Abstract

PARDO-TOLEDO, Erwin et al. Interseasonal and interannual productivity of above - ground biomass in a transition from Chiquitano to the Amazon (Guarayos, Bolivia). Ecología en Bolivia [online]. 2014, vol.49, n.2, pp.77-92. ISSN 1605-2528.

Recent studies suggest that climate change will intensify seasonality resulting in prolonged droughts that may drastically reduce carbon storage in Amazonian forests. In order to determine drought impacts on a forest biomass at a local scale, this study allometric equations to estimate changes in tree and forest biomass based on wood density, tree height and monthly diameter growth of trees with DBH ≥ 10 cm in two plots of 1 ha (100 x 100 m) in a humid forest (BH) and a dry forest (BS) in Kenya, Guarayos (Santa Cruz, Bolivia). These estimates were used to compare biomass productivity (PBA) of a wet year (2009) and a dry one (2010). We also compared PBA among seasons (wet, semi-dry, dry, semi-wet seasons). The annual PBA was significantly higher during the wet year (BH = 40.16 kg/ tree/year; BS = 24.21 kg/tree/year) compared to the dry (BH = 35.97 kg/tree/year; BS = 17.71 kg/tree/year) (p < 0.05). Whereas for both types of forests the highest intraseasonal PBA was in the rainy season (2009) and the lowest in the dry one (2010). There were strong relationships between climatic factors with seasonal PBA, specifically, rainfall has a strong positive relationship with productivity BH (BH: r_s = 0.91; p < 0.05); (BS: r_s = 0.88; p < 0.05). We conclude that prolonged drought significantly reduces biomass productivity, and confirm that climate plays a fundamental role in the above-ground carbon dynamics of these forests.

Keywords : Above - ground biomass productivity (PBA); Climate; Forests; Carbon sequestration.

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