“Analog” forestry is a novel silvicultural approach for reforestation of degraded land that seeks to establish trees that are analogous in structure and ecological function to the original climax or sub-climax vegetation of the region where they are planted. Analog forestry aims to strengthen rural communities, both socially and economically, with tree plantings of high biodiversity, which provide commercial products and resiliency, while avoiding agrochemicals and fossil fuels.  The latter links this strategy to climate change mitigation and adaptation strategies, but there has been little analysis comparing the potential for above- and below-ground carbon storage in analog forests, as compared to more typical reforestation efforts via tree-plantation monoculture.  In this article, we present the results of a study carried out to estimate carbon sequestration levels, above and below -ground, from an experimental analog forest system and two other land-use systems: (1) a pasture system and (2) a teak tree (Tectona grandis) plantation, common in the Cumandá Canton, Ecuador.  The study found that the analog and plantation forest systems studied stored higher quantities of total carbon (178 and 141 t C ha-1, respectively) when compared to a degraded pasture system (124 t ha-1) they could replace. The analog forest had the best balance of both above and below –ground carbon stored over the 15-year study period and provided a more diverse array of timber and non-timber forest products compared to a teak monoculture, suggesting that it could be a viable social-ecological approach to reforestation in the study region, in Ecuador and surrounding Andean countries, whom have large areas of degraded pasture to restore, and similar areas worldwide

08 - Carbon sequestration associated with alternative strategies for the reforestation of degraded areas: An analysis of analog forests, plantation forests, and degraded pastures