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Carbon Sequestration in Coffee Agroforestry Plantations of Central America

Conference Paper · January 2007

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Carbon Sequestration in aerial biomass and derived products from coffee
agroforestry systems in Central America

Jean-Michel Harmand1, Kristell Hergoualc’h1,2, Sergio De Miguel3, Benito Dzib2,

Pablo Siles2, Philippe Vaast1,2, Bruno Locatelli1,2
1
Centre de Coopération Internationale en Recherche Agronomique pour le
Développement (CIRAD), TA 10/D, Campus International de Baillarguet, 34398
Montpellier Cedex 5, France; 2Centro Agronómico Tropical de Investigación y
Enseñensa (CATIE), Departamento de Agroforesteria, 7170 Turrialba, Costa Rica; 3
Forest Technology Centre of Catalonia (CTFC), s/n-25280 Solsona, Spain

Abstract
For five years, research was undertaken on the potential of shade trees introduced in
coffee (Coffea arabica) plantations in Central America to increase plant biomass and
litter, and hence carbon (C) sequestration. A database on C stored in soil and plant
biomass of coffee agroforestry systems (AFS) in Central America was developed using
already published information and data collected in on-going experiments and in
surveyed coffee farms. Compared to the amount of C in aerial phytomass (biomass +
litter) of 7 year old full sun coffee systems, the total C in aerial phytomass of coffee
systems shaded by Eucalyptus deglupta (110 shade trees ha-1) or by Inga densiflora
(280 shade trees ha-1), was increased by a factor 2.5. For an approximately ten year
period, results from our database show that the conversion of coffee monoculture to
AFS resulted in an additional mean annual increment in aerial phytomass varying from
1 t C ha-1 yr-1 in the case of regulated shading by Erythrina poeppigiana, to 1.7 – 3.1 t C
ha-1 yr-1 in the case of timber tree shading. Depending on the derived products
(fuelwood for coffee stems and Inga species; pallets, logs, etc for timber species) and
their life span, various wood production and harvesting scenarios in coffee AFS were
evaluated with respect to C sequestration.

Introduction

Coffee farmers consider with interest the conversion of their coffee monoculture into
agroforestry systems (AFS) as an alternative to face the economical crisis of coffee prices
through diversification (e.g. timber and fuelwood production), production of high quality coffee
and payment of incentives for environmental services such as carbon (C) sequestration.
This report presents some results from research undertaken during five years on the potential
of shade trees introduced in coffee (Coffea arabica) plantations in Central America to increase
plant biomass and litter, and hence C sequestration. The work focused on the collection of data
from selected coffee systems (with or without shade trees) used as long term experiments (De
Miguel Magaña et al 2004) and inventories of tree cover in coffee farms of Costa Rica (Dzib
2004). Then, a database on C stored in soil and plant biomass of coffee AFS in Central America
was developed using published information and data collected in experiments and coffee farms.

Material and methods

In a few targeted coffee systems, the quantification of aerial tree biomass was generally
undertaken developing allometric relationships between diameter at breast height (1.30 m) and
stem, branches, leaves or total tree biomass. Random samplings were used to evaluate the
biomass of leguminous service trees regularly pruned (Erythrina poeppigiana), coffee and litter
layer. Dry matter values were converted to C values using a factor of 0.48.
Two targeted highly fertilized coffee AFS were studied. The first one was located on an Acrisol
in the low-altitude southern zone of Costa Rica (altitude of 600 m, mean annual temperature >
23°C and average annual rainfall of 2700 mm). The system, fertilized at a 180 kg N ha-1 yr-1
rate, was shaded by Eucalyptus deglupta of 7 year, planted at a 110 trees ha-1 density (De
Miguel Magaña et al 2004). The second one was located on an Andosol in the experimental
station of ICAFE (Coffee Institute of Costa Rica) in San Pedro de Barva (Heredia), a high
altitude zone of Costa Rica (altitude of 1180 m, mean annual temperature < 22°C and average
annual rainfall of 2500 mm). The coffee plantation, fertilized at a 250 kg N ha-1 yr-1 rate, was
shaded by Inga densiflora of 7 year, planted at a 278 trees ha-1 density. Both AFS were
compared to a nearby control full sun coffee plot having the same date of establishment and a
similar agricultural management.
In 2003, inventories of tree cover were performed in coffee farms of Costa Rica in order to
evaluate tree aerial biomass (Dzib 2004). The timber tree species studied were Cordia alliodora
in the hot low-altitude region of La Suiza, Terminalia amazonia in the hot low-altitude region of
Pérez Zeledon and Eucalyptus deglupta in the cool medium-altitude zone of Grecia.
Finally, a database on C stocks and accumulation rates was developed. It is based on 21 studies
originating principally from Latin America with reference to 100 different types of coffee
plantations.
For assessing the contribution of fuelwood to climate change mitigation, we assumed that
fuelwood is substituted to energy originating at 50% from fossil fuel and 50% from renewable
energy. We did not consider the emissions caused by wood transportation or transformation, nor
the differences in energy efficiency during production and transportation. We used default
values from IPCC (2006) for wood calorific values (average value of 20 GJ t-1) and for fossil
fuel emission factor (between 60 to 120 tCO2 TJ-1 depending on the type of fuel).
For assessing the contribution of timber products to carbon sequestration in the coffee-
Eucalyptus system, we assumed an average life span of 6.5 years for pallets and 20 years for
logs. At a steady state, the carbon stored in the products is calculated as the amount of C
annually destined to the products multiplied by their respective life span.

