Above- and belowground biomass in a Brazilian Cerrado
Cerrado is a biome that occupies about 25% of the Brazilian territory and is characterized by a gradient of grassland to savanna and forest formations and by high species richness. It has been severely affected by degradation and deforestation and has been heavily fragmented over the past 4–5 decades. There are only few studies focusing on the quantification of biomass in this biome. We conducted such a case study in the South-East of Brazil in a cerrado sensu stricto (cerrado s.s.) with the goal to produce estimates of above- and belowground biomass and to develop allometric equations. A number of 120 trees from 18 species were destructively sampled and partitioned into the components: leaves, branches and bole. One model based on basal area (BA) as a stand parameter was also tested as an alternative approach for predicting aboveground biomass in the stand level. Belowground biomass was estimated by subsampling on 10 sample plots. Mean aboveground tree biomass (bole, branches and leaves) was estimated to be 62,965.5 kg ha1 (SE = 14.6%) and belowground biomass accounted for 37,501.8 kg ha1 (SE = 23%). Our estimates of aboveground biomass are higher than reported by other studies developed in the same physiognomy, but the estimates of belowground biomass are within the range of values reported in other studies from sites in cerrado s.s. Both biomass estimates, however, exhibit relatively large standard errors. The root-toshoot ratio of the sample trees is in the magnitude of reported values for savanna ecosystems, but smaller than estimated from other studies in the cerrado s.s.
| Main Authors: | , , , , , |
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| Format: | Texto biblioteca |
| Language: | eng |
| Published: |
Elsevier
2011
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| Subjects: | BIOMASA, ALOMETRIA, BIOMA, ARBOLES, ESPECIES, MADERA, ECUACIONES ALOMETRICAS, MODELOS, MODELOS MATEMATICOS, BIOMASA AEREA, |
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