PROJECT SUMMARY
Carbon Dioxide Removal (CDR) through afforestation and woody encroachment are one of the most widely proposed strategies for Africa. This project aims to examine the trade-offs of land cover changes, focusing on afforestation’s impact on carbon sequestration, water yields, and ecosystem functionality across diverse Southern African landscapes with a focus on Fynbos. Leveraging data from the SAEON and new measurements, the project examines if naturally tree-free ecosystems might outperform afforestation in carbon sequestration. The results will be important in informing land management policies in Africa, crucial given the rising international pressure for afforestation fuelled by carbon credit trading.
A sub-topic of this project “Climate change mitigation potential of Fynbos ecosystems”, aims to quantify the carbon and energy fluxes in Fynbos, one of the world’s floral kingdoms, to assess its capacity to sequester carbon. Leveraging eddy covariance data from SAEON and new measurements, we aim to understand the underlying mechanisms based on the preliminary observation that these ecosystems sequester large quantities of carbon without accumulating it in above-ground biomass.
PROJECT LEADER
Jonathan Müller
AFFILIATION
Centre of Invasion Biology (CIB)
DURATION
2024 – 2026
