Resumen

AGUIRRE MENDOZA, Zhofre; QUIZHPE C, Wilson  y  PINZA, Darwin. Estimation of accumulated carbon in a permanent plot of Andean forest in the Francisco Vivar Castro university park, Loja, Ecuador. Arnaldoa [online]. 2018, vol.25, n.3, pp.939-952. ISSN 1815-8242.  http://dx.doi.org/10.22497/arnaldoa.253.25307.

Natural ecosystems provide several environmental services, one of them is the capture of carbon dioxide (CO2). In the Francisco Vivar Castro university park in Loja, there is Andean forest where this research was carried out, with the aim of determining the floristic composition and estimation of accumulated carbon in the arboreal, shrub, herbaceous and necromass strata. A permanent plot of one hectare was installed, which was subdivided into 25 parcels of 20 x 20 m, here all trees were measured ≥ 5 cm DBH; for the bushes, 25 subplots of 5 x 5 were installed and 25 plots of 1 x 1 m for herbs. The species of the arboreal, shrub, herbaceous strata were identified. To estimate the carbon content in the tree stratum, DBH and height were measured, wherewith the volume was calculated, then with the basic density of each species the biomass was obtained, which multiplied by 0.5 results the accumulated carbon. For shrubs, nine subplots of 4 m2 were installed, collecting all the vegetation; and nine of 1 m2 for herbs and necromass (leaf litter, mulch and wood debris); each component was weighed in the field (total wet weight) and 1 kg of each component was collected, then dried for 120 hours at 80 oC, the dry weight/wet weight ratio was determined and the biomass was calculated which multiplied by 0.5 provides the accumulated carbon. 92 species were recorded, of these 33 are trees, 35 shrubs and 24 herbaceous. The total carbon fixed in a plot of one hectare of Andean forest considering trees, shrubs, herbs and necromass is 42.29 MgC/ha; and the total carbon would be 546.86 MgC/ha in 12.93 ha of existing forest.

Palabras clave : Andean forest; floristic composition; stored carbon; necromass.

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