CARBON SEQUESTRATION IN PASTURES WITH TREES, TREELESS PASTURES AND DECIDUOUS FOREST FROM HUATUSCO, VERACRUZ

Abstract

It was compared the amount of carbon (C) sequestered in a pasture with trees (P+Ar) and in conventional treeless pastures (P) and deciduous forest (BC), typical of the region of Huatusco, Veracruz, Mexico. Total C sequestered by the systems evaluated was 49.9, 63.0 and 469.8 ton ha-1 for P, P+Ar and BC, respectively. The system with the highest amount of C sequestered was BC, with almost equal proportions in the aerial (268.4 ton ha-1) and belowground parts (201.4 ton ha-1). The amount of C sequestered in the livestock systems represented about one tenth of that sequestered in BC, being higher the proportion obtained in P+Ar (13.4 %) compared to P (10.6 %). In both livestock systems, a significantly greater amount of C was sequestered in the soil organic matter than in the aerial biomass, with 59.7 and 3.29 ton ha-1 in P+Ar, and with 48.2 and 1.78 ton ha-1 in P, respectively. It is expected that as trees of the P+Ar system gain volume, C sequestration will increase, especially in the aerial biomass.