Aboveground Biomass Estimate for Amazonian Dense

Mem. Fac. Agr. Kugoshima Uni v., 30.4)-54,
Aboveground
Niro
HIGl'OII·.
1'1')4
Biomass Estimate for Amazonian Dense
Tropical Moist Forests
Jesus Mardcn dos
~
SA:o.'TOS··.
Masaaki
(Lunomto,)' o] Forest
Receivcd for public.uion
and Shigejiro
hiA';.'GA
YOSIUDA
Resources)
Septernber 10. 199)
Intrnduction
The clirnutic changes on Earth hrought on by aurhropic
undertaken
Bruzilian
to ohtain reliahle estirnates of the dcforestation
Arnuzon.
In
ordcr
action have motivutcd
studics to be
rates and uboveground
to have a correct undcrstanding
biomass in the
of the influcnce
of the present
Arnazonian land-use on the climatic chunges in the world. it is necessary to count on the reliable
deforestation-rute
data and the estimation of the biornass having thc potenrial to be convertcd into
carbon dioxide or other greenhouse
Today, controversies
gases. over a certain period of time.
on the deforestation
rate estimates in the Brazilian Arnazon have been
lessened after the latest figures of Feurnside ~t al. (t990b). Their works were carried out at INPE
(National
lnstitute
deforestation
for Sputial
Research) , in Brnzil, with the conclusions
rate was 21,21Skm'/year
was approxirnately
400.000km'.
(1992) presented
At the United Nations Environrnental
annual defcrestation
17,860, 13,810 and 1I,130km'/year.
that
the annual
during 1978-1989. and that total cleared area (up to 191\9)
Conference , Rio-92. INPE
rates for 1989, 1990 and 1991 which were , respectívely,
This information
refers to the Legal Amazon
(total area of
almost 5 million km') extending beyond the river basin proper (3.9 mil!ion km'J.
However, the aboveground,
controversies.
methods.
fresh or dry. biomass estirnates stil! raise a lot of questions
and
Some estimares come from direct, or destructive methods; and others, frorn indirect
Both
have suffered
severe
criticisms
particularly because of the aboveground
from many researchers
around
the
world,
dry biomass estimares derived from the different sources
which are variable.
Nearly all of the estimates
forest inventories
obtained
based on indirect methods depend on information
made for harvesting
by using wood density
purpose
only. Also, the volurne-based
(rnean value for all Amazonian
derived from
estirnates
tree species at dbh),
are
and a
correction facto r for trees with dbh smaller than 25cm.
The most recent estimates of Brown and Lugo(t990) , based on inventories
(Food and Agriculture
Organization)
made by FAO
experts during the fifties and sixties in the whole Amazon
areas, vary from 90 to 397 metric tons per hectare, with a weighted average of 268t/ha.
Cl99ll pointed out that Brown and Lugo's(1990)
290t/ha.
Fearnside
Their first estimare
(t 987) concluded
was 155t/ha
Fearnside
weighted estimare is now closer to his own,
for dense Amazonian
that the best estimate for aboveground
• National Institute for Rescarch in the Amazon, Brazil ([NPA)
•• National Institute for Spatial Research, Brazil (JNPE)
forests.
On the other hand,
dry biomass in the Brazilian
Niro HIGI'CHI, Jesus Mardcn dos SASTOS, Masaaki
I~IASAGA and Shigejiro YOSHIDA
./l
.
.
RORAIYA
~oavlsta
.
__
: ..'_.~.
o'
\
AIIUA '
Y·anau·s...
o'
"~
\
;
• Belé.
.
I
ROHOÔHIA
:tr:/~.'''''''-''''' .'...~.
8rasllla
..-
•.•.••••
~.J.
r·-... ~
-'.
STATE
30'
30'
40'
60'
Fig. 1.
Amazon was 215t/ha(S.D.=61.7),
Legal Amazon in Brazil.
based on data from 13 inventories
rnade by FAO experts.
Direct rncthods involve the felling and weighting of ali the trees in an fixed-area sarnple plot.
