Edouard Perie

Citation

Thesis Title
Carbon dynamics in apple orchards in New Zealand and their integration into Life Cycle Assessment

Read article at Massey Research Online:

Soil carbon contributes to the sustainability of food production systems, yet environmental tools such as Life Cycle Assessment generally exclude the changes in soil carbon stocks from their analyses.  Soil carbon is highly spatially variable and site specific.  Mr Perie investigated this variability to develop a robust, practical and adaptable protocol for monitoring soil-carbon stocks in apple orchards.  In addition, a rapid and cost effective method to estimate the carbon stock in standing woody biomass was verified for use in commercial apple orchard blocks.  Finally, a chrono-sequence of orchard blocks has suggested that current management practices in apple orchards appear to achieve the maintenance of high soil-carbon stocks over time.  His research provides reliable data for the Life Cycle Assessment of New Zealand apples, and highlights the need to use site specific data and to communicate the uncertainty of all soil-carbon stock estimates.

Supervisors
Professor Sarah McLaren
Dr Brent Clothier