Variation in carbon stock and soil properties in different Quercus leucotrichophora forests of Garhwal Himalaya

Abstract

Oak (Q. leucotrichophora) are the oldest forest in temperate region of Himalaya and grow in wide altitudinal ranges. Oak provides various ecosystem services and conserved soil and water and sustained the Himalayan agriculture for subsistence including storing and sequestering CO2. The Oak forests fulfill the needs of the Himalayan people and therefore the potential of carbon storage changes accordingly of the forests in different altitudes. Thus; the present study was conducted to investigate the variation in carbon stock and soil properties in five different oak forest sites of Pauri and Tehri districts of Uttarakhand, Himalaya. Three sample plots were laid out randomly on each site (each of a size of 0.1 ha) for the measurements of tree height, diameter and collecting soil samples. The results of the study showed that the maximum volume, biomass and carbon density of trees were recorded in the Bharsar site. The values of biomass, carbon and density parameters were recorded significant (p < 0.05) at different altitudes of study sites. The soil in all the studied sites were rich in nutrients, where, the maximum values of pH (5.6), soil organic carbon (1.95%), reported in Lansdowne, available nitrogen (217.38 kg/ha) in Chandrabadni and available phosphorus (98.04 kg/ha) in Chopariyal area. The results suggested that the forest site of Bharsar has good capacity of storing biomass and carbon stock in trees and Lansdowne site accumulating higher amount of carbon in the soil compared to other sites. However, it is concluded that, for better conditions of these forests for soil and carbon storing potential, forest needs good management practices, especially in community forests areas to avoid illegal felling, impact of fire, overexploitation of fuel and fodder. The good management practices would be helpful in mitigating the impact of climate change and sustainable outcome of the resources for the community benefits.