Abstract:

In this study, a remote sensing model of bamboo carbon storage was established based on the data collected in Hongya County, a key demonstration county of the Convert Cultivated Land into Forests Project in Sichuan Province. The bamboo carbon storage was estimated before the project (1994), the fourth year after the project (2004) and the seventh year after the project (2007) with the remote sensing model of bamboo carbon storage. Quantitative analysis of the bamboo carbon storage changes in spatial and temporal pattern by 3S technology software showed that: Carbon storage and area of bamboo forest are increasing year by year from 1994-2007, while growth rate at earlier stages (1994-2004) was greater than that at the late stages (2004-2007) of Convert Cultivated Land to Forests Project. The spatial distribution of carbon storage and area of bamboo forest was similar, with a trend to spread over to low elevation, flat slope and different aspects. There were obvious variations in carbon storage and area of bamboo forest on the land with slopes greater than 25° during the early period of Convert Cultivated Land to Forests Project (1994-2004), and in 2004 the increment of carbon storage and area of bamboo forest was 79.53% and 78.18% of the total increment, respectively, which indicated that Convert Cultivated Land to Forests Project was the driving force for the increase of carbon storage and area of bamboo forest. The carbon density showed a decrease at first, followed by a increase, however its value decreased slightly relative to the initial value in 1994. The carbon density was 33.76 t C·hm^-2 in 1994, then it decreased to 33.25 t C·hm^-2 in 2004, but it increased to 33.67 t C·hm^-2 in 2007. The model, optimized by using kriging interpolation, can improve the prediction accuracy to some extent.

Key words: bamboo stand, carbon storage, spatio-temporal patterns, convert cultivated land to forests project, 3S technology