ORIGINAL RESEARCH
Carbon Sequestration Capacity of Five
Agroforestry Systems in Tunisia: A Case
Study of the Djebba Living Lab
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1
National research institute of rural engineering water and forests, Street Hedy Karray, BP N°10, Ariana 2080, Tunisia
2
ICARDA, Al Maadi Company, Maadi as Sarayat Al Gharbeyah, Maadi, Cairo Governorate 4212050, Égypte
3
Higher School of Engineers of Medjez El Bab (ESI Medjez El Bab), University of Jendouba: Route Kef, Km 5 – 9070
Medjez El Bab
Submission date: 2025-10-02
Final revision date: 2025-11-10
Acceptance date: 2025-12-28
Online publication date: 2026-04-02
Corresponding author
Azizi-Gannouni Thouraya
Forest ecology, National research institute of rural engineering water and forests, Street hedi karray, BPN°10 Elmenzeh IV, 2080, Ariana, Tunisia
KEYWORDS
TOPICS
ABSTRACT
Agroforestry is the integration of trees or shrubs with crops and/or livestock on the same plot and/or
landscape. The Agroforestry System (AFS) is a promising agroecological approach for climate change
adaptation and mitigation through carbon sequestration in both biomass and soil. This work aimed to
assess the biomass of fig trees (Ficus carica) and their intercrop, their carbon stock (C stock) and CO₂
equivalent (CO₂-eq), as well as the soil organic carbon stock (SOC stock) and soil CO₂ equivalent (CO₂-
eq) at a depth of 0-30 cm. The experimental work was conducted in the Djebba region, located in the
northwest of Tunisia, during 2023 and 2024. This experimental site was called Djebba Living Lab. In
the latter, 5 AFSs were selected based on the variability of intercrop, given that the main tree species
was a landrace fig tree, “Bouhouli”. The intercrops which were sown under and very close to fig trees
in AFS1, AFS3, AFS4, and AFS5 are zucchini, barley, faba bean, and pepper, respectively. AFS2 was
a control system composed solely of fig trees in monoculture. In 2024, the highest biomass, C stock,
and CO₂ equivalent were recorded in the trees of AFS4, with 78.59 t/ha, 36.94 t/ha, and 135.57 t/ha,
respectively. The assessment of soil showed that SOC stock and CO₂ equivalent were 21.41 t/ha and
78.58 t/ha, respectively. AFS5 (mixture of market gardening and pepper landrace) outperformed all
others, achieving the highest annual biomass accumulation (2.21 t ha⁻¹ yr⁻¹), C stock (1.03 t ha⁻¹ yr⁻¹),
and CO₂-eq (3.81 t ha⁻¹ yr⁻¹). However, the monoculture system (AFS2) registered the lowest values
with annual biomass accumulation (0.17 t/ha/year), C stock (0.08 t/ha/year), and CO₂-eq (0.30 t/ha/year).
Agroforestry has been acknowledged as a climate change mitigation strategy. Through this agronomic
practice, AFSs with various intercropping have the potential to increase the surface area through the use of understory crops, improve the biomass, and subsequently increase the carbon sequestration in plants
and soil.
CONFLICT OF INTEREST
The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper.
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