Wood specific gravity of trees and forest types in the southern Peruvian Amazon

Abstract

-Estimates of terrestrial biomass depend critically on reliable information about the specific gravity of the wood of forest trees. The study reported on here was carried out in the southern Peruvian Amazon and involved collection of wood samples from trees (70 spp.) in forest with alluvial soil, and sandy-soil forest) had values close to the average reported for the total vegetated area in this part of the Amazon, had values significantly lower (.40). An ameter for a species prevalent in one plot. Increases in specific gravity with tree and forest age may be significant in estimating changes in carbon stores over time. Key-words: wood specific gravity, tropical forest biomass, Southern Peruvian Amazon Densidade Específica da Madeira de Árvores e Tipos de Floresta no Sul da Amazônia PeruanaRESUMO -Estimativas de biomassa em ecossistemas terrestres dependem de informações confiáveis sobre a densidade da madeira das árvores. Neste estudo, realizado no sul da Amazônia peruana, foram coletadas amostras de madeira de árvores (70 spp.) em florestas intactas. Os resultados demonstram a grande variabilidade na densidade específica (peso seco / volume fresco) entre as árvores de um único sítio. Três tipos de floresta (baixio de terraço alto, floresta sobre terraço aluvial alto argiloso, e floresta de terra firme sobre solo arenoso) tiveram valores de densidade específica próximos à média reportada para madeiras de floresta tropical (0,69). Duas florestas em fase sucessional, que constituem até 12% da área vegetada nesta parte da Amazônia, tiveram valores significativamente menores (média de 0,40). Um incremento da densidade específica com a idade da árvore, reportada anteriormente para algumas espécies de árvores de floresta tropical, foi também encontrado para uma espécie avaliada neste estudo, com uma relação positiva entre sua densidade específica e seu diâmetro. Os aumentos de densidade específica com a idade, tanto das espécies como das florestas, podem ser importantes para estimativas de mudanças temporais nos estoques de carbono. Palavras-chave:Densidade específica de madeira, biomassa de floresta tropical, Amazônia peruana

Interspecific and Inter-site Variation in Wood Specific Gravity of Tropical Trees1

“…In one study in the Peruvian Amazon, Woodcock (2000) found differences in mean wood specific gravity between stands of different successional stage, but not among different soil types. In perhaps the best study of landscape variation in wood specific gravity to date, ter Steege and Hammond (2001) found that variation in tree-weighted mean wood specific gravity among 72 plots in Guyana w^as unrelated to soil fertility but was related to diversity; the more diverse forests in south Guyana had lower average wood specific gravity as well as lower average seed mass.…”

Wood specific gravity and its radial variations: the many ways to make a tree

“…Borchert (1984), similarly, recognized a variety of functional types in dry tropical forest based on differences in specific gravity and other aspects of tree biology. Consider, as an example, the species in a riverine forest in the southern Peruvian Amazon (Woodcock 2000). In this forest, the least dense wood is that of Erythrina ulei with a value of 0.10 (close to that of Ochroma) and the most dense that of Minquartia guianensis with specific gravity of 0.70.…”

Aboveground carbon dynamics following strip clear‐cutting in the Peruvian Amazon

“…(1, 2) values belonging to the particular region studied (Baker et al 2004). Therefore, to estimate WSG for trees in the strips, we compiled a dataset of WSG values for a total of 144 tree taxa from the Peruvian Amazon, published in Baker et al (2004) and in Woodcock (2000). As in other studies, we allocated WSG to tree taxa in the strips based on taxonomy (Baker et al 2004;Baraloto et al 2011).…”