Carbon and nutrient stocks of three Fabaceae trees used for forest restoration and subjected to fertilization in Amazonia

• Main Authors: ROBERTO K. JAQUETTI, JOSÉ FRANCISCO C. GONÇALVES
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: Academia Brasileira de Ciências 2017-08-01
• Series: Anais da Academia Brasileira de Ciências
• Subjects: biomass; degraded ecosystems; plant nutrition; tropical tree species
• Online Access: http://www.scielo.br/scielo.php?script=sci_arttext&pid=S0001-37652017005020105&lng=en&tlng=en

ABSTRACT Amazonia is crucial to global carbon cycle. Deforestation continues to be one of the main causes of the release of C into the atmosphere, but forest restoration plantations can reverse this scenario. However, there is still diffuse information about the C and nutrient stocks in the vegetation biomass. We investigated the carbon and nutrient stocks of Fabaceae trees (Inga edulis, Schizolobium amazonicum and Dipteryx odorata) subjected to fertilization treatments (T1 - no fertilization; T2 - chemical; T3 - organic; and T4 - organic and chemical fertilization) in a degraded area of the Balbina Hydroelectric Dam, AM - Brazil. As an early successional species, I. edulis stocked more C and nutrients than the other two species independent of the fertilization treatment, and S. amazonicum stocked more C than D. odorata under T1 and T4. The mixed species plantation had the potential to stock 4.1 Mg C ha-1 year-1, while I. edulis alone could stock 9.4 Mg C ha-1 year-1. Mixing species that rapidly assimilate C and are of significant ecological and commercial value (e.g., Fabaceae trees) represents a good way to restore degraded areas. Our results suggest that the tested species be used for forest restoration in Amazonia.