Reforestation is being considered as a mitigation option to help combat the climate change predicted to result from atmospheric carbon dioxide pollution. Forestry-based carbon storage projects are being introduced in many tropical countries, and assessment of species-specific carbon storage potentials is made difficult by a lack of species-level information. This study focuses on teak (Tectona grandis), to measure many of the characteristics affecting the carbon storage potential both of the trees themselves and of the plantations they are in. Root-to-shoot ratio, above- and belowground biomass, as well as tissue carbon content were measured in 20-year-old teak trees in Panamanian plantations. A regression relating diameter at breast height (DBH) to total tree carbon storage for trees of various sizes was developed. To scale up to the plantation level, this regression was used to estimate the carbon storage of the trees of four plantations. Litter, undergrowth, and soil were studied to estimate carbon storage in these compartments. These estimates were collated to form a global estimate of carbon storage in Panamanian harvest age teak plantations. Various methods of calculation of carbon storage in short-rotation plantations are discussed. This work will allow greater precision in the assessment of carbon storage in individual plantations.

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