Biomass of timber species in Central American secondary forests: Towards climate change mitigation through sustainable timber harvesting

Abstract

Sustainable management of secondary forests for timber production offers the opportunity to combine nature-based climate change mitigation with direct improvement of human livelihoods in the tropics, but this dual potential has rarely been explored. We characterized aboveground biomass (AGB) in secondary forests (SF) in Nicaragua and Costa Rica in whole stands (ecological potential), individual trees of timber species (total timber potential), and currently harvestable timber (harvestable timber potential). We also linked the three types of AGB potential to climate and soil factors. Data on 302 sample plots were collected, most from national forest inventories (NFIs) concerning 168 plots in Nicaragua and 134 plots in Costa Rica.