These succulents commonly have a reddish stem and leaves that are green, but also a variegated cultivar is often seen in cultivation. Restoration of degraded subtropical thickets in the baviaanskloof megareserve, south africa the role of carbon stocks and portulacaria afra survivorship michael john powell submitted for msc. How fast can carbon be sequestered when restoring degraded. We have been growing portulacarias for almost 30 years and we have never seen 1 flower but have heard that they do flower in their country of origin south africa. Spontaneous return of biodiversity in restored subtropical. Portulacaria afra mediopicta midstripe rainbow bush a very slow growing succulent shrub with attractive bright reddish pink stems holding small 12 inch long ovate green leaves that have wide white stripes down their middle, sometimes with leaves having little or no green. Species spotlight portulacaria afra the succulent eclectic. A subspecies of portulacaria afra, the macrophylla form has larger leaves than the species up to an inch long. Also sometimes called elephant food or elephant plant. It is sometimes confused with crassula ovata jade plant because the plants look alike, but portulacaria leaves are smaller and the stems are wiry. Help save the world from global warming by planting these miracle plants.
Portulacaria afra spekboom is dominant, have been degraded by unstustainable pastoralism. Portulacaria afra sometimes is confused with crassula ovata jade plant because the plants look alike, but portulacaria leaves are smaller and the stems are wiry. Rate of carbon sequestration at two thicket restoration sites. That said, this method of propagation would seem to be dfficult and complex compared with rooting, although necessary or effective in special cases. Portulacaria afra is a relative of the the jade plant crassula and resembles a miniature version with smaller leaves. Viability of watering portulacaria afra truncheons to. This process reduces the unusually high carbon stocks in thicket which exceed 200 t ha1 in some regions by more than 50%.
Cultivated plants at calle arrecife in playa blanca, lanzarote, canary islands. Portulacaria afra is the first canopy dominant to succumb to browsing and is. Portulacaria afra spekboom is a canopy cover dominant in intact states of st. Spekboom restoration, monitoring, evaluation and development. Crassulacean acid metabolism as a continuous trait. It can easily be grown from cuttings, which can survive even in dry conditions photos by tim christophersen florian fussstetter. This rate of carbon sequestration is comparable to many temperate and subtropical forests, and is extraordinarily high for an arid environment. Planting orientation of portulacaria afra cuttings for thicket restoration. Sequestration of ten hectares of spekboom over this period is the equivalent of taking.
South african miracle plant that removes more co2 than. How to differentiate between portulacaria afra and crassula. Survivorship of spekboom portulacaria afra authors. Rate of carbon sequestration at two thicket restoration. The answers to this question have two different answers someone believes here it is crassula, most probably crassula ovata jade plant but the other answer claims this is portulacaria afra a. There is growing interest in how international climate change mitigation and adaptation programmes play out at the local level. Restoration of the degraded thicket landscapes can be achieved by planting truncheons of spekboom portulacaria afra. Portulacaria afra and its role in carbon capture portulacaria afra, commonly known as the dwarf jade plant, elephant bush or spekboom, in afrkaans, is a succulent plant originating in the east of south africa and popular around the world as a houseplant and also used for bonsai. Spekboom restoration, monitoring, evaluation and development project. The aim of this study was to investigate the link between land restoration and carbon sequestration projects in the eastern cape, using portulacaria afra spekboom, and marketbased approaches to address global climate change.
Portulacaria afra in the germplasm resources information network grin, u. Aboveground biomass and carbon pool estimates of portulacaria. I recently obtained a seemingly very old cutting started in the 60s portulacaria. Once considered just an ornamental bonsai plant outside of its home range of south africa, the shrub portulacaria afra, commonly called spekboom, is garnering attention for its carbon storage capabilities. Disclosed is a method for carbon sequestration by using fastgrowing herbaceous plants, fastgrowing algae, lichens or mosses, comprising. Usda, ars, germplasm resources information network. Degradation also reduces the availability of wood, fruit and medicines for local. There are big plans and projects already in progress to use these plants as carbon traps. Hi all, this might be a dumb question, but its something thats had me wondering for a while. How to differentiate between portulacaria afra and. Spontaneous return of biodiversity in restored subtropical thicket. Portulacaria afra, elephants food, elephant bush, baby jade. Mills,3 and mark difford1 abstract an accepted criterion for measuring the success of ecosystem restoration is the return of biodiversity relative to intact reference ecosystems.