Results and discussion

Compared to the amount of C in aerial phytomass (biomass + litter) in full sun coffee systems
(10.5 to 11 t C ha-1), the total C in aerial phytomass in coffee systems shaded by Eucalyptus
deglupta (110 shade trees ha-1) or by Inga densiflora (280 shade trees ha-1), was increased by a
factor 2.5 (27.4 and 25.4 t C ha-1 respectively) after 7 years of inclusion of the shade trees. The
shade trees and the litter layer accounted respectively for 82-92% and 8-18% of the additional C
in aerial phytomass. These C accumulation values accounted for an additional mean annual
increment of 2.1-2.3 t C ha-1 yr-1 in comparison to coffee monoculture.

Depending on the derived products (fuelwood for coffee stems and Inga species; pallets or logs
for Eucalyptus species) and their life span, various wood production scenarios in coffee AFS
were evaluated with respect to C sequestration (Table 1). At a steady state (after one life cycle
of timber products), harvesting Eucalyptus wood for pallets or logs added 3.16 or 18.86 t C ha-1
to the C balance, respectively. Energy substitution by fuelwood can reduce CO2 emissions from
0.7 to 1.4 tCO2 ha-1 yr-1 in coffee monoculture and from 2.2 to 4.3 tCO2 ha-1 yr-1 in the coffee -
Inga system which woody biomass is mainly used for fuelwood.
Mean values from the carbon database based on 21 studies (Figure2) indicate that 80% of the C
was located belowground in soil organic matter and roots, and 20% aboveground, of which at
least 50% originated from shade trees.
 Age of coffee plants: 14 years old C (t ha-1) Age of coffee plants: 7 years old
C (t ha-1)
Age of timber trees: 7 years old 15 13,7 Age of trees: 7 years old
15 13,5

9,8 9,8 10 9,0 9,3

10

4,1
5
5 2,4
1,5
1,2
0
0
Tree Coffee Litter
Tree Coffee Litter

Full sun coffee Eucalyptus deglupta - coffee Full sun coffee Inga densiflora - coffee

Fig 1a Fig 1b
Figure 1. Carbon accumulation in aerial biomass and litter (t C ha-1) of Coffea arabica
systems in Costa Rica; Fig 1a: full sun coffee and shaded coffee with Eucalyptus
deglupta, Fig 1b: full sun coffee and shaded coffee with Inga densiflora.

Table 1. Carbon fate (t C ha-1) in wood products harvested in 7 year old coffee systems
Products Coffee systems
monoculture with E. with with Eucalyptus
poeppigiana Inga spp. deglupta
Fuelwood a 4 4 3.6 3.6
(coffee stems)
Fuelwood b - - 9 1.4
(tree stems or
branches)
Pallets c - - - 3.4 (5-8 years)
Logs d - - - 6.6 (15-25 years)
a
Coffee stems accounted for 40% of aerial coffee biomass.
b
Stems or branches in the case of Inga, only branches in the case of Eucalyptus.
c
With the logging and pallets processing scenarios used in the coffee farm, 36% of the total eucalyptus
stem (70% of aerial biomass) composed the final product with a 5 to 8 year life span.
d
For small constructions 70% of the Eucalyptus stem could be used with a 15 to 25 year life span.

30 -1
C (t ha ) C (t ha-1 y-1)
3 Shade tree
25 Shade tree
20 Coffee Coffee
2
15
Litter Litter
10 1
5

0 0
Full sun AGF with AGF with AGF with Full sun AGF with AGF with AGF with
coffee Erythrina Inga spp. timber tree coffee Erythrina Inga spp. timber tree
poeppigiana poeppigiana

Mean age: 10years 9 years 7 years 9 years 10 years 9 years 7 years 9 years
Fig 2a Fig 2b
Fig. 2a: Carbon accumulation (t C ha-1) and Fig 2b: mean annual increment (t C ha-1 yr-
1
) in aerial phytomass in coffee monoculture and different coffee AFS. Synthesis from
21 studies reported in the C data base (16 plots with coffee monoculture, 13 plots with
coffee - E. poeppigiana, 5 plots with coffee - Inga sp. and 138 plots with coffee shaded
by timber tree).
 For an approximately ten year period, mean values (Figure 2) show that the conversion of coffee
monoculture to AFS resulted in an additional mean C increase in aerial phytomass varying from
1 t C ha-1 yr-1 in the case of regulated shading by E. poeppigiana, to 1.7 - 3.1 t C ha-1 yr-1 in the
case of associated coffee with Inga sp. or timber trees. Carbon stocks of coffee AFS highly
depended on shade tree species and their planting density.

Conclusions

Although change in soil C and GHG emissions (N2O + CH4) were not taken into account in the
present analysis, the values of C-CO2 sequestration in aerial phytomass (biomass and litter) by
the coffee AFS show the interesting potential of coffee agroforestry management for global
warming mitigation. In addition to maintaining a forest tree cover in coffee plantations, wood
production in coffee AFS can increase slightly or substantially C sequestration depending on the
derived timber products and their life span.

Acknowledgements
The authors thank the European Commission (INCO project CASCA, ICA4-CT-2001-10071,
www.casca-project.com) and the Science and Cultural Cooperation Centre of the French
embassy in Costa Rica for supporting part of the operational costs of this research.

References
De Miguel Magaña S., Harmand J.M., Hergoualc’h K., 2004. Cuantificación del
carbono almacenado en la biomasa aérea y el mantillo en sistemas agroforestales de
café en el suroeste de Costa Rica. Agroforestería en las Américas, 41-42: 98-104.
Dzib B. 2004. Manejo, secuestro de carbono e ingresos de tres especies forestales de
sombra en cafetales de tres regiones contrastantes de Costa Rica. MSc. CATIE,
Turrialba, Costa Rica, 114p.

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