Comparing the Carbon Storage Potential of Naturally Regenerated Tea Trees with Default New Zealand Carbon Look-Up Tables: A Case Study

Thomas Wilson, Miles Grafton () and Matthew Irwin
Additional contact information
Thomas Wilson: School of Agriculture and Environment, Massey University, Palmerston North, Private Bag 11222, New Zealand
Miles Grafton: School of Agriculture and Environment, Massey University, Palmerston North, Private Bag 11222, New Zealand
Matthew Irwin: School of Agriculture and Environment, Massey University, Palmerston North, Private Bag 11222, New Zealand

Agriculture, 2023, vol. 13, issue 4, 1-12

Abstract: The New Zealand Emissions Trading Scheme allows landowners to be remunerated for the carbon sequestration capabilities of eligible forests established post 1990. For afforested areas of 100 hectares or fewer, carbon sequestration is estimated with the use of default carbon look-up tables administered by the Ministry for Primary Industries. However, a disparity exists between exotic pines ( Pinus radiata ), where carbon sequestration predictions are regionally differentiated, and native species, where carbon sequestration estimations are neither distinguished by species or locality. This paper aims to highlight this inequality by comparing the calculated carbon storage of endemic tree species with the ‘Indigenous Forest’ category in the carbon look-up tables. The carbon storage of 12-year-old naturally regenerated tea trees ( Leptospermum scoparium and Kunzea ericoides ) was calculated using allometric measurements and compared to the look-up tables. The results suggest that carbon look-up tables underestimate the carbon sequestration of native tea trees by 81.8%. A bimodal data distribution suggests that carbon sequestration is heavily dependent on light interception levels. It is recommended that carbon sequestration data for specific native species in different environments are collected and integrated into such tables.

Keywords: New Zealand Emissions Trading Scheme; carbon storage; tea trees; Leptospermum scoparium; Kunzea ericoides (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: Q1 Q10 Q11 Q12 Q13 Q14 Q15 Q16 Q17 Q18 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2023
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations:

Downloads: (external link)
https://www.mdpi.com/2077-0472/13/4/856/pdf (application/pdf)
https://www.mdpi.com/2077-0472/13/4/856/ (text/html)

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:gam:jagris:v:13:y:2023:i:4:p:856-:d:1122024

Access Statistics for this article

Agriculture is currently edited by Ms. Leda Xuan

More articles in Agriculture from MDPI
Bibliographic data for series maintained by MDPI Indexing Manager ().