ABSTRACT
This chapter aims to compare different techniques in order to obtain reliable estimates of the carbon stocks in the Brazilian Amazon basin. The regional scale is defined as the Brazilian part of a 6° square, from 60 to 66° West longitude and 8 to 14° South latitude, over the Rondonia state. According to the considerations developed by Jacomine and Camargo, two main soil divisions of the Brazilian soil classification, Latossolos and Podz6licos cover nearly 75% of the total area of the legal Amazon basin. The Brazilian Latossolos correspond to well drained Oxisols in the Soil Taxonomy, and the Food and Agriculture Organization-Unesco soil map legend identifies them as Ferralsols. Soil organic carbon represents a major pool of carbon within the biosphere. A specific soil database was elaborated from physico-chemical results of soil horizons sampled during the end of the 1970s and the beginning of the 1980s, and published as reports.
