Carbon Sequestration and Pine Plantations in Chile.

Fast growth tree plantations like radiata pine are considered highly efficient carbon sinks. The Biobío region in Chile is located between the 36°00’ and 38°30’ south latitude. The large extension of radiata pine plantation could largely contribute to climate change mitigation. To assess the carbon sequestration potential of radiata pine plantations above and below ground biomass models were developed, and scaled to stand level in forests.

The results were estimated base on different site index, and projected for a period of 100 years, considering 4 rotations,  using CO2FIX 3.1 model using the national growth inventories, and growth model for biomass and soil carbon sequestration. For the 100 years period, the whole plantations in the Bio Bio Regions capture 84,6 y 58,4 tCha^-1 depending on the growth region. Estimated biomass carbon sequestration was 54,29 y 36,28 tCha^-. Estimated soil carbon sequestration was 30,46 y 22,09 tCha^-1. Results were compared with field studies.