Forest carbon stocks and fluxes in physiographic zones of India

Mehraj A Sheikh,Munesh Kumar,Rainer W Bussman,NP Todaria

doi:10.1186/1750-0680-6-15

Mehraj A Sheikh, Munesh Kumar + Show 2 more

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https://doi.org/10.1186/1750-0680-6-15

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Abstract

BackgroundReducing carbon Emissions from Deforestation and Degradation (REDD+) is of central importance to combat climate change. Foremost among the challenges is quantifying nation's carbon emissions from deforestation and degradation, which requires information on forest carbon storage. Here we estimated carbon storage in India's forest biomass for the years 2003, 2005 and 2007 and the net flux caused by deforestation and degradation, between two assessment periods i.e., Assessment Period first (ASP I), 2003-2005 and Assessment Period second (ASP II), 2005-2007.ResultsThe total estimated carbon stock in India's forest biomass varied from 3325 to 3161 Mt during the years 2003 to 2007 respectively. There was a net flux of 372 Mt of CO2 in ASP I and 288 Mt of CO2 in ASP II, with an annual emission of 186 and 114 Mt of CO2 respectively. The carbon stock in India's forest biomass decreased continuously from 2003 onwards, despite slight increase in forest cover. The rate of carbon loss from the forest biomass in ASP II has dropped by 38.27% compared to ASP I.ConclusionWith the Copenhagen Accord, India along with other BASIC countries China, Brazil and South Africa is voluntarily going to cut emissions. India will voluntary reduce the emission intensity of its GDP by 20-25% by 2020 in comparison to 2005 level, activities like REDD+ can provide a relatively cost-effective way of offsetting emissions, either by increasing the removals of greenhouse gases from the atmosphere by afforestation programmes, managing forests, or by reducing emissions through deforestation and degradation.

Highlights

Reducing carbon Emissions from Deforestation and Degradation (REDD+) is of central importance to combat climate change
Western Himalaya (WH) This zone consists of Jammu and Kashmir, which covers the cold arid region of Leh (2000 m amsl) to the low altitude sub-tropical region of the southern plains (215-360 m amsl); Himachal Pradesh, which consists of high hills to mid hills and subtropical uplands, Uttarakhand hills, which consist of valleys, mid hills and high hills of the Western Himalayas and some parts of Punjab
The continuous increase in the western Himalayas may be attributed due to dense vegetation, and less disturbance as these forests are located on mountains with low population density, whereas increase in carbon stock in East Deccan may be due to increase in forest cover which has increased from 128,006 km2 in 2003 to 128,757 km2 in 2007

Summary

Introduction

Reducing carbon Emissions from Deforestation and Degradation (REDD+) is of central importance to combat climate change. Foremost among the challenges is quantifying nation’s carbon emissions from deforestation and degradation, which requires information on forest carbon storage. We estimated carbon storage in India’s forest biomass for the years 2003, 2005 and 2007 and the net flux caused by deforestation and degradation, between two assessment periods i.e., Assessment Period first (ASP I), 2003-2005 and Assessment Period second (ASP II), 2005-2007. The average annual rate of CO2 increase was 1.91 parts per million (ppm). This rate of increase was more than double, as compared to the first decade of CO2 measurements at the Mauna Loa Observatory [1].

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