Reforestation of riparian fragments and its influence on the forest structure and carbon sequestration.
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2023
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In recent decades, the role played by planted forests in carbon sequestration has been an
essential ecosystem service for maintaining the quality of life on the planet. In this study we
compared the carbon stocks in soil, litter and aboveground tree biomass in four riparian
reforested strips in the surroundings of the State Hydroelectric Power Plant (UHE) of Volta
Grande at Minas Gerais, Brazil. The objectives are 1) to evaluate if and how much these new
riparian stripes were able to change C stocks in comparison with baseline of neighboring
sugarcane with reference areas and 2) to determine if the forest structure of restored strips of
riparian forest, of the Volta Grande Reservoir, will change in terms of age and width since
restoration. For this we asked the hypothesis that 1) older and narrower strips will present
higher C stocks than younger and larger ones and 2) the structure of the vegetation will be
different regarding age and size of the riparian stripes. The planted forest strips ranged from 30
to 100 m wide and 10 to 20 years old. Despite this, no significant differences (p < 0.5) were
found in C stocks among areas. Carbon stock in trees was 86tMgC.ha-1
on average. Litter carbon
stocks varied from 4.15 to 6.59 MgC.ha-1
and in the soil (0-30 cm), the values were about 31
MgC.ha-1
. Litter carbon stock was only significantly higher in narrower strips at (p<0.1)
probably due to an edge effect. The new riparian reforested areas increased C stocks by 40% in
the first decade compared to the baseline of the agricultural surrounding environments. This
result corroborates other studies and encourages the restoration of riparian zones as an efficient
and rapid mechanism for C sequestration, in addition to countless other ecosystem services.
The work was carried out in four actively restored sites and one passively restored riparian
stripes, around the Volta Grande Hydroelectric Reservoir (UHE-Volta Grande). We found that
the five studied areas different regarding the structure of the restored riparian stripes while the
PCA axes explained 63% of the variation with 26.48% in axes one and 37.11 in axes two are
influenced by the age and width of the riparian strips. Based on the result obtained, the forest
structure of the riparian stripes influenced the response variables at different rates and also the
forest structures are influenced by the age and width of the riparian strips.
Riparian buffer restorations are used as management tools to produce favorable water quality
impacts, moreover among the many benefits riparian buffers may provide, their application as
instruments for water quality restoration rests on a relatively firm foundation of research.
Descrição
Programa de Pós-Graduação em Ecologia de Biomas Tropicais. Departamento de Biodiversidade, Evolução e Meio Ambiente, Instituto de Ciências Exatas e Biológicas, Universidade Federal de Ouro Preto.
Palavras-chave
Carbon stocks, Litter, Forest structure
Citação
KAFINGA, Muhsin Hassan. Reforestation of riparian fragments and its influence on the forest structure and carbon sequestration. 2023. 84 f. Dissertação (Mestrado em Ecologia de Biomas Tropicais) - Instituto de Ciências Exatas e Biológicas, Universidade Federal de Ouro Preto, Ouro Preto, 2023.