Brown et aI. (1989) have pointed out that this rnethod usually produces
unreliable estimates on
account of their relying on data from sarnple plots that are too small, too Iew, and often selected
with bias. l3ased on literature,
estimates from direct methods vary frorn 330 to 550t/ha (Brown and
Lugo , 1990). Fearnside's (1990a) estimates vary from 155 to 61Ot/ha for the same Amazon region,
Klinge and Rodrigues's (! 973) study is one of the most frequently
Amazonian
biornass. Their study, conducted
dry biomass estirnate of 400t/ha,
cited with respect
to
at a site near Manaus, Amazonas State , revealcd a
based on a 0.2 ha plot. At a spot situated not v.:ry far from this
site , researchers from INPA (National lnstitute
with almost the sarne figure, approximately
Lescure et aI. (1983), the aboveground
for Research in the Amazon)
and INPE came up
400t/ha (results not yet published),
dry biornass estimate
According
to
for forests in French Guyana
is
570t/ha.
Feurnside
í
1987) proposed 254.5t/ha
as a conciliatory
aboveground
dry biomass estimate for
the Brazilian dense tropical moist forests.
One thing that these two approaches
share to some extent
estimare for Amazonian forests using direct measurements
it is necessary to improve the indirect methods before obtaining
We conducted a forest inventory directed at estimating
the data were collected according to the previous
weight of trees with different dbh and total heights.
is that aboveground
biomass
is almost impossible. For this reason,
reliable estimares.
standing
instructions
aboveground
biomass, and
fixed on how to obtain the fresh
Aboveground
Biomass Estimare
for Amazonian
Materlals
Dense Tropical
Moist Forests
~5
and Melhods
1. Mathemutical ~Iodels
In temperare
standing
Iorests.
aboveground
lhe different
mainly in the United
biomuss
is a routine
States,
pracrice
rnodels which have been tested,
lhe use of mathernatical
rnodels
with a high levei of refinernent.
lhe allornetric
equations
10
esrimate
According
to
1I1 and (2) have shown lhe
best results.
where:
W =fresh
W=a'
dhh"
W=a'
(dbh • ht l"
or dry weight
dbh =diarneter
ht =total
at breast
height
height
a and h = regression
coefficients
In the tropical rnoist forests. especially
forestry
literature,
French Guyana.
of lhe development
Lescure
in lhe Brazilian
Amazon.
there are no records,
in
of malhemalicalmodelsusedloestimalehiomass.ln
et al, (Jl)~3)
used lhe allornetric
equation
to fit their observed
hiomass
data.
One of lhe rnain obstncles
has been that it is lhe tirne-consuming
fit of lhe data
10
natural
for this kind of initiative.
barrier
hypothesized
models,
In Ihis study, aboveground
Brnzilian
Amazon:
Tucurui,
Department
of INPA.
experimental
station,
in Tahle
Data
biornass
Xingu,
Moreover,
Sarnuel
by lhe Tropical
50km north of Manaus.
and Balbina
Forestry
The descriptive
statistics
as well as lhe
of Arnazonian
data carne from lhe following
Babaquara.
collected
data collection
species diversity
different
+
collected
Department
forests
regions
cnrne
5lO0C<ZOcm
;;:2Oom
OC
N
WF
O
H
Min
Ma.
Mcan
102.3
S.O.
125.8
3.8
WF
257
9.1
6S0.0
O
257
'J.6
257
5.U
1.3
I'J.R
H
2SA
13.6
4.6
WF
113
157'JR.0
1926.6
2+18
O
113
112.5
2U.O
16
113
10.1
120.0
38.0
35.3
H
25.0
6
=diarneter classes
= nurnber of stems
= fresh wcight in kg
=diameter at brcast height,
total height in m
=
N
1.3m. in cm
from
an
of those dat a are presented
Table I. Descriptive statistics of lhe dai a used in developing mathematical rnodels
for aboveground biornass
Variablc
in lhe
by lhe Botuny
I.
