| Abstract |
- Land-use change in forested regions of the tropics is currently one of the largest
anthropogenic perturbations on earth; it is a force capable of altering biogeochemical cycles at local, regional, and global scales. However, significant uncertainties exist concerning the impact of land-use change on biomass and elemental pools of tropical forests. To evaluate the response of biomass and elemental pools to deforestation and land-use in the Los Tuxtlas Region, Mexico, total aboveground biomass (TAGB), C, N, S, and P pools were
quantified along a land-use gradient that included primary forests, pastures, cornfields, and secondary forests. TAGB of primary forests averaged 403 Mg/ha; pastures and cornfields averaged 24 and 23 Mg/ha, respectively. Conversion of primary forests to pastures or cornfields resulted in declines of 94% of aboveground C pools, 92% of aboveground N, 83% of aboveground P, and between 89% and 95% of aboveground S. Soil pools of C, N, and S did not differ significantly between primary forests, pastures, and cornfields. Soil C to a 1 m depth ranged from 166-210 Mg/ha; N and S ranged from 16,O00-2O,000 kg/ha and 340O-38OO kg/ha, respectively. In secondary forests, TAGB increased with increasing forest age; accumulations ranged from 4.8 Mg/ha in a 6-month- old site to 287 Mg/ha in a 50-year-old site. Results indicate that secondary forests will attain the equivalent of primary forest TAGB in 73 years. However, rates of TAGB accumulation were constrained by land-use history; rates decreased with increasing duration of land use prior to abandonment. Soil pools of secondary forests were not correlated to forest age or prior land-use history and did not differ significantly from soil pools of primary forests, pastures, or cornfields. As a group, soils of primary and old secondary forest sites had significantly larger pools of available N and higher rates of nitrification and N mineralization than the
combined group of pastures, cornfields, and recently abandoned sites. Currently, the Los Tuxtias Region functions as a net source of greenhouse gases. Regenerating secondary forests have the capacity to counterbalance emissions resulting from deforestation, but presently constitute only a small percentage of the the regional landscape.
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