Carbon storage in tree biomass dispersed in pastures in the arid Caribbean region of Colombia

Abstract

Currently, the global forest area is equivalent to 4060 million hectares, 45% of which is in the tropical forest zone (FAO & UNEP, 2020). Tropical forest has registered significant losses, 420 million hectares since 1990, due to changes in land cover and conversion to other land uses. This is due to natural factors such as drought, fires, storms, and diseases, and anthropogenic causes such as clearing land for agriculture, overharvesting of timber, expansion of settlements, and infrastructural developments (Keenan et al., 2015). According to Armenteras & Rodríguez (2014), the main precursors of deforestation in Latin America are associated with the expansion of the agricultural frontier including for livestock at 42.5% and population growth at 18.85%. These factors affect the provision of ecosystem services derived from tropical forests, functional diversity, and net carbon emissions due to deforestation and degra-dation (Houghton, 2012). Más...