Estoque e dinâmica de carbono em plantios subtropicais de Eucalyptus saligna e Mediterrâneos de Eucalyptus globulus

The continuous increase in the concentration of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere, due to the combustion of fossil fuels, changes in land use and deforestation for agriculture, is a matter of great importance due to its implications on global warming and climate change. Afforestation is seen as a solution to mitigate the increase in atmospheric CO2 concentration and may contribute to climate change mitigation through carbon sequestration in the trees’ biomass and soil. In this study we tried to assess some of the processes involving the carbon balance in forestry systems with eucalyptus. The study included field work to quantify the carbon stocks in the components forest system with trees of Eucalyptus saligna in the South of Brazil and the investigation of the effect of seasonal and ontogenetic variations on CO2 respiratory emissions from the leaves and stem of Eucalyptus globulus under the Mediterranean climate in central Portugal. The results of the Brazilian experiment showed that the stem biomass is the main pool of carbon in the forestry system (average 68% of total stock), followed by soil (30%) while the more labile carbon pools, such as leaf and root biomass and litter mass represent a smaller proportion of total carbon stock (2%). Clay and gravimetric water contents in the soil were associated with the observed variations in carbon storage in the soil and in the leaf and stem biomass. The accumulation of soil carbon was not directly associated with the production and chemical composition of the litter. However, the observed variations in carbon stock in the soil fractions (particulate and mineral organic carbon) were significantly associated with soil characteristics, especially the clay content, the concentration of copper and the chemical composition of roots. The observed relationships between soil characteristics and root fractions with the mineral and particulate organic carbon fractions seem to be associated with the function of the variables, cited above, on the processes of decomposition and stabilization of organic matter in soil. The results of the field experiment conducted in Portugal revealed that as the trees become larger and older, there is an increase in CO2 respiratory losses from leaves and stems. However, the marked increase in respiratory emissions observed in the older trees occurred only during the autumn, being associated with the recovery of plant water status after a period of drought during the summer. The increase in leaf and stem respiration of older trees after the recovery of cell turgor during the autumn seem to be related to increased energy costs in the processes of cellular maintenance rather than on growth respiration. The results of this study indicated that in managed forestry systems, the tree stem represents the major pool of carbon and carbon losses through the CO2 respiratory emissions become more pronounced in older trees, only under conditions favorable for carbon gain, such as in the autumn, being influenced by cell turgor. Moreover, the accumulation of carbon in the soil seems to be more related to the relationship between the intrinsic characteristics of the soil, particularly grain size and chemical composition of roots on the processes of stabilization of organic matter in the soil rather than the amount of litter deposited in soil.