Informations et ressources scientifiques
sur le développement des zones arides et semi-arides

Titre : CARBON LIFE CYCLE ASSESSMENT OF SHELTERBELTS IN SASKATCHEWAN

Auteur : Rudd, Lindsey

Université de soutenance : University of Saskatchewan

Grade : Master of Environment and Sustainability (M.E.S.) 2020

Résumé partiel
Shelterbelts are beneficial for protection against soil erosion, as well as for the promotion of biodiversity and wildlife habitat. Additionally, they play an integral role in carbon sequestration through growth in tree biomass and agricultural soil. The widespread adoption of shelterbelts was, in part, triggered by concerns about erosion of topsoil caused in the drought-prevalent years in the early to mid-20th century. In recent years, it has become more common to remove these shelterbelt trees to convert land to crop production or due to the increasing size of equipment imposing difficulty navigating around the shelterbelt during seeding, spraying, and harvest. In addition, soil erosion is no longer a risk due to wide spread conservation farming practices being employed. Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) is a tool that observes and analyzes the entire life of a phenomenon from ‘cradle to grave’. A Carbon-LCA of planted shelterbelts accounts for the processes by which carbon dioxide is sequestered through the function of photosynthesis by tree species and micro-organisms in agricultural soils as well as its emission produced during various life stages. The pan-Canadian framework outlined by federal government of Canada in 2018 has made a goal of a nation-wide carbon tax or cap and trade equivalent. There is likely potential for financial incentives to adopt management plans, which reduce one’s carbon footprint. There is a lack of information on the amount of carbon sequestered and emitted at each life cycle stage for the six common shelterbelt tree species (hybrid poplar, green ash, Manitoba maple, Scots pine, white spruce, and caragana) found in the Saskatchewan prairies. This study aims to estimate the net carbon sequestered by various tree species by various production stages. Net amount of carbon sequestered was a sum of that emitted as well as sequestered.

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