OC
is a
46
Niro HIGL:Oil. Jesus Marden dos SA~TOS. Masaakí IMASAGA and Shigejiro YOSHIDA
The following regression models for biomass estimation were tested:
W=a'
O'
(3)
W=a'
(O· H)'
(.I)
W=u+b
' O+C·
O'
(5)
w=n+b : H+c' O'· H
W=a . O' • H'
where: W =total
O =dbh
(6)
(7)
(trunk and crown) fresh or dry weight in kg
(dinmeter at breust heighr) in meter
H =totul height in meter
a. h. c = regression cocfficients
According to Santos (J <)92) the biornass rnodel used in eguation (7) produced the best results
for both of thc diarneter classes. S~dhh<2()cm
linearizcd,
and for trees with dbh~20çm.
using natural log: and the ordinary
least squares
unalysis. This model hud the lowcst standard
coefficient, and the best residual distribution.
error
method
of estimare.
This equation was
was used for regression
the highest determinarion
The surnmary of this result is presented in Table 2.
This rnodcl has been used quite often to estimare the volume of Amazonian forests.
Table 2. Results of regrcssion analysis in euch diamercr class
Coefficients
DC
a
b
5:O;dhh<20cm
-2.4768
2.2301
dbhs:2Ucrn
-3.8101
1.4631
R'
S.E.
U.6518
U.97
U.2451
1.8190
U.92
0.3728
R' =deterrnination
coefficient
S.E. =standard error of estimare
2. Forest Inventory
Systernatic
Amazonian
sarnpling
rnethod
dense forests.
characteristics,
was
used
In each sarnple
according
unit,
10
Higuchi's (1986-87)
the following
information
the cornrnon narnes of tree species, and lhe independent
findings
for
was taken:
site
variables dbh and total
height (10% of trees observed in each sarnple unit) ,
The sample unit shape was rectangular,
et al. (1982) for inventories
established.
20 by 200m or 4,OOOm'as recommended
in Amazonian
Within the sub-sample,
forests,
Four sub-samples
by Higuchi
of 20 by SOm were
10 by 10m was established 10 measure trees with dbh counting
less than 20cm,
3. Regions covered by lhe foresl invenlory
O)
South of Pará
Marabá is the reference
town in this region,
Pará State) , and about 2,ooOkm east of Manaus
predominant
about 600km south of Belérn
(Capital of Amazonas
State}.
(Capital
of
Big farms are
in lhe area.
The forest inventory was carried out in seven different localities of the region. These localities
and the nurnber of sample units in each point are presented in Table 3.
••
o
:!::
-e
Abovcground
Biomass
Estimare
Table 3. South of Para -locnlirics
point
for Amnzonian
Dense Tropical Mois: Forcsts
"""1'1<-" und thc number of sarnplc
unirs in euch
S.U.
Lnt.:aIIlY
caSlrAR
Pioneira Farrncr.
IUOkm SW Marab,',
Carujas.
Enviroumcntal
Tapirapc
45km SW Maraba
CVRD. 45km SW :'laroo"
Forest Reserve.
lron Mining.
. .jj)km SW :.taraoil
CaSIPAR.
Sao Jose Farrner.
4.
Prorcction.
Carujás.
Biological Reserve.
Tapirapé-Aquiri
Nationul
IIXlkm SE Maruba
Carujás.
ItXlkm SE ~Iaraha
IIXlkm SE ~brah"
Forest , Carujús.
57
S.U. =nurnhcr
of sarnplc units
This area with a signitican!
"castanheira"
fact , rnost of the forcsts
and logging.
Amazon.
converting
The speed of this conversion
have been closed because
to srnoke,
by pasture
provoked
transportation
on the unpaved
The nurnber
to Verissimo
roundwood.
were
Today,
however,
the situation
for instnnce , rnany
from
the tirnber
is also irnpressive.
