CARBON SEQUESTRATION POTENTIAL OF JUNIPER FOREST IN ZIARAT, BALOCHISTAN:ASSESSMENT OF ABOVEGROUND AND BELOWGROUND CARBON STOCKS
Abstract
In juniper forest Ziarat, no detailed inventories have been carried out so far to determine the carbon stock estimation of juniper forest. Therefore, the proposed study was conducted to investigate the status of carbon stock in various pool of juniper forest across different locations in tehsil Ziarat and to develop inventories of plant species influencing the extent of carbon stock. Five different locations such as Lori top (location 1), jangla (location 2), Kotal Tanra (location 3), Prospect point (location 4) and Sundamen Tangi (location 5) were selected across tehsil Ziarat. In this way, above ground and below ground biomass of herb, shrubs and trees as well as in forest litters and soil organic carbon were determined using standard procedureThe data based on the average of 10 quadrates revealed higher stocking rate of 450 trees ha-1 and stand basal area of 63.72 m2 ha-1 in location 3 and lower values of 290 trees ha-1 and 11.02 m2 ha-1 were recorded in location 1. As regard to total carbon stock (TCS) in various components of juniper forest Ziarat, higher carbon stock in soil and forest litters of 9.93 and 6.96 t ha-1 was observed in location 4. But lower carbon stock in litters was 2.22 t ha-1 which present in Sundamen Tangi area. The TCS across five locations revealed 247.83,518.43, 1040.47, 345.58, 392.58 t ha-1 in Lori Top, Jangla, Kotal Tanra, Prospect Point and Sundamen Tangi respectively. From this study it was inferred that total carbon stock (TCS) per unit area of juniper forest fluctuated across different locations. TCS in various components for forest such as above and below ground biomass carbon stock (AGBCS & BGBCS) in herbs, shrubs and junipers trees, forest litters and soil organic matter also found different. Higher TCS in juniper trees was existed in Kotal Tanra area, TCS in herbs was found in Sundamen Tangi, TCS in shrubs was greater in Prospect point while TCS in tillers and soil was more in Prospect point area. Such fluctuation in TCS was due to anthropogenic activities and areas with less population pressure manifested higher plant biodiversity with higher carbon storage. So, it is suggested that protective measures need be adopted to preserve this unique forest and its biodiversity which have now been declared as world forest heritage.
Keywords
- Juniper forest, Carbon stock, Biomass, Ziarat, Kotal Tanra and Carbon sequestration
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