BRAZILIAN ATLANTIC FOREST CARBON STOCKS UNDERGOING ACTIVE RESTORATION AFTER BAUXITE MINING EXPLORATION: A TRAIT-BASED APPROACH

Background: Tropical forests are important carbon sinks at the global scale and play a fundamental role in global climate regulation. Aim: We evaluated the tree species diversity and dominance patterns in stem and carbon stocks in a Brazilian Atlantic forest restored after bauxite mining exploration in Minas Gerais-Brazil. Methods: Aboveground carbon was estimated for a permanent 1 ha forest restored after 14 years, measuring all trees with a circumference at breast height (CBH)≥15 cm, planted during restoration. We studied species richness, community composition and stem and carbon dominant species based on two categorical functional attributes (successional strategy and dispersal syndrome). Results: The restored forest obtained a high carbon accumulation (~58 Mg ha-1), between two and three times more than second growth forests with the same or more time for natural regeneration, when compared with other restored areas. The restored forest presented carbon dominance, with ~7.5% of the tree species of the community representing 50% of the total aboveground carbon (AGC). Conclusion: Anemochoric and zoochoric species presented a similar pattern of carbon dominance, while the initial second-growth species presented a higher carbon storage capacity than the pioneer species. Our findings stress the importance of analysing the relative contributions of species to ecosystem. This study shows that the forest restoration post bauxite mining in the Zona da Mata region, has contributed to high carbon accumulation.