According
consumed
for those prograrns.
of the 1990s it was expected
products
on the PA-150 highway)
approximately
400.000m'
of ali the timber-oriented
and these consurned
,
of
industries of
along the Belem-Brasiliu
alrnost 3 million cubic rncters
et al.. 1991l. Toduy, more
than
one hundrcd
tree
in this region.
had functioned
has been
value of forest
these
mainly of subsidized
the beginning
inverted.
only as sub-product
agriculture
of other
and cattle
Forest products
are
When federal subsidy programs
that deforestation
maintained
developrnent
ranching
now
being
programs.
used
were discontinued
as
in
rates would begin to be decreasing.
it at the sarne leveI.
South of Rorairna
Caracarai is the reference
(Capital
cattle
in the Brazilian
in the air, due either
or to dust
(300km NE of Marabá,
by forest industrics
consisting
of rnainly sawrnills,
and
in operution
in 1990 (Verissirno
subsidies
(2)
preparation,
particles
200km north of Marabá.
(about
indispensable
but the increased
of pollutant
the total consumption
Up to the 1970s, forest activities
in the region,
During the dry seasou,
area
consisting
in operntion.
represents
species are being processed
into other land use forms are: mining.
is impressivc.
or agriculture
there were 238 sawmills
projects
forests
rate in this region is one of the highest
in 1991. InParagorninas
annually
prior selectivc
roads.
in Tailandia
This volume
the State of Amazonas
of roundwood
of the fact that they have suftered
as
highway. In
or "mogno".
of the large amount
of forest industries,
et aI. ((989),
in 1989, 48 sawmills
highwayl
natural
The deforcstation
excclsa), locallv known
partiallv conserved along the PA-l50
(S ••.ietcnia macrophvllu)
The main acrivitics
airports
ot "brozil-nut"'l1al/zo//ctia
look intact irrespcctive
logging of "rnahogany"
ranching
presen.:e
represents the last furcst reserves
of State of Roraima)
town in this region, situated about
, and about
700km north of Manaus.
150km south
of Boa
Vista
Small farms are predorninnnt
in the area.
The forest inventory
and the number
municipalities:
Norte",
of sample
Caroebe,
BR-2\O highway.
was carried
out in three different
units in each are presented
localities of the region. These localities
in Table 4. This work covered
São João da Baliza, Sao Luiz do Anauá e Caracarai-along
the following
the "Perimetral
~s
Niro HtGl:CHt.Jesus Marden dos SASTOS.Masaaki
hlASAGAand Shigejiro YOSHIDA
Table 4. South of Roraima-sampling points and the number of sarnple units in
each point
s.u.
Locality
Caroebe, Lote Sr. Joaquim. 200km SE Boa Vista
Sáo João da Baliza. Lote Sr. Oliveira. 200km SE Boa Vista
Sao Luiz do Anauá . 150km S Boa Vista
20
20
17
57
Total
S.U. = nurnber of sarnple units
type vegetation (forest
The landscape is dorninated by secondary forests, or some "Campina"
on white sandy soils) , ano is scattered with primary dense tropical moist forests.
This region is labeled qualifico as a high risk area for deforestution.
colonized since 1<)70saccording to the traditional
Colonizution ano Agrarian
Reorgunizution)
region was the participation
average)
programs
. The peculiurity
of the Stute Governrnent.
of INCRA
because it has been
(National
of the colonization
lNCRA
Instituto
for
process in this
gives a plot of land
(50ha in
to farrners coming from elsewhere in Brazil, They irnrnediately cut down the forest to
guaruntee Iano tenure , and burning is the only process tuken by thern to prepare the areas for
plantation.
