Ciência Florestal (Dec 2010)
CARBON STOCK DETERMINATION IN TEAK (Tectona grandis L. f.) AT DIFFERENT AGES
Abstract
The objective of this study was to evaluate the quantity of carbon in teak (Tectona grandis L.f.), with 0.5; 1.5; 2.5; 3.5 and 5.5 years of age, during one year. The teak evaluated belonged to the BRASTECA AGROFLORESTAL LTDA company, located in the municipality of Santo Antônio of Leverger, Mato Grosso, Brazil. The carbon stock for each age was assessed every 90 days by determining the amount of litter dry mass, organic carbon proportion in the soil, root density in the soil and the volume of the staff and crown in the three teak trees randomly selected for harvest. The assessment of the plant size, as height, diameter at chest height and crown projection, was carried out with twenty preserved plants at each age. The dry mass of the roots was determined from the relation between the soil volume and the density of roots of the three plants per age, by making four perforations per plant, with six samples for each, up to 0.90 m of depth. The carbon proportion in the soil and in the litter was obtained by age at each collection through laboratory analysis. The average carbon found per hectare was 122.5 t of C at 0.5 years; 104.3 t of C at 1.5 years; 180.8 t of C at 2.5 years; 303.1 t of C at 3.5 years and 322.3 t of C at 5.5 years, considering the numbers of plants per hectare at the different ages. Afterward, the average distribution of carbon per system component was found to be 90.8% in the soil, 5.04% to the aerial part, 3.04% in the roots and 1.21% in the litter.
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