Biodiversity and Carbon Sequestration in Chakra-Type Agroforestry Systems and Humid Tropical Forests of the Ecuadorian Amazon
Round 1
Reviewer 1 Report
Comments and Suggestions for Authors
The manuscript analyzes parameters of biodiversity and carbon sequestration in agroforestry systems typical of the western Amazon. The study is based on experimental material containing data from field surveys. The study addresses a current topic related to the analysis of carbon sequestration by ecosystems. At the same time, a number of corrections must be made to the manuscript.
1) Section “Introduction”. At the end of the section, it is necessary to more specifically explain the objectives of the study. It is necessary to list the parameters of agroforestry systems that were analyzed.
2) Lines 98-99, Figure 1. Along the frame of Figure 1 (left side of the figure), you need to indicate decimal degrees.
3) Section “2.2. Field sampling” – you need to indicate the total number of sampling sites and the number of sampling sites on the analyzed land use types.
4) line 213. It is necessary to provide a decoding of the designations presented in Figure 3: CMC, FAFS, TAFS.
5) Section “Conclusions”. It is necessary to more specifically demonstrate the novelty of the results obtained.
Comments on the Quality of English Language
The manuscript must be checked for orthographic inaccuracies and close repetitions of the same words.
Author Response
Please see the attachment.
Author Response File: 
Author Response.pdf
Reviewer 2 Report
Comments and Suggestions for Authors
The project aims to analyze the biodiversity and carbon sequestration in chakra-type agroforestry systems and humid tropical forests of the Ecuadorian Amazon. This study presents the primary findings pertaining to carbon sequestration across various land uses.
The research emphasized the need of conserving and safeguarding primary and secondary forests as a response strategy to address the challenges posed by global climate change.
The study primarily focused on examining the effects of land use change on carbon sequestration and species diversity within various land uses in the Amazon region of Ecuador.
Primary limitations
The researchers reveal noteworthy findings in their study, so making a substantial contribution to the body of scientific knowledge. Nevertheless, the The age of the agroecosystems under investigation has not been considered. is a direct determinant of carbon accumulation. Elucidate the rationale behind the age.
Minor concerns
Enhance the overall revision of the document by addressing several instances of unfinished sentences, insufficient punctuation, and inadequate paragraphs structure. It is imperative to conduct a comprehensive revision of the wording.
The adverb "on the other had" appears 7 times in the work. To enhance For its agreeability to readers, it is recommended to use alternative phrases such as conversely, on the contrary, then again, or otherwise, all the same, but for all that, in other ways, inversely, nonetheless, nevertheless, still, still, however.
Utilize the term "tropical forest house" appropriately.
Abstract
The research aims to address the studied problem at hand.
Materials and Methods
Lines 91 to 97. Revise The paragraph contains inaccurate terminology, such as the absence of an average range between 3800 and 4500 mm, and the mismatch between the phrases "surface" and "landscape," among others.
In line 108, the scientific nomenclature for all tree species is provided.
Use uppercase letters correctly in line 132.
Line 139. Provide a comprehensive description of the nomenclature used in the equations.
Lines 192 to 199. The redaction of this paragraph should be enhanced.
Results
Lines 215 to 223. Commencing a paragraph by referencing a table or figure is not considered an optimal editorial approach.
Lines 275 to 276. In order to enhance the paragraph, it is necessary to move certain information into a tabular format.
Line 296. Explain the significance of the colors depicted in the illustration.
Discussion
It is important to mention in this part that the writers provide valuable contributions to the analysis of the findings. The authors ought to endeavor to conclude each paragraph by integrating all the concepts and juxtaposing them with the outcomes of this investigation. Consequently, it is imperative that Each paragraph endeavors to elucidate the implications of the findings.
Please substitute the adverb "on the other hand" in lines 325, 342, 376, 388, 412, and 431. In order to mitigate the excessive utilization of conjunctive adverbs, which serve as connectors between two notions. Effective A conversation should employ potent verbs instead of redundant adverbs. Frequently, adverbs possess identical meanings to the verb, resulting in redundancy, resulting in disorganized language.
Conclusions
The project aims to analyze the biodiversity and carbon sequestration in chakra-type agroforestry systems and humid tropical forests of the Ecuadorian Amazon. This study presents the primary findings pertaining to carbon sequestration across various land uses.
The research emphasized the need of conserving and safeguarding primary and secondary forests as a response strategy to address the challenges posed by global climate change.
The study primarily focused on examining the effects of land use change on carbon sequestration and species diversity within various land uses in the Amazon region of Ecuador.
Primary limitations
The researchers reveal noteworthy findings in their study, so making a substantial contribution to the body of scientific knowledge. Nevertheless, the The age of the agroecosystems under investigation has not been considered. is a direct determinant of carbon accumulation. Elucidate the rationale behind the age.
Minor concerns
Enhance the overall revision of the document by addressing several instances of unfinished sentences, insufficient punctuation, and inadequate paragraphs structure. It is imperative to conduct a comprehensive revision of the wording.
The adverb "on the other had" appears 7 times in the work. To enhance For its agreeability to readers, it is recommended to use alternative phrases such as conversely, on the contrary, then again, or otherwise, all the same, but for all that, in other ways, inversely, nonetheless, nevertheless, still, still, however.
Utilize the term "tropical forest house" appropriately.
