Effect of CO2 increase on ecological parameters of plant ecosystems of Central and South America countries

The carbon sink capacity of the forest makes forest conservation a mitigation mechanism against climate change. Therefore, carbon sequestration studies allow to assess forest productivity and control carbon budgets. Thus, the changes in environmental parameters (carbon amount in humus and phytomass) as effect of the increase of CO2 emissions, deforestation and erosion were calculated for countries of the Central and South between 2000 and 2060 through the Spatial Mathematical Model of the Global Carbon Dioxide Cycle in the biosphere. The majority of countries show a decrease in total carbo of humus and phytomass between 2000 and 2010, which is attributed to the extreme deforestation that they suffered. Subsequently, there is a moderate increase in countries that has better polices in favour of environmental protection. Finally, in all countries an exponential increase until 2060 is observed, which is expected thanks to forest conservation, reforestation policies and the compensatory effect between the atmosphere and forests. The highest values of total carbon belong to one country in the Caribbean (Belize with 21,5%). This analysis is useful for planning environmental practices in order to increase carbon storage. © The Authors, published by EDP Sciences, 2019.