Assessment of carbon balance in intensive and extensive tree cultivation systems for oak, olive, poplar and walnut plantation

Olive trees showed an unexpected capacity to store CO2-eq, but this ability was evident only if annually harvested fruits and prunings were considered in the calculation. The plantation that demonstrated its ability to store most CO2-eq at the age of 14 was the semi-intensively managed plantation, showing a higher efficiency in the energy spent by man. The paper offers a contribution for an innovative environmental performance evaluation of different tree cultivation management systems, including the assessment of potential benefits in terms of sequestered CO2-eq for the studied tree plantations and possible avoided emissions thanks to sustainable agricultural practices.