REMOÇÃO DE CO2 ASSOCIADA À DINÂMICA DA COBERTURA FLORESTAL NA BACIA HIDROGRÁFICA DO RIO IGUAÇU NO PERÍODO 2000-2010

This article was conducted in the Iguassu River watershed, within the limits of the state of Parana, Brazil, in order to assess the dynamics of the forest cover and carbon stocks in that basin, between the years 2000 and 2010, estimating the variation of the quantity of carbon stored in forest vegetation in this period. Two classes of successional stage of secondary vegetation: initial and intermediate/advanced were considered, as well as a reforestation class. There was an increase around 22.93% of forest cover in the basin throughout the period of 10 years. Similary, there was an increase in biomass production and carbon sequestration, of 135.58 Tg of biomass (32.81% of the original), thus accomplishing the fixation of 206.81 Tg of carbon equivalent. It is concluded that, the native forest is mostly responsible for carbon storage in the basin, with 7sim;93.53% of the total carbon stored in 2010. Thus, the vegetation of the basin is contributing positively to the reduction of CO2 concentration of in the atmosphere.