Carbon stocks and accumulation rates in tropical secondary forests at the scale of community, landscape and forest type

Autor: A. Flamenco-Sandoval, Lorena Soto-Pinto, B.H.J. de Jong, Jorge Mendoza-Vega, F. Paz-Pellat, J. Van der Wal, D.E. Orihuela-Belmonte
Rok vydání: 2013
Předmět:
Zdroj: Agriculture, Ecosystems & Environment. 171:72-84
ISSN: 0167-8809
DOI: 10.1016/j.agee.2013.03.012
Popis: Rapid increases of secondary forest areas in the tropics make understanding of their carbon dynamics critical to estimate net CO 2 emissions and uptake. This understanding is needed for performance based mechanisms that aim to halt global warming (REDD+). Despite the importance of secondary forests to global C cycling, the impacts of recovering secondary vegetation on C dynamics are poorly understood. We present carbon stocks and accumulation rates in biomass and soil pools, using as a basis of analysis 87 sampling plots established along a secondary forest chronosequence derived from shifting cultivation. We test the influence of age, land-use intensity (prior land-use history) and two site quality indices on the size of the C stocks and C accumulation rates. Biomass and Total C pools were positively correlated with age and negatively with LU intensity, whereas C accumulation rates had opposite signs for both parameters. Soil C did not show any variation along the age gradient, but C in the upper 20 cm was positively correlated to both site quality indices. The LU-intensity influenced the tree C stock in the younger plots. We propose a nested approach in which detailed studies can be up-scaled to landscape and regional estimates of carbon pools in forest fallow and undisturbed forests and carbon accumulation rates in forest fallow.
Databáze: OpenAIRE
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