Sirnultaneously
with the State Government's
production zone of Roraima failed. In addition,
reduction
of its participation
the clirnatic conditions,
adequare technical assistances ano the high living costs have contributed
holders have insisted on pursuing their survival Ihrough agriculture,
another "eldurado",
to the failure. Many srnall
and some have shiíted
In south of Roraima,
logging is still n secondnry
activity, or a sub-product
of clearing for
projects, Only smnll sawmills with totally obsolete equipments
The following tree species are lhe mostly used ones: "angelim pedra"
excelsai , "cardeiro"
to
some being now gold rniners in Roraima.
agriculture and other development
are operating.
lhe agriculture
tropical diseases, lack of
(Scleronema micranthumt
garncla" tNectandra rubrai , "piquia"
, "cedrorana"
(Aspidospermll
(Dinizia
(Cedrelinga cateniformis) , "louro
sp.) and "sucupira"
(Andira sp.):
4. Additional inforrnatlon
(t)
Floristic cornposition
A floristic survey was carried out at lhe sarne lime as lhe forest inventory. This was done by
researchers from lhe Departrnent
separately,
of Botany of lNPA, and lhe final reporl is going to be presented
For the forest inventory purposes eommon
names of tree speeies or morpho-species
were used.
(2)
Morpho-species
abundanee
and frequeney
This inforrnation is presented to determine
inventoried regions. For a better understanding
done by Department
(3)
lhe dorninant Iree speeies or morpho-species
in lhe
of lhe forest structure of those regions lhe work
of Botany is more appropriate.
Fresh and dry weight ratio
Fresh and dry weight ratios were determined
at the Tropical Silviculture Experimental
from data collected in lhe Biornass Project area,
Station of lNPA, SOkm north of Manaus. Samples from
trunk , branches, leaves and flowers or fruits were dried at 105 degrees Celsius until weight stabllity
was reached. Preliminary results show that lhe total dry weight represents an average of 60.4 % of
the fresh weight (N=76 trees and S.D. =7.8).
Also, lhe trunk weight represents
68.6% of lhe
Aboveground Biomass Estimare for Arnazonian Dense Tropical Moist Forests
total tree weight (N=76
and S.D.
49
= 14l.
Results
1. Diomass equation
The best equations for estimating standing aboveground
In WF=-2.4768+2.2301
In WF= -3.8102+
where: WF=fresh
'In(D)
fresh biornass are as follows:
+0.6518 'In(H)
(5:;;;dbh<2Ocm)
1.4631 • In (O) + 1.8190 • In (H) (dbh~20cm)
weight in ton
Fresh weight is usually more dependem
on the total height than the dbh of a tree. Therefore,
the previous model produced the best results. In addition. according to Gillespie and Cunia (1989)
n:odels not including
pararneters.
height
.IS
an independent
variable,
produce
biased
particulurly when data collection is based on the proportional
estimares
of the
probability to the tree
size.
2. Aboveground biomass estirnates
The results of the forest inventory
for the South of Para and the South of Roraima
are
summarized in Table 5. Visually, one has the irnpression that Iorests in Pará are higher than those
of Rorairna because of the significant presence of the huge "brazil nut" trees, However,
not confirrned by the inventory. The forests inventoried
in Rorairna presented
this was
a rnean basal areu,
per hectare. being 30% higher than in the Pará ones, as does the aboveground
biomass.
On the
other hand, Para forests are likely to be more hornogeneous since the coefficients of variation for
number of individuais per ha (N). basal area per ha (BA) and fresh weight (WF) pararneters
from
Roraima were always greater than those of the Para ones.
Table 5. Estimares on hectare basis in each inventoried region
South of Para
5;S;O<2Ocm O;;:2Ocm
131
1027
N
BA (m')
16.26
7.60
Mean
WF (ton)
227.27
values
79.53
WF (ton)
48.04
137.27
26.1
30.5
N
Coefficient
32.3
43.7
DA
of variation
47.0
WF
36.0
59
350
N
DA (m')
2.64
6.39
Minimum
WF (ton)
26.04
75.20
1800
220
N
BA (m')
13.44
44.32
Maximum
WF (ton)
148.80
584.24
N =number of individuais
BA =basal area in m'
WF =fresh weight in ton
WO =dry weight in ton
Variab!e
Ali
1158
23.92
306.80
185.31
27.9
31.6
35.6
495
10.81
115.32
1978
50.05
636.64
South of Roraima
O;;:2Ocm
5:o0<2Ocm
AI!
