SOIL ATTRIBUTES AND BIOMASS YIELD FROM PINUS CARIBAEA VAR. HONDURENSIS

Abstract

Biomass yield from Pinus caribaea var. hondurensis is conditional on soil attributes. With the silvicultural practice currently being used in Brazil, Pinus stands might produce lower yields due to nutrient shift from harvest and due to changes in the edaphic environment from mechanization. Therefore, this study aims to evaluate chemical and physical soil attributes and determine which are correlated with higher biomass yields. Four commercial stands were selected, with differing growth patterns, each having four trees selected from the dominant layer, in addition to soil samples for chemical and physical analyses. Soil attributes and biomass yield data were submitted to analysis of variance (ANOVA), means were compared by the Tukey test, and the Pearson correlation coefficient was determined. Chemical attributes directly or indirectly associated with the sum of bases and physical attributes associated with water availability were found to be related to biomass yield.