37 BURDEKIN DRY TROPICS NATURAL RESOURCE MANAGEMENT PLAN 2016-2026
Figure 5- Landscape carbon store
A preliminary assessment of the carbon exchange in our region identified the areas and activities that store( Figure
5), capture( Figure 6) and emit( Figure 7, p 38) carbon( Parsons,
2014). Remote sensing identified that fertile soils and wooded vegetated areas store the greatest carbon amounts, whilst carbon capture is highest towards the coast in tropical rainforest and in irrigated sugarcane farming areas. The annual carbon capture gains from sugarcane in the lower Burdekin however, are lost due to cane burning practices. Additionally, the urban areas of Townsville, Charters Towers and Ayr were noted as high carbon emitters.
The preliminary regional assessment also summarized the carbon exchange and identified the main activities influencing the movement of carbon in our region, see Graph 1 below. Regional carbon storage in soils and living biomass is currently about 865 Million tonnes of carbon( Mt C) with an annual carbon capture rate of 46Mt CO 2
-e yr-1 per year. Natural processes emit a total of 39Mt CO 2
-e yr-1 through soil respiration( 11Mt CO 2
-e yr-1) and above ground plant respiration( 28Mt CO 2
-e yr-1). Human activity-induced carbon emission volumes in the region emit approximately 6.9 Mt CO 2
-e per year, mainly from agricultural( electricity and fuel), coal mining( electricity and fuel), defence( fuel) and industrial practices, see Chart 1 below. These are primarily attributed to fuel use, electricity production, fires in natural settings, sugarcane fires, fugitive emissions from coal mines, waste processing and cattle( ruminants).
Graph 1
Chart 1
CLIMATE CHANGE
Figure 6- Carbon capture
Although our regional emissions contribution is only a small part of a global issue, the accumulative effect globally of unnatural greenhouse gas emissions is contributing to the greenhouse effect and shifts in climate. To reduce our regional emissions contribution in order to be prepared for the change in climate, we need to influence the carbon cycle. This means concurrently implementing several different approaches to target carbon exchange processes in the region.