INFLUENCE OF LAND USE CHANGE ON CARBON STOCK OF SECONDARY FORESTS between 2000 AND 2014 IN THE STATE OF PARÁ, BRAZIL
Climate change; Deforestation; Remote sensing; LiDAR; Aboveground Biomass (AGB)
Secondary forests provide important ecosystem services, especially in helping to mitigate climate change. The expressive growth rate causes the intensive removal of atmospheric CO2 and carbon storage in tree species biomass. This service depends on the regeneration and development conditions of secondary forests, which are influenced by previous use, the magnitude of the disturbances and the duration of the disturbances. Therefore, it is necessary to understand the secondary forest formation process to identify the mitigating potentials of global warming due to the regional contexts of land use and land use change in the Amazon. To analyze influential factors and biomass and carbon estimates in secondary forests, we highlight those methods that combine forest inventory and remote sensing data, such as satellite sensor images and point clouds obtained by Light Detection and Ranging (LiDAR), with statistical and spatial modeling. In this context, this research aimed to know the distribution and estimate biomass accumulation in secondary forests in the state of Pará. Spatial patterns of secondary forests in Pará were evaluated by Kernel density algorithms and hotspot analysis using data in vector format provided by the TerraClasse project. To map secondary forest regeneration, land use class data were used to attribute previous use in the years of 2000, 2004, 2008, 2010, 2012 and 2014. Through cartographic modeling performed on the online platform Google Earth Engine, it was verified the permanence and emergence of secondary forests in the chronosequence analyzed, making it possible to identify age ranges in each year of study and by previous use class. Data from biomass estimation resulting from LiDAR statistical modeling were combined with forest inventories for secondary forests in the municipalities of Paragominas and Tapajós, as well as estimated biomass data on primary forest from the RainFor project. Significant biomass accumulation (p <0.001) was found over time in the secondary forest ages. There was no significant difference (p = 0.939) between biomass comparing the municipalities of Paragominas and Tapajós when related to biomass accumulation in the studied time period.