Variation of forest surface and carbon fixation in mountain areas of the Regione Veneto (Italy) and the application of the Kyoto protocol

The Parties that have signed the Kyoto Protocol must reduce global emissions of Greenhouse Gasses (GHG) during the First Commitment Period (2008 - 2012) by at least 5% with respect to 1990. This share is 6.5% for Italy. The Kyoto Protocol lays down some measures for reducing GHG emissions, which inc...

Full description

Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: Anfodillo T, Pilli R, Dalla Valle E, Lamedica S
Format: Article
Language:Italian
Published: Italian Society of Silviculture and Forest Ecology (SISEF) 2007-01-01
Series:Forest@
Subjects:
Online Access:http://www.sisef.it/forest@/showPaper.php?action=html(13,472)&lang=en
_version_ 1811256106556588032
author Anfodillo T
Pilli R
Dalla Valle E
Lamedica S
author_facet Anfodillo T
Pilli R
Dalla Valle E
Lamedica S
author_sort Anfodillo T
collection DOAJ
description The Parties that have signed the Kyoto Protocol must reduce global emissions of Greenhouse Gasses (GHG) during the First Commitment Period (2008 - 2012) by at least 5% with respect to 1990. This share is 6.5% for Italy. The Kyoto Protocol lays down some measures for reducing GHG emissions, which include actions in agriculture and forestry. it will thus be possible to take emissions and absorptions resulting from land use changes into account in the National Balances. Given the widespread forests in Italy, it is very important to have an assessment of the aptitude of this sector to act as a carbon sink. In this study we analysed the variation of forestland cover in a mountain area of the Veneto Region (NE Italy). The analysis was done by comparing aerial photos taken in 1991 with orthophotos reported to 2003, by photointerpretation of points with casual distribution on sample areas, according to a stratified sampling. We estimated a statistically relevant increment of about 0.095% of forest land only up to 1500 m compared to the estimated forest cover for 1990 (about 42 ha), underlining how this low increase is mainly due to forest management. The second step was to estimate the fixed carbon in the areas where forests increased. This was achieved by collecting biometrical data in the field, and then using allometric functions. The annual carbon sink was estimated as 0.69 Mg ha-1 year-1. Comparing these results with previous studies done in the pre-alpine region we estimate the annual increment of the forest area in the whole Veneto region to be about 409.94 ha and that the total carbon sink is about 282.86 Mg C year-1. A method for estimating carbon sink in afforestation/reforestation areas is proposed that could also be applied to other sites in Italy.
first_indexed 2024-04-12T17:35:02Z
format Article
id doaj.art-8ff43728b03d43428f46dd265f004f43
institution Directory Open Access Journal
issn 1824-0119
language Italian
last_indexed 2024-04-12T17:35:02Z
publishDate 2007-01-01
publisher Italian Society of Silviculture and Forest Ecology (SISEF)
record_format Article
series Forest@
spelling doaj.art-8ff43728b03d43428f46dd265f004f432022-12-22T03:23:00ZitaItalian Society of Silviculture and Forest Ecology (SISEF)Forest@1824-01192007-01-0143283297Variation of forest surface and carbon fixation in mountain areas of the Regione Veneto (Italy) and the application of the Kyoto protocolAnfodillo TPilli RDalla Valle ELamedica SThe Parties that have signed the Kyoto Protocol must reduce global emissions of Greenhouse Gasses (GHG) during the First Commitment Period (2008 - 2012) by at least 5% with respect to 1990. This share is 6.5% for Italy. The Kyoto Protocol lays down some measures for reducing GHG emissions, which include actions in agriculture and forestry. it will thus be possible to take emissions and absorptions resulting from land use changes into account in the National Balances. Given the widespread forests in Italy, it is very important to have an assessment of the aptitude of this sector to act as a carbon sink. In this study we analysed the variation of forestland cover in a mountain area of the Veneto Region (NE Italy). The analysis was done by comparing aerial photos taken in 1991 with orthophotos reported to 2003, by photointerpretation of points with casual distribution on sample areas, according to a stratified sampling. We estimated a statistically relevant increment of about 0.095% of forest land only up to 1500 m compared to the estimated forest cover for 1990 (about 42 ha), underlining how this low increase is mainly due to forest management. The second step was to estimate the fixed carbon in the areas where forests increased. This was achieved by collecting biometrical data in the field, and then using allometric functions. The annual carbon sink was estimated as 0.69 Mg ha-1 year-1. Comparing these results with previous studies done in the pre-alpine region we estimate the annual increment of the forest area in the whole Veneto region to be about 409.94 ha and that the total carbon sink is about 282.86 Mg C year-1. A method for estimating carbon sink in afforestation/reforestation areas is proposed that could also be applied to other sites in Italy.http://www.sisef.it/forest@/showPaper.php?action=html(13,472)&lang=enKyoto ProtocolLand use changePhotointerpretationCarbon sink
spellingShingle Anfodillo T
Pilli R
Dalla Valle E
Lamedica S
Variation of forest surface and carbon fixation in mountain areas of the Regione Veneto (Italy) and the application of the Kyoto protocol
Forest@
Kyoto Protocol
Land use change
Photointerpretation
Carbon sink
title Variation of forest surface and carbon fixation in mountain areas of the Regione Veneto (Italy) and the application of the Kyoto protocol
title_full Variation of forest surface and carbon fixation in mountain areas of the Regione Veneto (Italy) and the application of the Kyoto protocol
title_fullStr Variation of forest surface and carbon fixation in mountain areas of the Regione Veneto (Italy) and the application of the Kyoto protocol
title_full_unstemmed Variation of forest surface and carbon fixation in mountain areas of the Regione Veneto (Italy) and the application of the Kyoto protocol
title_short Variation of forest surface and carbon fixation in mountain areas of the Regione Veneto (Italy) and the application of the Kyoto protocol
title_sort variation of forest surface and carbon fixation in mountain areas of the regione veneto italy and the application of the kyoto protocol
topic Kyoto Protocol
Land use change
Photointerpretation
Carbon sink
url http://www.sisef.it/forest@/showPaper.php?action=html(13,472)&lang=en
work_keys_str_mv AT anfodillot variationofforestsurfaceandcarbonfixationinmountainareasoftheregionevenetoitalyandtheapplicationofthekyotoprotocol
AT pillir variationofforestsurfaceandcarbonfixationinmountainareasoftheregionevenetoitalyandtheapplicationofthekyotoprotocol
AT dallavallee variationofforestsurfaceandcarbonfixationinmountainareasoftheregionevenetoitalyandtheapplicationofthekyotoprotocol
AT lamedicas variationofforestsurfaceandcarbonfixationinmountainareasoftheregionevenetoitalyandtheapplicationofthekyotoprotocol