Inventory of Organic Carbon in a Pterogyne nitens Tul. Plantation in Southwest Bahia, Brazil

ABSTRACT Carbon binding capacity varies between forest plantations, mainly in terms of species and climate and soil conditions. The objective of this study was to estimate the amount of organic carbon stored in aerial tree biomass in the litter and soil of a homogeneous planting of Pterogyne nitens Tul. located in the Southwest Bahia region of Brazil. The woody biomass was obtained by destructive method. Litter collection was carried out using a wooden template (0.25 m2). Soil samples were collected at four depths (0-5, 5-10, 10-20 and 20-40 cm). The carbon stored in all studied compartments totaled 47.1 Mg ha-1 with a greater contribution from the ground (31.4 t ha-1). The accumulated litter was the lowest carbon compartment, storing about 1.4% of the total. Among the different fractions of the biomass, the stem is the largest carbon reservoir, representing about 46% of fixed C biomass.