Estimation of carbon stock in stem wood biomass of several tropical forest species in northern Veracruz, Mexico

Abstract

The Otontepec Mountain lacks a management program why has not generated profits for their owners. Payment for environmental services, such as carbon sequestration by trees, is an alternative that can achieve this goal. This requires quantifying woody biomass and estimate the amount of carbon fixed, which was the aim of this work. By random sampling on a satellite image (1:50,000) a grid was drawn on the surface of the ejido San Nicolasillo, Chontla, Ver, placing 24 sample plots of 400 m², where normal diameter and total height were measured for all adult trees to estimate the stemwood volume for the three most abundant species. The volume was processed with four mathematical models for predicting woody biomass by nonlinear regression with the Statistica® program, selecting the model with the highest determination coefficient (r²). Brosimun alicastrum (Ojite), Persea schiedeana (Pagua) and Quercus lancifolia (Encino) have a stemwood biomass of 157.84, 149.48 and 95.2 m³ for total of 402.5 m3. The Schumacher (Y=β0*x1^β1*x2^β2) and Australian model´s had the best fit. It is estimates that in 3000 ha of forest in excellent preservation conditions of the Otontepec Mountain are stored 628,906 tons of carbon in stemwood biomass.