Carbon Sequestration Potentiality of &amp;lt;i&amp;gt;Pinus roxburghii&amp;lt;/i&amp;gt; Forest in Makawanpur District of Nepal

Pramod Ghimire

doi:10.11648/j.jeece.20190401.12

Abstract

Estimation of total carbon stock in any forest is very important as it provides ecological as well as economic benefits through various environmental services. The study was carried out to quantify the vegetation and soil carbon stock of natural Chirpine (Pinus roxburghii) forest of in sub-tropical region of Makawanpur district, Nepal. The inventory of estimating above and below ground biomass of forest was carried out using stratified random sampling method Forest biomass was calculated using standard allometric models. Soil samples were taken from soil profile up to 40 cm depth at the interval of 20 cm. Walkey and Black method (1934) was used for measuring soil organic carbon. Total amount of carbon stock in Pinus roxburghii forest was 213.05 t/ha with above ground carbon stock 140. 56 t/ha, below ground carbon stock 27.14 t/ha and soil organic carbon 45.35 t/ha respectively. Total carbon stock in Pinus roxburghii forest was composed of 66% for above ground, 21% by the soil and 13% by below ground. The study concluded that forest types and soil play an important role on total carbon sequestration. Hence, the goal of reducing carbon sources and increasing the carbon sink can be achieved efficiently by protecting and conserving the carbon pools in existing forests ecosystem.

Highlights

Carbon stock is the quantity of carbon contained in a carbon pool which has the capacity to accumulate or release carbon
The mean diameter, mean height and total number of trees per hectare of the Pinus roxburghii forest stand was found 31.90 cm, 19.20 m and 109 respectively (Table 1). This shows that the number of stem per hectare for Pinus roxburghii forest of mid hills of Nepal is quiet high than 47.19 as reported [22]
Soil organic carbon was found to be decreased with increase in depth and 1.64 times higher in 020 than in 20-40 cm soil depth

Summary

Introduction

Carbon stock is the quantity of carbon contained in a carbon pool which has the capacity to accumulate or release carbon. Forests play a vital role in global carbon cycle as they sequester 20 to 100 times more carbon per unit area than croplands [2]. Carbon storage in the forest ecosystems involves numerous components including biomass carbon and soil carbon. Vegetation and soils play profound role of viable sinks of atmospheric carbon and may significantly contribute mitigation of global climate change [3, 4]. Forests acts as a natural storage for carbon at the global scale, contributing approximately 80% of terrestrial aboveground, and 40% of terrestrial belowground carbon storage [5]. There is a high potential for enhancing the carbon sequestration in the vegetation and soils of the hilly region through improved management of degraded lands [8]

Methods

Results

Conclusion