Elephant bush, portulacaria afra master gardener program. Pdf is the maximum rate of carbon sequestration reported for the camc3 plant portulacaria afra spekboom, viz. It has opposite obvate fleshy leaves of a nice medium green color. Using these simple regression models, based on plant height and canopy diameter parameters, we estimate the aboveground biomass carbon abc and with litter, the total aboveground carbon agc of five sites situated across the subtropical thicket biome in south africa. Dec 01, 2014 carbon capturing and storage is where carbon dioxide co2 emissions are captured and the carbon dioxide is prevented from entering the atmosphere in other words less pollution. Maximising the rate of spekboom growth at the outset of such projects will be critical for covering upfront costs. View carbon sequestration research papers on academia. Portulacaria afra spekboom is dominant, have been degraded by unstustainable. This interesting plant can be used as an indoor bonsai where sunlight or strong artificial light is sufficiently available. If you have not been to kirstenbosch put it on your to do list, it is beautiful. Elephant bush, portulacaria afra elephant bush, portulacaria afra, is a perennial succulent shrub from south africa that is a popular succulent garden plant around the world. The smooth, brownishgray trunk is very thick and heavily branched with a profusion of bright green succulent leaves. Portulacaria afra monograph, the elephants food or spekboom. It looks rather like a small jade plant with nearly horizontally branches that sprawl on the soil.
Furthermore, manual mapping of vegetation through headsup digitizing from. Portulacaria afra or porkbush is a popular succulent garden plant in use around the world and is often used for bonsai. Carbon sequestration potential in the thicket biome of south africa. South africa spekboom portulacaria afra is an incredible plant found in south africa which is a marvellous drought tolerant, a phenomenal carbon sponge and an excellent soil binding flora that prevents soil erosion. As a result is was observed that inside the park where the plant is subjected to browsing by elephants, portulacaria afra survives and spreads successfully, whereas outside the park the plant is becoming sparse. Portulacaria afra known as elephant bush, dwarf jade plant, porkbush and spekboom in afrikaans is a smallleaved succulent plant found in south africa.
Crassula supports itself, whereas portulacaria produces growth that may droop and may need support to keep it upright as a houseplant, although sometimes, its growth gives it a rather spiky and untidily upright overall appearance. Whenever i see an elephant bush as a bonsai, i usually see it lacking one thing, nebari. It has now been shown to be effective in carbon sequestration binding atmospheric carbon which is responsible for climate change, in semiarid landscapes and thicket vegetation it is also being used for restoration purposes. Portulacaria, elephant bush, elephant food, purslane tree. The sale of carbon sequestered by spekboom can potentially fund restoration projects. Biodiversity regeneration and carbon sequestration on restored spekboom.
Aug, 2011 once considered just an ornamental bonsai plant outside of its home range of south africa, the shrub portulacaria afra, commonly called spekboom, is garnering attention for its carbon storage capabilities. South african government studies on ecosystem carbon. Private sector investors in thicket restoration need an answer to. Native to the arid cape region of south africa, spekboom thickets can store 20 kilograms of carbon in every square meter of vegetation. In the process, it became one of the best natural carbon sponges in the world.
Elephant bush, portulacaria afra, is a perennial succulent shrub from south africa that is a popular succulent garden plant around the world. Pdf linking sustainable local economic development to a. Portulacaria afra monograph, the elephants food or. Spekboom portulacaria afra what i like to call the. General information elephant bush is an evergreen, succulent shrub or small tree growing 2 5 metres tall. Portulacaria afra were planted over the period 20042016 in the addo elephant national park, great fish river nature reserve and the baviaanskloof nature reserve. Portulacaria afra, at the karoo desert botanical garden, worcester, south africa. It is a mediumsized succulent shrub, or small softwooded tree, 25 meters tall with a few main trunks and numerous side branches. Portulacaria afra and its role in carbon capture the. Is the maximum rate of carbon sequestration reported for the cam. Browse pictures and read growth cultivation information about portulacaria, elephant bush, elephant food, purslane tree, spekboom portulacaria afra variegata supplied by member gardeners in t.
