Valutazione del potenziale di sequestro del carbonio forestale nella serie di vegetazioneGalio-Scabri Quercetum ilicis: il caso di studio del Monte Arci: Sardegna centrale

The main goal of this research is to verify the feasibility and applicability of procedures aimed at estimating forest carbon stocks for different land use categories at the local scale. As a case study the Monte Arci - Distretto forestale dell'Arci Grighine (central-western Sardinia), was chosen. In this ambit, the vegetation series of the Galio scabri-Quercetum ilicis was evaluated, on a total area of 1,650 hectares of woods and shrubs. The investigation started from unpublished inventory data (level Tier 3 for the pool "aboveground biomass"), describing the dendrometric features of the studied woods in the year 2010, that were gathered with the aim of building the knowledge system for the settlement of the district forestry plan. This research was realized in the ambit of the institutional collaboration between the Assessorato alla Difesa dell'Ambiente of Autonomous Region of Sardinia as the manager institution, and the Dept. of Sciences for Nature and Environmental Resources of the University of Sassari as the research institution. The data developed for 2010 and the elaboration of a management scenario characterized by a sustainable ecological-productive orientation, allowed us to estimate potential carbon stocks of the study area for 2040. Our estimates describe a total of 1,144.65 tons of C (4,190 tons of equivalent CO2) for 2010, and a thirty-year increase of 6,182.84 tons of C (22,690 tons of equivalent CO2) for 2040 on the whole area. The method herein tested, proved to be effective to support decision processes for forest planning, and as an informative tool to communicate targets in the ambit of participatory planning processes that are increasingly applied. Furthermore, our results can motivate public and private forest land managers to join protocols for forest management certification, and to promote the development of voluntary markets meeting emission trading schemes to be adopted at the local scale for the transition of carbon credits.