Estimación del contenido de carbono del bosque y pastizal en Tambo-Palictahua, Cantón Penipe para proponer estrategias para su conservación

Abstract

The general objective of this research was to estimate the carbon content of the forest and grassland in Tambo-Palictahua, Penipe canton to propose strategies for its conservation; It began being explanatory because the soil samples (forest and grassland) were characterized and later they were subjected to physical-chemical analysis that was carried out at the INIAP of the city of Quito. Then it became exploratory since having the results of the laboratory estimated the amount of carbon between the forest and the grassland, finally it was experimental because through a random experimental design (simple random sampling) the samples were taken in the two study areas. From the results of the laboratory it was obtained that the carbon content did not vary significantly (p>0.05) between the forest floor (0.89 ± 0.06 ) and the grassland (0.82 ± 0.14), therefore, the null hypothesis was accepted, although it was observed that there is a greater amount of carbon in the forest this may have been due to the vegetation present in it such as: Actinidiaceae, Araliaceae, Asteraceae, Buxaceae, Lauraceae, Cunnoniaceae, among other species: Solanum venosum, Oreopanax ecuadorensis, Vallea stipularis, Miconia bracteolata, Grosvenoria campii, Escallonia myrtillides, in addition, it was considered that this sampling was carried out in winter (august). The results obtained allowed to conclude that soil organic carbon (COS) is fundamental for biological activity, the difference in the amount of carbon in both the forest (0.89Mgha-1) and grassland (0.82Mgha-1) is not significant, however, these forest areas accumulate atmospheric carbon and contribute to the reduction of greenhouse gases (GHG) (CO2 equivalent), as well as the accumulation of carbon in biomass and soil, helps in the control of emissions produced by deforestation and the improvement of land use practices.