Abstract
What role for afforestation in Italian strategies towards the Kyoto Protocol? Hints from a Kyoto forest in the Po Valley (Northern Italy). The carbon balance of an afforested area in the Emilia-Romagna floodplain has been monitored for a 4-year period. Detailed measurements covering both above- and below-ground components of biomass production and accumulation were complemented by eddy-covariance measurements at the ecosystem level. Experimental results have been extrapolated in time by means of a process-based ecosystem model, so as to better assess the potential role of afforestation towards the carbon-reduction goals of the Kyoto Protocol.