Assessment of carbon store by spruce plantations in forest ecosystems of Kyrgyzstan

Abstract

High-altitude spruce forests of Kyrgyzstan are the main part of the forest system of Kyrgyz Republic. Due to the high ability of spruce for C (carbon) storage, the forests of Northern Kyrgyzstan (the Issyk-Kul and Naryn regions) accumulate a large amount of C in their bark and wood. The total С stock in the forests of three regions with the largest area covered by the Tien-Shan spruce (Issyk-Kul, Naryn and Chui) is about 1901415 t. Additionally to the C storage the high-altitude spruce forests can fix a large amount of C per year, for example, only in the Issyk-Kul region the forests with the total area of 142360 ha and annual growth rate of 868396 m3 absorb approximately 514872 t C/year. These values indicate that spruce forests in Kyrgyzstan play a major role in C uptake and should be protected and continuously recovered by plantation and introduction. Further analysis of storage ability, emission and fixation of CO2 by the forests ecosystems of Kyrgyzstan should be provided.