| This thesis is an investigation of carbon dynamics in a 15 year old temperate agroforestry system and in an adjacent conventional agricultural system in southern Ontario. The study was conducted in 2002 and 2003 at the university of Guelph agroforestry research station using hybrid poplar (Populus deltoides x nigra DN-177) and Norway spruce (Picea abies L.) intercropped with barley (Hordeum vulgare L.). In the conventional agricultural system, barley was grown as a sole crop. Carbon inputs via litterfall, crop residues, root turnover, and sequestration in trees and soil were quantified. Outputs via soil respiration and water leaching were also quantified. In the poplar system, the net C sequestration was quantified to be approximately 2 t ha -1 y-1, and the net C sequestration in the spruce system was 1 t ha-1 y-1. In the sole cropping system, the net C sequestration was 0.4 t ha-1 y-1. |
