.cultivation,.
introduction.of.earthworms,.and.
irrigation.(Conant.et.al..2001).

Soil Soils.are.thought.to.be.the.largest.

carbon.reservoir.of.the.terrestrial.
cycle,.holding.more.than.the.
atmosphere.and.vegetation.
combined.(Lal.2004a),.although.
estimates.vary.widely.

Low-tillage.farming.can.build.soil.
carbon.(Barker.et.al..2007),.although.
sequestration.from.different.methods.
ranges.from.50.to.1000.kg/ha/year.
(Lal.2004b).

( continued )