Abstract
Forest contains one of the world’s largest terrestrial C pools and play vital role in combating climate change through carbon sequestration. This study was conducted on Tulu Lafto Forest and woodland complex (here after named as TLF) with the objective of investigating carbon stock density of the different carbon pools and its variation between vegetation units. Data were collected from a total of 75 nested plots. Diameter at breast height and total height were measured for all woody individuals (trees, shrubs and lianas) that attained a DBH of 2.5 cm and above. Woody plants that did not attained a DBH of 2.5 cm and herbaceous plants were destructively harvested from subplots of 1 m2 within the main plot. All dead woods were also measured for their length and diameter and samples were taken to determine its specific wood density and decomposition class. Above and below ground biomass was estimated using allometric equation, while the litter carbon was determined by loss on ignition (LOI) method. Soil samples were also collected in order to determine soil organic carbon. The mean above and below ground C stocks were 218.4 and 43.49 t C ha-1, respectively while, C stocks in soil organic matter, dead wood and litter were 128.95, 6.15 and 2.43 t C ha-1, respectively. The total C stock density of TLF was found to be 399.42 ± 265.15 t C ha-1 of which 54.68 and 32.28% was kept in the aboveground biomass and soil, respectively. Result indicated that there is significant C stock density variation between vegetation units in the study area.
Highlights
Climate change is a widespread and growing concern of the global community
Bulk density of the soil sample was calculated as follows: This study investigated C stock densities of the 5 forest carbon pools, namely above and belowground biomass, dead wood, leaf litter, herbs and grasses (LHGs) and soil organic matter
Results of this study showed the highest dead wood C stock density in Riverine type vegetation unit may be because of: (1) moist microclimate around river valley that protected dead woods from the devastating effect of forest fire; (2) the steep slope around rivers that hindered the surrounding people from collecting dead woods for fuel and other purposes; and (3) increased rate of tree fall on steep slope of riverine areas [10]
Summary
The role of tropical forests in mitigating the impact of climate change through increased CO2 uptake has got global recognition [42]. While plants are absorbing atmospheric CO2 to make their food, enormous amount of carbon is sequestered and stored in forest biomass [44, 55]. This made forests key component in the processes of mitigating the impacts climate change [24, 29, 41]. The forest area designated for C storage purpose in the world is increasing from time to time mainly due to their low cost. Net annual emissions from deforestation is decreasing from annual average of 4.68 Gt CO2 in 1990s to 2.94 Gt CO2 from 2011 to 2015, emissions
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