Biomass Production and Nutritional Characterization of Eucalyptus benthamii in the Pampa Biome, Brazil

The objective of this study was to evaluate the biomass production and to characterize a 7-year-old Eucalyptus benthamii stands in the Pampa-RS Biome. Initially, a sample inventory was performed for the dendrometric characterization of the stand. For the determination of biomass, nine trees were felled and fractionated in wood, bark, branch and leaves. Soil samples and plant tissues were collected and analyzed for nutritional characterization and determination of biological utilization coefficient (BUC). The average annual increment (AAI) with bark was 49.87 m3 ha-1. The biomass production was 192 Mg ha-1, distributed in wood (81.2%)> branches (11%)> bark (6,5%)> leaves (1,3%). The leaves component presented the highest nutrient concentration and the wood the highest amounts of nutrients allocated in the biomass, except for Ca and Mg, observed in the bark. The highest BUC was observed in the wood. Mg was the nutrient that provided the best efficiency with a yield of 6,014 kg of wood per kg of Mg used, followed by S, P, Ca, K and N.