Preferenze CookieCarbon Inventory South Tyrol. Quantitative analysis and stability assessment of SOC stocks in South Tyrol's agricultural areas
Schönafinger A, Hänchen LS, Zanotelli D, Bouaicha O, Wohlfahrt G, Tagliavini M, Mimmo T, Niedrist G
The European Union (EU) aims to achieve climate neutrality by 2050, as outlined in the
Paris Agreement and the European Green Deal (EuropEan Commission 2019). The Land
Use, Land-Use Change, and Forestry (LULUCF) sector, which includes agriculture,
has set an even more ambitious goal of climate neutrality by 2035 (VikolainEn 2022;
EuropEan parliamEnt and CounCil of thE EuropEan union 2023). Understanding the inter-
relationship between major carbon pools is crucial for effective carbon emission manage-
ment . According to the Guidelines for National Greenhouse Gas Inventories (IPCC
2019), these pools comprise living biomass, dead organic matter, and soil carbon within
the biosphere. Although estimating carbon in biomass is relatively straightforward and
may only be a minor contributor to certain land uses, such as grasslands, the quantifi-
cation and assessment of soil organic carbon (SOC) stocks are considerably more com-
plex, particularly in mountainous regions with small-scale landscape variations.
Recent global studies have examined SOC stocks (FAO 2018; FAO & ITPS 2019; poggio
et al. 2021). However, regional soil organic carbon modeling is becoming increasingly
important due to the limitations of global models in capturing small-scale landscape
complexities (Yigini & panagos 2014; kotzé & Van tol 2023; rota et al. 2024). Developing
tailored strategies that address the specific characteristics of small-scale landscapes is
therefore needed (zhang et al. 2023). Regional approaches are vital for informing deci-
sions related to agricultural land-use conversions and supporting climate neutrality
efforts. These approaches are essential for carbon conservation, carbon sequestration,
and initiatives such as carbon farming. The ‘Carbon Inventory South Tyrol’ (CIS) pro-
ject aims to assist the European Union’s objectives within the agricultural sector at a
regional level. The primary goal is to address the knowledge gaps in quantifying the
agricultural soil organic carbon (SOC) stock within the Italian province of South Tyrol.
SOC stock is estimated using a soil organic carbon mapping (SOCM) approach. The
initial step involves sourcing completed and ongoing soil studies from relevant litera-
ture specific to the study area. The subsequent sections will briefly report on the pro-
cess and preliminary results of collecting soil data from the literature.
DOI: 10.5281/zenodo.17207749
