Analyzing Carbon Conversion Factors of Four Species of Taiwanese Bamboo

Abstract

According to guidelines of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), the carbon conversion factor (CCF) is a key parameter for estimating the amount of carbon sequestered in a forest stand. The guidelines suggest that CCF can be calculated by converting the total biomass or bulk density (BD) of plants, and multiplying by the estimated percent carbon content (PCC). There are many relevant studies on the CCF of trees, but little research has been done on the CCF of bamboo. This study focused on the analysis of different CCFs among 4 major bamboo species found in Taiwan: Moso bamboo (Phyllostachys heterocycla: Ph), Makino bamboo (P. makinoi: Pm), ma bamboo (Dendrocalamus latiflorus: Dl), and thorny bamboo (Bambusa stenostachya: Bs). Various sites, ages, and positions in the culm were examined, and the resulting BD and PCC were simultaneously analyzed. The results show that the CCF significantly varied among species, sites, and positions in the culm, but showed no significant differences between age for Ph and Bs, and only partly significant differences for Pm and Dl. Variations in the CCF with the position in culm in all 4 bamboo species had the same trend: upper section ＞ middle section ＞ lower section. Average CCFs for a single culm of Pm, Ph, Bs, and Dl were 0.357, 0.318, 0.281, and 0.234, respectively. The results will be useful in increasing the estimation accuracy of carbon sequestration of local bamboo stands in Taiwan.