Biffi et al. (2023): Planting hedgerows: Biomass carbon sequestration and contribution towards net-zero targets

Sofia Biffi, Pippa J. Chapman, Richard P. Grayson, Guy Ziv IN: Science of The Total Environment 892, 164482, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.scitotenv.2023.164482

This study examined the impact that planting hedgerows at different rates could make to UK net-zero goals over the next 40 years, with a focus on 2050. The authors analysed the carbon (C) content of native hedgerow species and determined hedge aboveground biomass (AGB) C stock via destructive sampling of hedges of known ages. They present a time series of the annual AGB C sequestration rate change between hedge age categories, which increases from 2.09 Mg C ha⁻¹ yr⁻¹ in the first 6  years after planting, to 2.26 Mg C ha⁻¹ yr⁻¹ in the next 6 years, and then decreases to 0.43 Mg C ha⁻¹ yr⁻¹ between years 13 and 40.

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