Biomass of a man-made forest of timber tree species in the humid tropics of West Java, Indonesia

Biomass of a mature man-made forest in West Java, Indonesia, was estimated to evaluate the carbon sequestration potential of plantation forest in the humid tropics. Twenty plots, each 0.25 ha in area and containing one to six planted species over 40 years of age and with closed canopies, were selected. Trunk dry mass was estimated from trunk diameter, tree height, and bulk density. Maximum trunk diameter (122 cm) was observed in a 46-year-old Khaya grandifoliola C. DC. tree, and the tallest tree (51 m) was a 46-year-old Shorea selanica (DC.) Blume. The largest trunk biomass (911 Mg ha^-1) was achieved in the plot composed of two Khaya spp. Among the plots composed of indigeneous Dipterocarpaceae species, the largest trunk biomass was 635 Mg ha^-1. These trunk biomasses were larger than those reported from primary rainforests in Southeast Asia (e.g., 403 Mg ha^-1 in East Kalimantan, 522 and 368 Mg ha^-1 in Peninsular Malaysia). The large biomass in this forest suggests that, given favorable conditions, man-made forests can accumulate the quantities of atmospheric carbon that were lost by the logging of primary forests in the humid tropics.