Volume 27, Issue 2, September 2019, Pages 591–598
Lucette YOU AKPA1, Hyppolite Dibi N'DA2, KYEREH BOATENG3, and KPANGUY KOUASSI BRUNO4
1 Centre Universitaire de Recherche et d’Application en Télédétection (CURAT), University Félix Houphouët Boigny of Cocody, Abidjan, Côte d'Ivoire
2 Centre Universitaire de Recherche et d’Application en Télédétection (CURAT), University Félix Houphouët Boigny of Cocody, Abidjan, Côte d'Ivoire
3 Faculty of Renewable Natural Resources, Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology, Ghana
4 Centre National de Floristique, Université Félix Houphouët Boigny, Côte d’Ivoire
Original language: English
Copyright © 2019 ISSR Journals. This is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.
The increasing world demand for cashew (Anacardium occidentale L.) nuts and by-products generates rapid expansion of cashew cultivation across West-African countries especially in Cote d’Ivoire. This has created wealth for many smallholders. This is not to mention the pressure on forest-savanna transition zone. The aim of this study is to assess the impact of cashew production on carbon stocks. Vegetation inventory and soil sampling (0-20cm and 20-40cm) were done to estimate the above and below ground as well as soil carbon for savanna, forest and cashew plantain at different growing stages. The total carbon stocks in Mg C ha-1 were low in cashew plantations, where mature stands had 21.826 ± 3.23 (Mean ± SE), young 25.927 ± 6.53 and juvenile 16.732 ± 2.96 compared with natural vegetation (forest/woodland 64.375 ± 12.43, tree savannas 23.94 ± 3.3 and tree/shrub savannas 21.012 ± 10.12). There was no significant difference in soil organic carbon and total soil carbon stocks under different land use types, except between forest (24.67 ± 5.37 Mg C ha-1) and tree/shrub savanna (8.92 ± 1.57 Mg C ha-1). This implies that cashew expansion is of higher threat to more woody vegetation which has serious implication in terms of conservation and carbon sequestration. There is therefore a need for a more sustainable management approach to cashew agriculture practices to ensure optimum production for farmers, while conserving the forest-savanna ecosystem.
Author Keywords: aboveground and belowground biomass, cashew plantation, forest savanna transition, soil carbon stock, Cote d’Ivoire.
Lucette YOU AKPA1, Hyppolite Dibi N'DA2, KYEREH BOATENG3, and KPANGUY KOUASSI BRUNO4
1 Centre Universitaire de Recherche et d’Application en Télédétection (CURAT), University Félix Houphouët Boigny of Cocody, Abidjan, Côte d'Ivoire
2 Centre Universitaire de Recherche et d’Application en Télédétection (CURAT), University Félix Houphouët Boigny of Cocody, Abidjan, Côte d'Ivoire
3 Faculty of Renewable Natural Resources, Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology, Ghana
4 Centre National de Floristique, Université Félix Houphouët Boigny, Côte d’Ivoire
Original language: English
Copyright © 2019 ISSR Journals. This is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.
Abstract
The increasing world demand for cashew (Anacardium occidentale L.) nuts and by-products generates rapid expansion of cashew cultivation across West-African countries especially in Cote d’Ivoire. This has created wealth for many smallholders. This is not to mention the pressure on forest-savanna transition zone. The aim of this study is to assess the impact of cashew production on carbon stocks. Vegetation inventory and soil sampling (0-20cm and 20-40cm) were done to estimate the above and below ground as well as soil carbon for savanna, forest and cashew plantain at different growing stages. The total carbon stocks in Mg C ha-1 were low in cashew plantations, where mature stands had 21.826 ± 3.23 (Mean ± SE), young 25.927 ± 6.53 and juvenile 16.732 ± 2.96 compared with natural vegetation (forest/woodland 64.375 ± 12.43, tree savannas 23.94 ± 3.3 and tree/shrub savannas 21.012 ± 10.12). There was no significant difference in soil organic carbon and total soil carbon stocks under different land use types, except between forest (24.67 ± 5.37 Mg C ha-1) and tree/shrub savanna (8.92 ± 1.57 Mg C ha-1). This implies that cashew expansion is of higher threat to more woody vegetation which has serious implication in terms of conservation and carbon sequestration. There is therefore a need for a more sustainable management approach to cashew agriculture practices to ensure optimum production for farmers, while conserving the forest-savanna ecosystem.
Author Keywords: aboveground and belowground biomass, cashew plantation, forest savanna transition, soil carbon stock, Cote d’Ivoire.
How to Cite this Article
Lucette YOU AKPA, Hyppolite Dibi N'DA, KYEREH BOATENG, and KPANGUY KOUASSI BRUNO, “IMPACT OF CASHEW PLANTATION ON CARBON STOCK IN THE FOREST-SAVANNA TRANSITION ZONE (NORTH-EAST COTE D’IVOIRE),” International Journal of Innovation and Applied Studies, vol. 27, no. 2, pp. 591–598, September 2019.
