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Silvopasture Systems and Climate Change: Estimate and Prediction of Arboreal Biomass

Abstract:

In this work both the biomass and carbon present in a vegetative cover from a silvopastoral system were quantified. The system, composed of Hyparrhenia rufa and Guazuma ulmifolia, was established naturally in Balzar, Guayas province of Ecuador. By using a destructive method and a random sampling in nested plots both the arboreous and underground biomass of average-sized trees were measured as well as the necromass and herbaceous vegetation. Models were developed in order to estimate the volume and the biomass of the whole tree and its components (trunk, roots, branches and leaves). The arboreous biomass was estimated in 16.45 Mg/ha (8.23 MgC/ha), whereas the herbaceous vegetation and the necromass were 1.4 and 1.9 Mg/ha (0.7 and 0.95 MgC/ha), respectively. The models predict