Above- and belowground carbon stocks of two organic, agroforestry-based oil palm production systems in eastern Amazonia

Ecosystem-level assessments of carbon (C) stocks of agroforestry systems are scarce. We quantified the ecosystem-level C stocks of one agroforestry-based oil palm production system (AFSP) and one agroforestry-based oil palm and cacao production system (AFSP+C) in eastern Amazonia. We quantified the stocks of C in four pools: aboveground live biomass, litter, roots, and soil. We evaluated the distribution of litter, roots, and soil C stocks in the oil palm management zones and in the area planted with cacao and other agroforestry species. The ecosystem-C stock was higher in AFSP+C (116.7 ± 1.5 Mg C ha−1) than in AFSP (99.1 ± 3.1 Mg C ha−1). The total litter-C stock was higher in AFSP+C (3.27 ± 0.01 Mg C ha−1) than in AFSP (2.26 ± 0.06 Mg C ha−1). Total root and soil C stocks (0–30 cm) did not differ between agroforestry systems. Ecosystem-C stocks varied between agroforestry systems due to differences in both aboveground and belowground stocks. In general, the belowground-C stocks varied spatially in response to the management in the oil palm and non-oil palm strips; these results have important implications for the monitoring of ecosystem-level C dynamics and the refinement of soil management.