Abstract
This study aimed at estimating temporal (1989–2018) change in forest cover, carbon stock and trend in corresponding CO2 emissions/sequestration of a sub-tropical pine forest (STPF) in AJK, Pakistan. Our field inventory estimation shows an average above ground biomass (AAGB) accumulation of 0.145 Kt/ha with average carbon stock (ACS) value of 0.072 Kt/ha. Landsat TM, ETM+ and OLI images of 1989, 1993, 1999, 2005, 2010, 2015 and 2018 were used to extract vegetation fractions through Linear Spectral Mixture Analysis (LSMA) and forest area was calculated for respective years. Based on the forest area and estimated ACS value, the biomass carbon stock with corresponding CO2 emissions/sequestration was worked out for each time and change in forest carbon stock was determined for different time periods from 1989 to 2018. Our analysis shows net increase of 561 ha in forest cover and 40.39 Kt of ACS along with increase in corresponding CO2 sequestrations of 147.83 Kt over the study period. The results based on combination of remote sensing and field inventory provide valuable information and scientific basis to plan and ensure sustainable forest management (SFM) through reforestation, protection and conservation to enhance and maintain adequate forest cover and reduce CO2 emissions.
Highlights
The global terrestrial ecosystem encompass forests as major component which cover around 31% of earth’s land surface and the area under forest cover is considered as an important indicator of environmental condition [1]
The periodic analysis revealed (Table 3) that major reduction in forest area (1178 ha) occurred during 1989–1999 imposing a negative change in forest cover from 41.82% to 39.32% followed by 949 ha during 1993–1999 with a decrease in forest cover from 39.32% to 37.31%
For first two periods decrease in forest area resulted into decline in forest carbon stock by 84.81 Kt and 68.32 Kt with corresponding CO2 emissions by 310.40 Kt and 250.05 Kt, respectively (Table 3)
Summary
The global terrestrial ecosystem encompass forests as major component which cover around 31% of earth’s land surface and the area under forest cover is considered as an important indicator of environmental condition [1]. Landsat and inventory based carbon stock change assessment in Sub-tropical pine forest of AJK, Pakistan. Sustainable forest management (SFM) greatly relies on the important components like assessments of forest cover, forest carbon stocks and carbon emissions from deforestation and degradation [9]. Forest resource estimation and its intervallic change assessment are important dynamics which drive forest inventories aimed at SFM. The scientific quantification of forest cover and temporal changes provide valuable information to expose deforestation or appreciate successful reforestation programmes at particular sites and allows for appropriate land use planning along with carbon accounting and monitoring of conservation efforts [10, 11].
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