New study on carbon storage in hedgerow biomass

The establishment of hedgerows is increasingly discussed as a climate change mitigation measure, and positive and negative CO₂ emissions caused by the establishment or removal of hedgerows must be reported in national greenhouse gas inventories. However, there have been few empirical studies on C storage in hedgerow biomass, and in particular data on belowground biomass in particular was missing. As part of the CarboHedge project, all biomass C pools were destructively sampled at old hedgerow sites in Schleswig-Holstein. Total long-term C storage in hedgerow biomass was 105 ± 11 Mg C ha^-1, additionally 11 ± 2 Mg C ha^-1 was stored in litter and necromass. Particularly important C pools in these hedgerow systems were the coarse roots >2mm (34% of the total biomass carbon stock), the stumps (22%) and the harvestable biomass (20%). The proportion of below-ground biomass in the total biomass was around 40%, and thus much higher than previously assumed. The study shows the great potential of hedgerows for C sequestration and can be used to better quantify the C storage of hedgerows.

https://doi.org/10.1111/gcbb.13112