Orchard recycling improves climate change adaptation and mitigation potential of almond production systems

increase tree endurance and yield resiliency potential in response to water shortages. These increases in yields coupled with reduced water stress make it an advantageous practice in semi-arid climates such as the Central Valley of California, where deficit irrigation is common pre-harvest and water scarcity is an increasingly serious challenge for growers. Conclusion Despite added complexities and costs, we show that in situ biomass recycling holds great potential to sequester C in soils while improving yields and other ecosystem services that con- tribute to productivity and input use efficiency. Potential improvements in soil quality further highlight the beneficial implications of WOR for orchard adaptation to future climate varia- tion and the potential of healthy soils to build resilience to irrigation supply shortages in almond orchards. The broad ecosystem services offered by orchard recycling make it a valu- able alternative over the conventional methodology of in-field whole tree burning or hauling the tree biomass to the co-generation plants in California and elsewhere. Interdisciplinary evaluation of this practice regarding pest and disease potential and overall C footprint has shown no other major limitations [6], and overall C footprint assessments and best manage- ment practices are under development to realize the potential of this practice in a dynamic agricultural landscape. Supporting information S1 Fig. Almond kernel yield from 2014 to 2017 (a) as well as the cumulative kernel yields (b) at the Kearney site. Bars are standard error. (TIF)

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