timate carbon accumulation rates (De Jong et al., 2010).
In this paper we presentthe results of a study that collected data
on C pools in a Mexican tropical secondary forest chronosequence.
We used data collected in 87 plots spread to quantify the carbon
stocks and rates of accumulation in living and dead biomass and
soil pools, and to evaluate the influence of factors such as age, site
quality and land-use intensity (prior land-use history) on the size
of the stocks and accumulation rates. We examined the combined
influence of these factors on the magnitude and rate of change of
the C pools (vegetation, dead wood, litter, soil)in a secondary forest
chronosequence. Finally we propose a nested approach in which
detailed studies, such as presented in this paper, can be up-scaled
to landscape and regional estimates of carbon pools in forest fallow
and undisturbed forests and carbon accumulation rates in forest
fallow