Study on carbon sequestration potential of sal forest in dry tropics: allometric biomass assessment approach Biswas Saroni*, Banerjee Saon, Biswas Anirban1 Department of Agricultural Meteorology and Physics, Bidhan Chandra Krishi Viswavidyalaya, Kalyani-741 252, India 1Department of Environmental Science, Nabadwip Vidyasagar College, Nabadwip-741 302, India *saroni.bsws@gmail.com
Online published on 9 March, 2021. Abstract Biomass estimation is essential for understanding carbon stock and sequestration potential that eventually helps in forest management. Present study estimated biomass through allometric model for a dry deciduous sal forest of, West Bengal, India based on ground data and reference allometry to reduce uncertainty. DBH and tree height (n=181) was included in allometric models. Allometric equation with only DBH fitted best for Sal trees in the area with lowest root mean square error (1.33), mean absolute error (0.104) and higher adjusted R2 (0.963). Biomass of herbs, litter debris and soil carbon stock was estimated. Tree basal area and tree volume was4.508m2 ha-1 and 20.187m3ha-1 respectively. Above ground biomass, below ground biomass and wood litter biomass contributed 77.50% ( 255.725 t ha), 20.61% ( 68.022 t ha-1) and 1.88% (6.211 t ha-1), respectively within tree biomass (329.958 t ha-1). Herb layer biomass accounted 2.433 t ha-1. Soil carbon stock (424.161 t ha ) was 2.5 times higher than plant stock (166.195 t ha ) contributing 71.85% of the total carbon stock . The forest holds 2.74 Mt carbon (sequestering 10.05 Mt CO2 ) valued 35,620US$. Our study confirms the need of site specific allometric biomass model development for purposeful biomass and carbon estimation while operating non-destructive harvest. Top Keywords Allometry, basal area, tree volume, biomass, carbon sequestration. Top |