CAN WINDBREAKS AND SHELTERBELTS HELP INCREASE CARBON SEQUESTRATION?

Forests, farms, and other wooded areas provide a wide array of health benefits, such as supplying clean water, supporting wildlife habitat, adapting to climate change, and sequestering carbon. Like trees in forests, trees planted in agroforestry practices (windbreaks, shelterbelts, etc.) also sequester carbon and play an important role in reducing greenhouse gas concentrations.

Agroforestry intentionally integrates trees and shrubs into crop and animal farming systems to create environmental, economic, and social benefits. Most agroforestry practices are designed to be multifunctional. They will sequester carbon as an additional benefit while enhancing and/or protecting crop or livestock production. Carbon sequestration can also improve soil health and help adapt to climate change. Given the large amount of land under agricultural production in the U.S., the potential for carbon sequestration through agroforestry systems is significant. 

Two key characteristics of agroforestry practices that can help increase carbon sequestration are their inclusion of perennial plants and diversity of plants.

• Perennial systems, like agroforestry, generally sequester more carbon than annual vegetation because perennial plants grow more days of the year than yearly crops. Also, perennial plants typically store more carbon each year, while annual plants slowly release carbon after they die off and decompose each year. Trees sequester carbon in their trunks and branches, increasing the amount stored as they grow.
• Agricultural systems with multiple types of plants tend to use resources effectively. These systems take up carbon dioxide, reduce the production of other greenhouse gases, and store carbon in the soil at different depths. Adding trees to an agricultural system tends to store more carbon than in a similar system without trees. 

The tree and shrub components of agroforestry practices contribute to carbon sequestration by using carbon dioxide for photosynthesis and storing carbon above ground in tree trunks and branches and below ground in roots and soil. This carbon can stay in the tree and soil for a long time. If the tree is harvested for wood products, this carbon remains sequestered for the product's life, such as in buildings and furniture. Also, agroforestry can produce food, unlike timber plantation and woodlot plantings. 

Here are some examples of how temperate agroforestry practices can be designed to maximize carbon sequestration on agricultural lands:

• Alley Cropping: In addition to rows of trees, other perennial crops can be selected to plant in the alleys, increasing the system's total above-ground and below-ground sequestration capacity.
• Silvopasture: Choosing silvopasture systems that add trees to pastures generally sequesters more carbon than cutting trees to create silvopasture.
• Windbreaks: Adding additional rows to a windbreak design, selecting species that grow biomass quickly, or selecting species that are used in wood products can increase the sequestration potential of a windbreak system.

Agroforestry practices are essential to increase carbon sequestration and other production and conservation benefits. This makes agroforestry a good option for farmers and land managers interested in increasing carbon sequestration while diversifying their operations. If you are looking to design or plant a windbreak, contact your county NRCS office before March 15th. If you are looking to purchase handplant trees or shrub seedlings, they come in bundles of 25; contact LCNRD by March 31^st.