The effect of ecological restoration methods on carbon stocks in the Brazilian Atlantic Forest

Author(s)

Zanini, Anani Morilha ^[1] ; Mayrinck, Rafaella Carvalho ^[2] ; Vieira, Simone Aparecida ^[3] ; de Camargo, Plinio Barbosa ^[4] ; Rodrigues, Ricardo Ribeiro ^[1]

Affiliation

^[1] ESALQ USP Escola Super Agr Luiz de Queiroz, Av Padua Dias 11, BR-13418260 Piracicaba, SP - Brazil

^[2] SENS Univ Saskatchewan, 116 110 Sci Pl, Saskatoon, SK S7N 5C9 - Canada

^[3] Univ Estadual Campinas, Inst Biol, UNICAMP, Cidade Univ Zeferino Vaz, Rua Monteiro Lobato 225, BR-13083862 Campinas, SP - Brazil

^[4] Ctr Energia Nucl Agr USP, BR-13418260 Piracicaba, SP - Brazil

• Document type: Journal article
• Source: FOREST ECOLOGY AND MANAGEMENT; v. 481, FEB 1 2021.
• Web of Science Citations: 0

Abstract

Restoring degraded areas is an effective strategy to reestablish the environmental services provided by the forests including global warming mitigation by carbon sequestration. Restoring lands is especially important in the Atlantic Forest, a global hotspot in Brazil threatened by deforestation. To successfully restore degraded lands, it is necessary to apply the most suitable method for each situation. However, studies comparing restoration techniques are scarce. This lack of information hampers the Atlantic Forest restoration and, given the original complexity of its ecological dynamics, restoration success is even more challenging in this ecosystem. This study aimed to assess carbon stocks (above and belowgmund), carbon content (%), and carbon isotope at 5-year old sites implemented by different restoration methods in southeastern Brazil. The restoration methods tested were active restoration (AR), assisted restoration (AsR), and passive restoration in an abandoned pasture (AP), which were compared to a nearby pasture (P) and a remaining forest fragment (RF). The assessed pools were: tree, coarse roots, fine roots, herbaceous, litter, standing dead wood, fallen dead wood, and soil (0-1 cm, 5-10 cm, 10-20 cm layers). Total carbon stock was higher on RF (152.304 Mg C ha(-1)), followed by the P (84.378 Mg C ha(-1)), AR (66.414 Mg C h(-1)) AsR (65.73 Mg C ha(-1)) and AP (65.581 Mg C ha(-1)). The restoration areas sites are still too young to show significant differences in total carbon stock as a result of different restoration methods. However, carbon stock and carbon content (%) differed among the pools according to the method and, in all cases, the largest carbon pool was soil, which shows the importance of sampling every pool for carbon stock and carbon content (%) estimation. Isotope analysis showed that carbon inputs in the soil had different sources, C3 or C4 plants, depending on the method. We concluded that these young secondary areas are already sequestering carbon, which helps mitigate global warming, and that monitoring every pool is important for a complete assessment, not only to restore secondary forests and understand growth but also for other land-uses such as pastures. Besides, the results obtained can be generalized to other tropical forest ecosystems with similar conditions (local and landscape), constituting a relevant contribution to forest restoration and carbon-sequestration related sciences. (AU)

• FAPESP's process: 16/21721-6 - Carbon storage in different methodologies for forest restoration in Atlantic Forest
• Grantee: Anani Morilha Zanini
• Support Opportunities: Scholarships in Brazil - Master