🎋🌎♻️ Bamboo Ecosystem Services via 🎙️ThinkBamboo  Podcast with Bamboo Expert Johan Gielis
Channel: ThinkBamboo
Date: 2023-08-06

Bamboo and its Impact on Ecosystem Services

While the public widely knows bamboo's versatility and value in various industries, another aspect that often goes unnoticed is its ecosystem services. Bamboo plays a crucial role in growing in barren areas, such as lands devastated by mining, offering a chance for vegetation to flourish once more. This environmental benefit is significant, as the presence of vegetation leads to a cascade of ecosystem improvements. Obviously the ecosystem services of bamboo are not limited to regenerating degraded soil but this is a globally used application. 

A literature review indicated that the carbon stock in vegetation (including understory species and other mixed vegetation) of Moso bamboo is within the range of 27-77 t C/ha. The majority of carbon appears to be sequestered in the arbour layer accounting for 84-99%; the shrub layer and the herbaceous layer accounted for very small contributions, especially in intensively managed bamboo forests. When looking at the whole ecosystem, including the soil, Moso bamboo forest ecosystem carbon storage capacity was reported to be between 102 t C/ha and 289 t C/ha, of which 19-33% was stored within the bamboo culms and vegetative layer and 67-81% stored within the soil layer (rhizomes, roots and soil carbon). This indicates that the soil layer carbon content is likely to be about 2-4 times greater than the vegetative layer. Bamboo ecosystems were found to have an equal or somewhat lower carbon stock (between 102- 288 t C/ha) when compared with other forest types (between 122 - 337 t C/ha). Source INBAR.

What are Ecosystem services? 

Ecosystem services refer to the benefits that humans derive from ecosystems, including provisioning services (e.g., food, water, timber), regulating services (e.g., climate regulation, water purification), cultural services (e.g., recreation, spiritual value), and supporting services (e.g., soil formation, nutrient cycling). In regards to bamboo ecosystem services - we can think of the following services: Regulation: Climate change mitigation, Watershed services, Biodiversity conservation, Soil, Air, Reforestation, etc.

Bamboo can help maintain its own regulation of water and invite the growth of forests.

Bamboo can also absorb and recollect harmful materials like zinc and cadmium.

Bamboo has shown potential in cleaning up polluted areas.

Microorganisms in the soil and on bamboo roots play a crucial role in nutrient absorption.

Bamboo provides shade and limits soil water evaporation, benefiting the ecosystem.

Value of Ecosystem services?

Many overlook the value of ecosystem services because traditional markets do not trade many of these services, leaving them without a monetary value. However, valuing and comprehending these services are crucial for sustainable decision-making and conservation efforts. If we measure in monetary terms, experts estimate that ecosystems provide services worth trillions of dollars, ranging from 33T to 144T – double the world's GDP.