Biomass and carbon growth and increases of Pinus teocote Schltdl. et Cham. And Pinus oocarpa Schiede., state of Guerrero, Mexico

Abstract

The modeling of growth in biomass can be one of the most important techniques for determining the carbon stock in any interval of development in the plant, allowing to make decisions about the management of the species for climate change mitigation. The goal of this study was to adjust growth models to quantify biomass increments (B) and estimate the carbon uptake (C) in Pinus teocote and Pinus oocarpa forests in the mountain region of the state of Guerrero. Twenty-four trees per species were felled, tree trunk analyses were performed, and five growth models were adjusted in order to estimate the increments in biomass and the inflection points of the current annual increase (CAI), mean annual increase (MAI), and the technical shift where CAI and MAI intersect. Weibull's model exhibited the best adjustments for determining biomass growths; the equation for estimating biomass in P. teocote was: Y = 1722.1(1-e-3.933E-6∗X2.7928), R2adj 0.73, REMC = 184.2 kg and e = 125 kg; the generated model for P. oocarpa was Y = 3186.79(1-e-0.000033∗X2.2103), adjR2 = 0.88 RMSE = 155.9 and e = 108.2 kg. The analysis of the projected growth until the technical shift (107 and 126 years) yielded increments of 2.81 t of B ha-1 year-1 in P. teocote and 3.64 t ha-1 year-1 in P. oocarpa. The growth models are reliable and efficient for estimating biomass and inferring carbon uptake based on the application of the ring analysis technique in mature P. oocarpa and P. teocote forests in the studied region.