Aboveground biomass and carbon stock assessment in Indian tropical deciduous forest and relationship with stand structural attributes

Abstract

Indian tropical deciduous forest due to higher species richness, irregular stem densities and stem cover, multistoried canopy and microclimate, offers dynamism to the understanding of the spatial patters in aboveground biomass (AGB) and carbon (AGBC) within different plant functional types (PFTs). Field-based AGB and AGBC estimates are vital for carbon cycle study and provide inputs for data-deficit regional and global carbon and climate models.In this paper we generated the primary baseline data on tree composition, species richness (SR), AGB and AGBC gathered from nine 10,000m2 long-term ecological research (LTER) plots in three distinct PFTs {dry mixed (DM), sal mixed (SM) and teak plantation (TP)} within an Indian tropical deciduous forest along Himalayan foothills during 2009–2012. The functional relationship of PFT structural attributes i.e. SR, density, basal cover, leaf area index and litter fall on AGB was investigated. PCA was applied to study the relationship between PFT microclimate, structural attributes and diversity vs. AGB.A total of 22, 22 and 6 tree species were found in DM, SM and TP PFT, respectively. Shannon's diversity index was highest (2.46) in DM, whereas Simpson's dominance index was maximum (0.85) in TP. AGB (Mgha−1) ranged from 290.82–455.99 among all PFTs. AGBC (Mgha−1) ranged between 207.52–220.34, 215.58–228.87, and 125.94–141.18 in DM, SM and TP respectively. AGB observed strong positive correlation with tree density and cover. PCA revealed humidity and air temperature as the major microclimatic variables, leading to higher AGB.