Biomass production and carbon stock in Psidium guajava orchards under hot and sub-humid climate

Abstract

Biomass and carbon storage in orchard ecosystems serve as significant carbon sinks to reduce global warming. The objective of this study was to determine the best-fitted model for non-destructive prediction of dry biomass and carbon stock in Psidium guajava. Richard's model was well validated and considered as best performing with lowest Akaike information criterion of 90.13, root mean square error of 1.69 kg tree-1 and highest adjusted R2 of 0.981. Tree components like leaves, branches, bole, total above-ground biomass, total below ground biomass and root biomass were fitted in Richard's model for dry biomass and carbon stock prediction. The total dry biomass of P. guajava ranged from 0.54 to 9.26 Mg ha-1 in 2-10-years-old orchards. The highest mean dry biomass across tree components was observed in branches, while roots recorded the lowest mean biomass. The total carbon stock was 0.27 and 4.19 Mg ha-1 with CO2 sequestration potential of 0.76 and 11.54 Mg ha-1 in 2-year and 10-year-old orchards respectively.