1096
168
1264
11.15
20.87
32.0~
377.36
134.61
242.75
81.30
146.62
227.9~
35.3
37.3
22.6
41.7
44.7
43.7
41.1
46.0
42.9
60
490
350
3.61
7.20
15.11
42.23
86.23
184.79
23-17
2250
280
23.30
319.39
45.92
495.04
58.39
643.32
Fresh weight (WF) estirnates for South of Pará and South of Roraima (for vegetation
with
50
Niro HIG\XHI. Jesus Murdcn dos SA~"OS. Masaaki
dbh;;: Sem} are as follows. respectively:
WF=30ó.SI/ha
íSouth
WF=377..lI/ha
Dry weigh:
dbh;;:5em)
(WD) estirn.ues
of Para}
(South of Roruirna l
for South
of Par.i
aud South of Roruima
(for vegeturion
with
are :IS Iollows, respectively:
A sirnple camparison
WD=lliS.31/ha
(South of Pará)
WD=227.91/ha
(Sourh of Rorairnal
af these estimares
Dry wcight estirnates
of this work.
estimare
(19li7 ) • 25~.51/ha.
of Fearnside
10 that of 2ISI/ha.
these estimares
However, this comparison
ali estimares
In this
10 facilitate
Brazilian
with orhers obtuined
IS5.3t/ha
and 227.Yt/h:l.
carricd
are.
is nOI quite relevam.
10 lhe conciliutory
froui Brown and Lugo (I Y90J. or
out by FAO expcrts (Fearnside.
using lhe sarne diarneter
Iorests
elsewhere
<Ire comparable
and 10 Ihal of 26ô'i/ha
based on 13 inventories
were obtaincd.
of Pará and of lhe Roruima
carried
l~lA~AGA and Shigejiro YOSHIDA
19S7J.
Ir
ali
class limits. lhe dry biornasses of lhe South
respectively,
2~% and li% smaller
thun lhe others.
does not muke much scuse because thc mcthodologics
uscd 10 obtaiu
vary gre.uly evcn for datu collectiou.
the number
SIUU)'
cornparison
Amazon.
lnvcntories
out by FAO experts
pcr ha anel the busal
of individuals
arnong
differcut
forest
invcntories
carricd out in different
are presented
arca per ha, were also estimatcd
which have been carried
localities
in lhe Arnazon.
those
in Tablc 6.
Table 6. Mcan valucs estimares on hectare busis in differcnt
in the Brazilian Amazon {dhh;;::2ücm}
Locality
out in thc
excepting
N
DA (ndha)
localities
Source
Trombetas
171
23.0<)
Ri" Arinos
119
13.58
INPA/CPST.
PIC Altamira
146
:21.97
UFPr/CPF.
INPA/CPST.19S:2
1983a
1976
UHE Balhina
191
~'I.3X
INPA!CPST.
19S3h
EEST
254
22.74
INPA!CPST.
s/d
19S3
UHE Santa lzabel
131
15.22
INPA!CPST.
PDRI/ Acre
135
17. 7~
INPA!FUNTAC.
Taking inta account only lhe dhh;;:2Ocm
c1ass. lhe estimates
1%9
for the N and DA variahlcs are
as follows:
N = 131 trees/ha
and
BA = 16.26m'/ha
(South of Purú)
N = 168 trees/ha
and
DA = 20.87m'/ha
(South af Rorairna)
In the Sauth of Pará. N and DA estirnates
localiries inventoried
are 20% smaller
(Table 6), while those are greater
Ihan the average
UHE Santa Izabel (only BA). This rneans, on the sarne comparison
potential
However,
of the South of Pará regian is srnaller than lhe average
Sauth of Rorairna
The difference
is within the Arnazonian
of 2~ % in lhe aboveground
basis, that the quantitative
af lhe most Amazonian
(19li7) is better
by this wark in comparison
understood,
South of Pará region. Since N and BA are 20% smaller than the Amazonian
to have the sarne difference in terrns of biornass.
