The increase of CO2 concentration in the atmosphere over the last decades and its relation to global warming has been largely documented by scientists. In parallel, deforestation in Brazil accounts for most emissions of greenhouse gases. Attempting to support public, private and social actions as well as to answer the questions concerning the role of mixed reforestation in the absorption of CO2 and changes of soil attributes, this study aimed to assess the carbon stock, forest development and soil changes in two different systems of forest restoration. We evaluated an experiment undertaken in 1997, in a red Alfisol and a red-yellow Ultisol, evaluating three treatments in a randomized block design with three replications in each site: Control (natural regeneration), Low Diversity (direct seeding) and High Diversity (seedlings). Two sites with Native Forest were used as reference for the soil attributes. In the first layer (0-40 cm) the Alfisol has a clay texture with good fertility and Ultisol is sandy with medium fertility. The physical and chemical soil properties showed changes from 1998 to 2010 and differences between the Native Forest and the other treatments were evident. For both experimental areas, the C:N ratio of soils in reforestation models is similar to that in the native forest. The increase in carbon in soil microbial biomass indicates that current conditions may favor the decomposition of soil organic matter. For the soil properties evaluated, the differences between the Native Forest and the other treatments still exist and leading to a gradual return of fertility to the pre-existing condition, influenced by plantations. The forestry development had significant differences among the reforestation models. In the first ten years, besides increasing the processes of natural succession, the lower diversity model provided a better horizontal and vertical structure than the high diversity model, reflected in increased biomass production. The development of trees in the high diversity model was favored in soil of good fertility. In a pooled analysis, the high and medium fertility soil do not differ in terms of tree development, which may be more related to weed competition. After the tenth year, the net primary production has stabilized in the low diversity restoration model on the medium fertility sandy soil, requiring management intervention. The tree biomass in the site of medium fertility with low diversity of native species is presented as a major carbon pool. In clayey soil of good fertility the main carbon pool is underground. Reforestation with low diversity of tree species has a high potential and capacity of carbon stocking in forest ecosystems, higher than that of high diversity reforestation model. Both models and restoration techniques have advantages and disadvantages, which should be considered in the process to mitigate global warming and to restore biodiversity of the Atlantic Forest on a larger scale.
