Contenido de carbono en biomasa aérea y suelo y su relación con variables climáticas en sitios reforestados en el sur del Ecuador

Abstract

In the context of climate change is relevant to estimate the carbon stock stored in the aboveground biomass and belowground biomass in the Andean region. However, there exist little information about how the reforestation contributes to carbon sequestration and storage, considering that this is a mitigation strategy to face climate change. The main aim of this study was to estimate the carbon content aboveground and below ground biomass of reforested sites, and their relation with weather variables and site- specific characteristics. The reforested sites were located in the Andean region in Azuay and Cañar provinces. Six sites were selected, where a total of 16 plots were installed; the criteria for site selection was the age of the plantation, which ranges between 5 to 10 years and using mainly native tree species. Non destructive methods were applied through allometric equations for carbon calculations. Moreover, weather variables were obtained from global data base named CHELSA, and global data base named DRYAD to obtain information of wood density. The organic matter was analyzed in different soil depths (Total = 5), and the method used was Loss on Ignition (LOI). The principal component analysis (PCA) showed that the observational plots formed four groups for the carbon stock stored in the abovegroundbiomass. This study contributed with important information about the carbon stock stored in reforestation projects in the Andean region.