In camparing
the estirnates
af the dry weight obtained
with the results frorn direct method
the difference
forcsts.
average.
dry biomass estimated
with those of Drown and Lugo (1990) and Feurnside
of lhe seveu
than it anly in relation to Rio Arinos and
in this survey,
is quite high and difficult
concerning
lhe
average, it is expected
ISSt/ha
10
und 228t/ha.
be explained.
These
Aboveground
estimares
Biornass Estimare
are in the inferior
(Feamside,
Arnazonian
for
range for Amazoniau
Dcnse Tropical
Iorests.
Moist Forests
which is from
155 to 610t / h"
1990a), This difference can partially be explained by the distinct rnethodologies
in both the rnethods, Direct rnethods have to be applied more extensively
the Brazilian
Amazon,
with more replicates
feeding back the current mathernatical
in different
regions are presented
aboveground
models used to estimare the standing aboveground
biornass.
and lcuves)
in Table 7. Trunk has the biggest participation
for both
in the total
biomass, reaching alrnost 70%, while leaves contribute to it with only.j%.
of information
cornpartrnent
is importunt
behaves
This typc
because when fire is used to prepare the land for plant.uion.
differently.
in
and larger sampling plots, mainly for the purpose of
Mean values of the fresh weight of the cornpartrnents ttrunk. brunches
inventoried
uscd
localities
In general.
the leuf biomass
is totally
burncd
during
each
the first
burning. while less than 50% of the trunks are burned.
Tuble 7. Mcan
valuc estirnutcs
Rcgion
of fresh wcigh: in each trce compuruncnt
South of Para
Trunk
Brunchcs
Lcaves
South
of Roruirna
(rnctric ton pcr hectare)
D~2t"l1l
Ali
5:óO<21"m
Cornpartment
5~.5ó
155.~1
2IUA/)
21.63
ei.s;
Y.5~
S3A5
3.3~
12.S')
Total
7~.53
~~7.:'7
30ó.XO
Trunk
92.35
166.53
25X.SX
Branches
36.61
66.02
102.63
Leuves
5.65
10.20
15.S)
TOlal
13~.61
2~2.75
377.36
3, Abundance and frequency
The nurnber of species, for forest inventory purposes, rneans 'individual, grouped or rnorpho
species. Eaeh inventoried
region presented
figure quite well represents
Arnazonian
250 different species with an overlap of 70%. This
forests,
Taking into aeeount only trees with dhh ~ 20em, 32 species (or rnorpho-species)
more than 80% of the total individuais
following
speeies
(Burceraceae)
are
the
rnost
, "pau-pretinho"
sarnpled
frequently
(Legurninosae},
in both the regions.
observed
and
abundant:
"inga" (Leguminosae)
(Sapotaceae)
,"matamata"
(Lccythiduceae)
.vbreu-verrnetho",
the
"breu-vermelho"
and "giro" (Meliaceue) -
which are not actually sold in the region. In South of Rorairna the most important
"abiurana"
represem
In South of Para,
species are:
"faveira" (Legurninosae)
and "inga",
For the diarneter c\ass "between 5 and 20cm" (S:;;;dbh<20) ,25 species represem
80% of the total sarnpled individuais.
abundanee
and frequency
different botanical
In South of Pará the most important
are:"branquinha"
families, "inga",
South of Roraima the rnost important
(Sapotaceae) , numerous
"breu-vermelho"
and "joao-rnole"
species are: "abiurana",
more than
species in terrns of
species of lianas
from
(Chrysobalanaceae
l. In
"breu-vermelho",
lianas, "envira"
(Anonaceae) , "inga" and "matamata".
The most valuable speeies in the South of Pará is "mogno" or "mahogany"
abundance in the inventoried
sarnpled
(13 trees in each
regeneration
(Meliace l , but its
region is quite insignificant. Only 3 individuais were found in 22.8 ha
100 ha) for dbh;;: 20cm class, and there is no record of natural
or for 5:;;; dbh<20cm
class.
