Resumen

MIRANDA, Taymer; MACHADO, R; MACHADO, Hilda  y  DUQUESNE, P. Carbon sequestered in Cuban livestock production ecosystems and its economic assessment.: Case study. Pastos y Forrajes [online]. 2007, vol.30, n.4. ISSN 0864-0394.

Agroforestry systems represent important carbon sinks; nevertheless, in Cuba they have not been considered in that sense due, mainly, to the absence of quantified information about their storage and fixation potential. This study shows the comparative results of a farm with a natural pasture and another turned into an agroforestry system with 11 years of exploitation. The carbon stored by the silvopastoral system was higher than that sequestered in the system of natural pasture. The forest carbon and the one retained in the pastures and in the soil reached values of 64; 38 and 24 t/ha, respectively. The silvopastoral system sequestered 126 t of carbon unlike the system of natural pasture, which only reached 32 t/ha in the year of evaluation. The agroforestry system substantially exceeded the system of natural pasture for its high environmental and economic contribution; its economic value is about 1 300 USD per year. This economic assessment is an essential element to achieve a sustainable utilization of the ecosystem and, although it does not constitute the instrument to be taken into consideration for all decisions, it represents one of the aspects involved in the decision-making process, together with other important political, social and cultural considerations. The results confirm that silvopastoral systems are an alternative for the sustainable development of the livestock production sector.

Palabras clave : Carbon; ecosystem.

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