Abstract
Carbon stocks and soil CO 2 flux were assessed in an Imperata cylindrica grassland of Manipur, Northeast India. Carbon stocks in the vegetative components were estimated to be 11.17 t C/ha and soil organic carbon stocks were 55.94 t C/ha to a depth of 30 cm. The rates of carbon accumulation in above-ground and below-ground biomass were estimated to be 11.85 t C/ha/yr and 11.71 t C/ha/yr, respectively. Annual soil CO 2 flux was evaluated as 6.95 t C/ha and was highly influenced by soil moisture, soil temperature and soil organic carbon as well as by C stocks in above-ground biomass. Our study on the carbon budget of the grassland ecosystem revealed that annually 23.56 t C/ha was captured by the vegetation through photosynthesis, and 6.95 t C/ha was returned to the atmosphere through roots and microbial respiration, with a net balance of 16.61 t C/ha/yr being retained in the grassland ecosystem. Thus the present Imperata grassland exhibited a high capacity to remove atmospheric CO 2 and to induce high C stocks in the soil provided it is protected from burning and overgrazing. Keywords: Above-ground biomass, below-ground biomass, carbon stocks, carbon storage, net primary productivity, soil CO 2 flux. DOI: 10.17138/TGFT(4)19-28
Highlights
The world’s grasslands are important terrestrial biomes, occupying an area of about 33 x 106 km2, and play an important role in global carbon balance because of their large area and significant sink or source capacities (Nagy et al 2007)
This study has provided valuable information on the carbon dynamics of an Imperata grassland in India
It has shown the ability of these grasslands to extract CO2 from the atmosphere and incorporate it in vegetative material, which has the potential to be stored as soil carbon, depending on management factors
Summary
The world’s grasslands are important terrestrial biomes, occupying an area of about 33 x 106 km, and play an important role in global carbon balance because of their large area and significant sink or source capacities (Nagy et al 2007). In India, grasslands have originated from forest ecosystems as a result of deforestation and abandoned agricultural systems and are maintained at various succession levels by grazing, burning and harvesting. In Northeast India, a few studies have been carried out on the biomass and productivity of grasslands (Yadava and Kakati 1984; Pandey 1988; Ramakrishnan and Ram 1988) but no information is available on carbon storage in the grasslands of the area
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