On the other
hand.rcastanheira"
or "brazil-nut"
I
I
52
Niro HIGUCH1. Jesus
(Leeythidaeeae)
Marden
is very important
dos SA~TOS. Masaaki
to the forest strueture
IMA:<AGA and Shigejiro
YOSHIDA
at least in the dbh~2Ocm
c1ass. Thirty
one individuais were found in 22.8ha (more than one tree per ha) • and it was found in almost 90%
of the sarnpled plots. However,
natural regeneration
is almost absent.
Discussions
For the South of Para and the South of Rorairna
estimares of 185t/ha and 228t/ha.
respectively,
regions.
the dry aboveground
biornass
for ali the vegetation with dbh greater than 5em.
are quite reliable, because they come from forest inventories
carried out exclusively for biomass
estimation, within a limit of error smaller than 10%. The basal area estimares are 23.9m'/ha and
32.0m'/ha. respectively for South of Pará and South of Roraima.
From a quantitative point of view, the aboveground biomass estimares of the inventoried
íorests are smaller than the Amazonian
averuge. However,
it is quite important to point out that
the inventoried forests do not fulfill the profile of primary Amazonian
forest. Most of the South
of Pará forests, for instance , have been submitted to a prior high selective "mahogany" harvesting
even in the protected forest reserves. The sarne can be said of the South of Roraima forests where
the only difference lies in respect to the tree species harvested earlier. Nevertheless.
these forests
represem the "most" virgin stands in these regions.
There
is no doubt
deforestation,
deforestation
about
these
two regions
of the environrnent.
are seriously
threatened
They have presented
by
the highest
rate in the last five years, and probably will rnaintain this rate for some time. still.
The speed of the transformation
development
the fact that
followed by the degradation
principies
from forests to other land uses is irnpressive. Any sustainable
have not been considered
yet by most projects
in both the regions,
Compared to other portions of the Brazilian Arnazon, these inventoried regions have good access,
at least in the form of six hundred kilometers of paved road.
Forest activities are also intensive principally in the South of Pará. Based on the number of
sawmills in operation
in this region it is probable that forest products are economically of not a
small interest. This means that farrners do not burn ali existent biomass when they are preparing
areas for plantation.
For this reason, the amount of gases finally released to the atrnosphere,
due
to lhe burning can not be taken as a due to the biornass estimates of the original forest.So,
the
information from this work is important
to calculate the biomass of Amazonian forests which has
been transformed
into other forms of land use, but the estimates of the amount of gases released
to the atmosphere
will require more specific studies.
Summary
The making of a forest inventory
aboveground
biomass for Amazonian
was carried
out exclusively to obtain an estimate
dense tropical moist forests, particularly
of
in the South of
Pará and South of Roraima. These regions hnve suffcred excessively high deforestation rates in the
last five years. Aboveground
biomass wns estimuted through mathernatical
and crown) fresh and dry weight of whole vegetation
with a diameter
counting greater than Sem. The selected rnodel contained
biomass, this also presents
estimates
models for total (stern
at breast height (dbh)
tree dbh and total height. Besides
for number of trees and basal area on a hectare
Sampling size was 22.8ha, and plot dimensions
basis.
were 20 by 200m for both regions. Dry weight
estimates for South of Pará and South of Roraima are 18St/ha and 228t/ha, respectively.
Aboveground
Biornass Estirnate
for Arnazonian
Dense Tropical Moist Forests
53
Reference
I) Brown, S.• A.J.R. Gillespie and A.E. Lugo: Biornass estirnation methods for tropical forests
with applications to forest inventory data. Forest Science, 3S (4),881-902 (1989)
2) Brown, S. and A.E. Lugo: Biomass Estirnates
Amazon.25pp.
(1990)
for Tropical Moist Forests of the Brazilian
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deforestation
to the global carbon
tropical ruin [orests: Problcms
problern.
Workshop proceedings
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01/
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ae«
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«
5~
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na
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da