Abstract

DOUTERLUNGNE, David et al. Allometric equations used to estimate biomass and carbon in four neotropical tree species with restoration potential. Agrociencia [online]. 2013, vol.47, n.4, pp.385-397. ISSN 2521-9766.

One of today's environmental challenges is reducing greenhouse gases (GHG) through reforestation. Forest plantations with adequate species composition and management sequester carbon and restore degraded areas simultaneously, but methods to estimate their biomass must be refined. In Mexico's Lacandon Jungle, 103 trees were harvested to determine allometric equations for four abundant Neotropical species with high potential for restoration: Guazuma ulmifolia, Trichospermum mexicanuum, Inga vera and Ochroma pyramidale. The best biomass predictors were diameter at breast height and at the base, which generated allometric relations with r² 0.90 or higher. Based on these relations, average biomass accumulation in two-year-old monocultures of Inga, Ochroma, Trichospermum and Guazuma were calculated at 6.60, 30.80, 47.62 and 48.12 Mg ha^-1. Restoration plantations with the last two species are a potentially efficient strategy to reduce atmospheric carbon. The high inter-site and inter-species variability, partly related to differences in survival and growth, indicate the need for multi-site experimental designs in otder to generalize the results of biomass estimation.

Keywords : Guazuma ulmifolia; Inga vera; polynomial models; Ochroma pyramidale; evergreen rain forest; Trichospermum mexicanum.

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