Sustentabilidade do manejo florestal em áreas de Caatinga: uma avaliação comparativa utilizando modelos alométricos

Abstract

The use of allometric equations developed to quantify forest biomass has numerous applications in forest management and may be used to monitor the progress of restoration of forests submitted to management plans in the northeastern semi-arid region, with the advantage that semi-destructive methods are sustainable. This study aimed to develop allometric equations for 13 tree species native to the Caatinga biome in order to obtain the best equation to estimate aboveground biomass and verify the sustainability of management plans in the Caatinga by comparing management areas and preservation areas. . The next step was to apply the best allometric equation to estimate the biomass and compare it with a forest area submitted to sustainable management. Measurements were performed on 61 trees, with a diameter range of 4.00 – 36.00 cm. Each individual had height, diameter at breast height, and branch diameter measured. Aliquots of leaves and thin twigs were collected. The aliquot volume of the branches was used to calculate the density of the wood. In total, nine allometric equations were developed for the thirteen species. The equation AGB = 0.382 * (D)2.389 * (ρ )1.104 obtained the best results for the quality-of-fit statistics and was used to quantify the aboveground biomass of the Santa Mônica forest. This best model estimated the aboveground biomass at 86.27 kg per individual, while the forest inventory estimated at 22.71 kg. Therefore, our model estimated 379.87% more biomass in preserved areas when compared to the forest inventory. The model was also validated by comparing its result with the best model developed by another study that used ten Caatinga species using the paired t test and the effect size (r).