An analysis of carbon storage protected areas with relation to agroforestry management and biodiversity

This work investigated the role of land cover and land use change (LUC) as a soil ability to store carbon and reduce carbon dioxide emission in a Mediterranean area. Using a paired site approach we estimated the effect of land cover change on the carbon stock from 1972 to 2008 in a natural reserve (Grotta di S. Ninfa) in the West of Sicily. Fifteen paired sites representative of five land use change were selected. We studied the effect of land use on soil organic carbon (SOC) content in bulk soil and 2000-1000 µm, 1000-500 µm, 500-250 µm, 250-63 µm, 63-25 µm and <25 µm size fractions. Furthermore, laboratory incubation of the soil samples was conducted to measure carbon dioxide evolution in…