Abstract
The research aims to address the studied problem at hand.
Materials and Methods
Lines 91 to 97. Revise The paragraph contains inaccurate terminology, such as the absence of an average range between 3800 and 4500 mm, and the mismatch between the phrases "surface" and "landscape," among others.
In line 108, the scientific nomenclature for all tree species is provided.
Use uppercase letters correctly in line 132.
Line 139. Provide a comprehensive description of the nomenclature used in the equations.
Lines 192 to 199. The redaction of this paragraph should be enhanced.
Results
Lines 215 to 223. Commencing a paragraph by referencing a table or figure is not considered an optimal editorial approach.
Lines 275 to 276. In order to enhance the paragraph, it is necessary to move certain information into a tabular format.
Line 296. Explain the significance of the colors depicted in the illustration.
Discussion
It is important to mention in this part that the writers provide valuable contributions to the analysis of the findings. The authors ought to endeavor to conclude each paragraph by integrating all the concepts and juxtaposing them with the outcomes of this investigation. Consequently, it is imperative that Each paragraph endeavors to elucidate the implications of the findings.
Please substitute the adverb "on the other hand" in lines 325, 342, 376, 388, 412, and 431. In order to mitigate the excessive utilization of conjunctive adverbs, which serve as connectors between two notions. Effective A conversation should employ potent verbs instead of redundant adverbs. Frequently, adverbs possess identical meanings to the verb, resulting in redundancy, resulting in disorganized language.
Conclusions
The statistical results should be interpreted in relation to the defined hypothesis and objectives.
Author Response
Please see the attachment.
Author Response File: Author Response.pdf
Reviewer 3 Report
Comments and Suggestions for Authors
Review of the article “Biodiversity and carbon sequestration in chakra-type agroforestry systems and humid tropical forests of the Ecuadorian Amazon”
The article is devoted to current topics - biodiversity conservation and carbon sequestration in chakra-type agroforestry systems and tropical rainforests of the Ecuadorian Amazon.
You need to add a research goal and tasks to implement this goal.
Add links to formulas No. 9-14 to the text.
Fig.4 part of the picture is not visible.
Author Response
Please see the attachment.
Author Response File: Author Response.pdf
Reviewer 4 Report
Comments and Suggestions for Authors
The article “Biodiversity and carbon sequestration in chakra-type agroforestry systems and humid tropical forests of the Ecuadorian Amazon” contributes to increase our knowledge about the carbon sequestration along the different type of ecosystems presented in the Earth. Moreover, this paper helps to assess the importance of the agroforestry systems.
The abstract gives the necessary information to understand the work done.
In the introduction, which is appropriate to present the objectives, I miss some mention about the meaning of carbon sequestration. In fact, carbon sequestration is a physiological process carried out by living organisms. In this sense, it is important to consider that soil carbon sequestration is a process in which CO2 is removed from the atmosphere and stored in the soil carbon pool, but mediated by living organisms, mainly the plants. The soils, do not sequester carbon, the primary process is done by living organisms. That is why I agree with authors when talking about Total Stored Carbon, which it is not equal to Carbon Sequestration.
In general, the section materials and methods describe properly the experimental design and the methodology. However, some doubts remain. For instance, to measure the apparent density (bulk density), the method of the cylinder was used, with cylinders of 5*5 cm in the center of each subplot. However, it is not clear if this density was measured on the top of the soil or from 0 to 30 cm, or in the middle of the two depths (0-10 and 10-30 cm), because this density changes with depth (page 5).
Try to arrange the equations, mainly in page 6.
Please provide the citation into brackets [] for this measure “The Mg C ha−1 of AGB and AGBCo are obtained multiplied by 0.5, which is the carbon 163 fraction (CF) proposed as a measure by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change 164 (IPCC).” Is it [24]?
I find of interest the results obtained, However, section 3.5 maybe entitled Total Stored Carbon, rather than Carbon Sequestration. In fat, soils do not “sequester” carbon but store. That is why I disagree with the “sequestration of carbon in litter and soil” of line 271. It is not an appropriate use of scientific language, although it is unfortunately widespread, an example https://doi.org/10.3389/fclim.2019.00008. We should be serious and rigorous.
Discussion and conclusions remark the importance of agroforestry systems, demonstrated by this work regarding the soil carbon storage and carbon sequestration by plants. Moreover, the authors extend the applicability of these results to other countries with tropical forests.
Although I am not a native speaker, English grammar may be reviewed.
Here are some minor recommendations and please, check some possible mistakes.
For instance in line 63 “improvement, in association with crops and forest species (timber or fruit trees).[9,18],” (check the full stop).
Another example, line 69, check the grammar of this sentence: “The main store of tree biomass and soil [18].” (absence of a verb?).
Line 88: “characterize the bio-diver-“
Line 116: “(Fig-ure 2)” maybe (Fi-gure 2).
Line 155: position of equation (10).
Line 159: “Rukullacta. [51].”
Line 160: bold letter is not necessary.
Line 195: “Shapi-ro-Wilks” maybe Shapiro-Wilk
Others will be reviewed in the editing process (line 159…).
Author Response
Please see the attachment.
Author Response File: Author Response.pdf
Round 2
Reviewer 2 Report
Comments and Suggestions for Authors
Congratulations! The manuscript has been substantially improved.
