Quantifying C stocks in high-yield, short-rotation woody crop production systems for forest and bioenergy values and CO2 emission reduction

This study measured above- and below-ground carbon stocks for an 8-year-old short-rotation woody cropping system compared to an adjacent corn-soybeans-wheat cropping system. Over the 8 years, there was an annual increase of 1.16 t C per hectare in woody cropping system, compared to an annual loss of 0.70 t C per hectare in the cash cropping system. Concentrated short-rotation woody cropping systems have the potential to sequester significant amounts of atmospheric CO2 in their biomass and in soils and so mitigate climate change.