Sampling for measuring biomass and carbon of coarse woody debris in native forests in São Paulo State, Brazil

• Grant number: 14/14927-1
• Support Opportunities: Scholarships abroad - Research Internship - Doctorate
• Start date: August 01, 2015
• End date: April 30, 2016
• Field of knowledge: Agronomical Sciences - Forestry Resources and Forestry Engineering
• Principal Investigator: Hilton Thadeu Zarate do Couto
• Grantee: Andréa Bittencourt Moreira
• Supervisor: Timothy G. Gregoire
• Host Institution: Escola Superior de Agricultura Luiz de Queiroz (ESALQ). Universidade de São Paulo (USP). Piracicaba , SP, Brazil
• Institution abroad: Yale University, United States
• Associated to the scholarship: 13/10922-2 - SAMPLING FOR THE MEASUREMENT OF BIOMASS AND CARBON OF DEAD WOOD FALLEN IN NATIVE FORESTS IN THE STATE OF SÃO PAULO, BP.DR

Abstract

The Cerrado and Atlantic Forest biomes are considered hotspots, endangered at the highest degree. In São Paulo State, Brazil, despite intense fragmentation in the last decades, there are still important remnants of these environments. The large-scale deforestation has serious consequences for the environment, namely the widely discussed issue of global warming. Estimating forest biomass is extremely important for climate studies since they are directly related to carbon stocks and is used to quantify the GHG released into the atmosphere in case ofdegradation of an environment. In a forest environment, there are various forms of biomass accumulation: above ground, below ground, litter, dead wood, and soil. Dead wood contains carbon in coarse woody debris (CWD) (fallen necromass), coarse root, and standing trees. CWD reduce soil erosion, serve as a reservoir of nutrients, energy, and water, influence the development of forest cover, serving as habitats for microbial life and animals, in addition to storing large amounts of carbon. Therefore, study on CWD is of high relevance. This work aims to develop amethodology to quantify the volume of CWD, its biomass and carbon stock using the theory of line intersect sampling (LIS) method. We will test three sizes of lines in different sampling techniques, the stratified simple systematic and cluster sampling, in three vegetation types in São Paulo State: Dense Ombrophilous Forest, Seasonal Semideciduous Forest and Cerrado sensu - stricto. (AU)