ESTIMATING CARBON EXPANSION FACTORS IN TEMPERATE FOREST COMMUNITIES OF NORTHERN DURANGO, MEXICO

This research set as objective to quantify carbon stocks in aerial biomass of temperate communities of northern Durango, Mexico. The carbon concentration of several biomass components of 25 trees were quantified in the laboratory. Dasometric data of inventoried trees, together with alometric equations to estimate biomass and carbon concentrations were employed to estimate carbon expansion factors using stand volume. The carbon expansion factors were modeled as a function of the dasometric features of trees at the stand scale and the normal probabilistic density function was fitted to obtain information on the skewness of this parameter. The results showed that the carbon expansion factors are dependent of the mean tree height and they distributed normally. This information is important for the development of environmental management plans of forest ecosystems and will allow the broader use of forest inventory data.