Pdf rate of carbon sequestration at two thicket restoration. The succulent thicket plant community of south africa, particularly portulacaria afra in this study referred to as spekboom, occurring in the thicket biome, sequestrates an exceptional amount of carbon dioxide due to its photosynthetic properties, particularly for a warm, semiarid region. This planting includes a large experiment of 330 quarterhectare plots in which 14 different planting treatments were used. Portulacaria afra as an ecosystem engineer marius l. Active restoration of woody canopy dominants in degraded. Rate of carbon sequestration at two thicket restoration sites in. Spekboom portulacaria afra takes in and uses huge volumes of atmospheric carbon part of the global warming problem and converts it into oxygen. The aim of this study was to investigate the link between land restoration and carbon sequestration projects in the eastern cape, using portulacaria afra spekboom, and market. Carbon storage within intact subtropical thicket can exceed 200 t c ha1 mills et al. It is easily grown as a seasonal accent plant or low maintenance houseplant in our part of the world. We hypothesized the utilization of cam would vary in the different populations in response to rainfall and temperature gradients. Forests free fulltext prescribing innovation within a largescale.
Carbon sequestration and restoration semantic scholar. Portulacaria afra prostrate form, photo courtesy of allen repashy. Dec 22, 2016 portulacaria afra and its role in carbon capture portulacaria afra, commonly known as the dwarf jade plant, elephant bush or spekboom, in afrkaans, is a succulent plant originating in the east of south africa and popular around the world as a houseplant and also used for bonsai. Restoration of thicket using cuttings of the dominant succulent shrub portulacaria afra could return biodiversity to the transformed landscape, earn carbon credits on international markets, reduce.
South africas first carbon farm inter press service. This succulent can get to be very big but most of the time it. A preliminary assessment of rain throughfall beneath portulacaria. And planting it in your own garden is a way to help the environment and climate change. A corkbark form has been brought to rjbs attention by david bogan of lynnville, in in a personal email 03 oct 2009. The results of this research showed that the rate of carbon sequestration through the. Portulacaria afra can potentially play a role in thicket restoration because it can grow from cuttings and fixes large amounts of carbon in both soils and biomass. Wo2014161108a1 method for carbon sequestration by planting. Carbon restoration projects in the eastern cape province of south africa using portulacaria afra, journal of economic and financial sciences 121, a225. In nature, the species grows to feet in height, but it is generally much smaller under cultivation. Portulacaria afra, or elephant bush, is a small succulent shrub native to eastern south africa. Portulacaria afra has also been used to bind soil to prevent erosion and is noted as a very efficient plant for absorbing atmospheric carbon co2 and is described as a carbon sponge, using both the more common c3 pathway for carbon fixation in the photosynthesis process and, when the temperatures rise, also used the crassulacean acid. I would have thought the initial answer about crassula was the right one, but now i see the picture of the other, portulacaria, and i dont know what to think anymore. Pdf how fast can carbon be sequestered when restoring.
The primary difference between crassula and portulacaria is growth habit, and it only becomes evident over time. We bought a spekboom portulacaria afra plant otherwise know as elephant food from kirstenbosch botanical gardens in cape town, south africa. Portulacaria afra, elephants food, elephant bush, baby. Private sector investors in thicket restoration need an answer to this question in order to assess the feasibility of. The plant is harvested from the wild for its edible leaves, which are used locally. Restoration of degraded subtropical thickets in the. Its capacity to offset harmful carbon emissions is just over 4 tons of carbon per hectare per year. Portulacaria afra macrophylla is an attractive, evergreen succulent shrub, similar in appearance to the jade plant. The role of carbon stocks and portulacaria afra survivorship. The common names derive from the succulent nature of the plants leaves and stout trunk. Spekboom portulacaria afra is a small, succulent tree that is native to the eastern cape region of south africa. Usually what i see is a beautiful tree above the base.
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