Resumen
- Highlights: • Data were collected and analyzed on the carbon stocks of the gallery forests of a representative part of the well-drained Colombian savanna, the Altillanura. • The carbon estimates allow us to calculate regional-level changes in carbon stocks under different scenarios of future land use. Objective: To assess how gallery forests contribute to carbon stocks and to find an environmentally acceptable management for the protection of the riparian vegetation. Methods: Measurements of tree height and girth, and soil organic matter determinations were the basis of our carbon stock estimates. We sampled 80 plots (20x20 m) distributed over the watershed. Variation in a longitudinal sense (from small creeks to bigger rivers) and transversal sense (from stream to savanna) was provided for by laying out transects perpendicular to streams of all sizes. All trees with a diameter at breast height (DBH) wider than 5 cm were identified, their girth measured with tape and their height by clinometer. Based on their species composition, five forest types were distinguished (Table 5). An increasing number of studies report allometric relationships between tree dimensions (diameter or basal area, and height) and tree biomass. Brown et al. (1989) and Brown (1997) analyze the available data for tropical forests and provide equations for forests of different life zones. The forests that Brown (1997) used for the allometric equation of the dry forest life zone are those that most resemble the structure of the gallery forests.