Quantitative analysis on carbon storage of valuable tree species of KNIPSS campus Sultanpur, Uttar Pradesh Singh Harshita*, Singh Astha Department of Forestry, Wildlife and Environmental Sciences, Guru Ghasidas Vishwavidyalaya, Bilaspur-495009, Chhattisgarh, India *Email: harshita938@gmail.com
Online Published on 16 September, 2023. Abstract On Earth, trees serve as a carbon sink. The only method in nature by which carbon moves through ecosystems is used by plants as CO2 in photosynthesis. Every year, there is a global decline in the number of trees; everyone is aware of the causes contributing to global climate change. By using a non-destructive or allometric technique, we calculated the carbon storage from the height and girth data that were accessible. A study was carried out on the main campus of the Kamla Nehru Institute of Physical and Social Sciences (KNIPSS), which covers approximately 45 acres of land. The data was gathered through an extensive field survey. Study shows two families are dominant on campus that is Caesalpiniaceae and Moraceae. Maximum carbon stock and carbon sequestration were found to be respectively 2065.758 kg/tree and 7581.332 CO2eq/tree in the species named Ficus bengalensis belonging to the Moraceae family. Top Keywords Tree species, Allometric technique, Carbon stock, Carbon Sequestration, Biomass. Top |
Introduction In terms of biodiversity, India is one of the wealthiest nations on earth. The current notion of biodiversity includes genetic variation, species diversity, and ecosystem variety. A total of 1,26,188 plant and animal species are found in India. The origins and diversity of many plant species are said to have originated in India, which has a total area of around 3029 million hectares and is one of the mega biodiversity hotspots among twelve. The forest ecosystem serves as a carbon storage facility in nature. They hold enormous amounts of carbon and control the carbon cycle through the exchange of CO2 from the atmosphere (Pandya, 2013). The forest ecosystem is one of the terrestrial ecosystem’s most significant carbon sinks. Through the process of photosynthesis, it absorbs carbon dioxide and stores it in soils, plant tissues, and forest litter. |
Using the biosphere as a storage space, carbon sequestration removes carbon from the atmosphere (Chavan & Rasal, 2012). Uttar Pradesh is abundantly blessed with natural resources. The state is home to a large variety of plants and animals. Nearly every type of plant can be found in the area’s flora, and it can be estimated that woods cover about 12.8% of the state’s land area. Tropical Moist Deciduous Forests are the most prevalent types of forests in the state. All areas of the plains have tropical dry deciduous forests; however, they are more prevalent in the central, eastern, and western sectors. The southwestern regions of the State are home to the Tropical Thorny Forest. Rhododendrons, silver fir, spruce, deodar, chir, oak, sal, enormous haldu, dhak, teak, mahua, salai, sisso, chironji, and tendu are a few of the more prevalent plants in Uttar Pradesh. |
Increasing needs for fuel-wood and timber, various agro-forestry practices, anthropogenic impact on the ecosystem, and other factors all contribute to the global degradation of forests, species biodiversity, and tree populations. Calculating the quantity of carbon stored in trees on the main campus of KNIPSS in Sultanpur, Uttar Pradesh, and its environs are our main objectives in this investigation. |
Top Materials and Methods Study site At 25°58′ to 26°40′N and 81°33′ to 82°40′E, the main campus of Kamla Nehru Institute of Physical and Social Sciences is about 3 km from Sultanpur city. The Sultanpur district is a part of India’s Indo-Gangetic Plains physiographic region. The Gomti River’s alluvial sediments are spread around the institute’s site. The texture of the soil is sandy loam, which is fertile. With three distinct seasons-cold (November to February), hot (march to mid-June), and wet (mid-June to September)-the climate is tropical monsoonal type (Singh et al., 2017). However, October is only considered to be a transitional month. In Sultanpur, the yearly average temperature is 26.5°C. Around 990 mm of rain precipitation occurs each year. In the KNIPSS campus, a total of six sample sites were chosen based on most of the vegetation there. All the chosen sites and their surrounding vegetation were investigated (Figure 1) i.e., 1) KNIPSS main gate, 2) KNIPSS Field, 3) New Science faculty, 4) NH-96, 5) Art faculty, 6) Science faculty. Field observation The destructive approach and the non-destructive method, both of which have gained the support of numerous researchers, are the two methods used to estimate carbon in different tree species. For the purpose of estimating carbon, we used a non-destructive procedure that spared the tree and didn’t need us to remove the complete bio-volume. The tree’s girth is calculated at 1.32 meters above ground level or the girth at breast height (GBH). According to Bohre et al (2012), tree diameter (D) was calculated as GBH/3.14, which corresponds to the species’ actual marked girth. The height of the tree is measured by using a measuring tape and Abney’s level. Data analysis By merely applying biostatistics-based allometric equations, biomass is estimated in the tree species. By multiplying the bio-volume by the green wood density of different tree species, above-ground biomass (AGB) is calculated. By multiplying the diameter and height of each type of tree by a factor of 3.14, the tree bio-volume (TBV) value is calculated. Bio-volume (TBV) = 3.14*(D)*H Where D=diameter (meter) determined from GBH, and H=height (meter), 3.14= value of pie assuming the tree trunk is cylindrical. The Global Wood Density Database (Zanne et al., 2009) is used to calculate wood density. Above-ground biomass AGB, or above-ground biomass, refers to all living biomass that is located above the soil. It is calculated by multiplying the Volume of the tree by the wood density of a tree (Bhardwaj et al., 2016). Above Ground Biomass (AGB) = Volume(V) * Wood Density (Wd) Where, AGB= Above Ground Biomass in kg, V= Volume of the tree in m3 and Wd= Wood Density of species from global density data (Zanne et al., 2009). Wherever the density value for a tree species is unavailable, the standard average density of 0.6 g/cm3 is used. Below-ground biomass The root: shoot ratio has been used to multiply the above-ground biomass (AGB) by 0.26 to compute the below-ground biomass (Hangarge et al., 2012). BGB= AGB*0.26 Total biomass Total Biomass is the sum of the AGB and BGB (Sheikh et al., 2011). TB= AGB+BGB Where, TB= Total Biomass, AGB= Above Ground Biomass, BGB= Below Ground Biomass Carbon stock In general, any plant species’ biomass is thought to contain 50% carbon (Pearson et al., 2005). In order to measure the weight of carbon in the tree, the biomass of the tree was multiplied by 50% (Birdsey, 1992). Carbon Stock (kg/tree) = Biomass × 50% Carbon sequestration Carbon sequestration refers to the storage of carbon that has the immediate potential to become carbon dioxide gas (Hangarge et al., 2012). Carbon Sequestration = Carbon Stock* 3.67 Top Results and Discussion The tree species of KNIPSS on the main campus of Sultanpur, along with their Hindi name, common name, and botanical name, along with their families (Table 1). A total of 31 tree species were recorded from the Kamla Nehru Institute of Physical & Social Sciences main campus from 18 families with different heights and girth sizes. |
The maximum number of tree species in the sample site area is represented by the family Caesalpiniaceae (05 species) followed by the family Moraceae (04 species). Therefore, the study indicates that Caesalpiniaceae, Moraceae, and Arecaceae are the dominant families of the tree species of the KNIPSS main campus. These three families together constitute more than one-third of the tree species of KNIPSS main campus. |
Furthermore, the Angiosperms group of plants has 24 species. Monocotyledons have 4 woody tree species, followed by Gymnosperms having 3 species in the Kamla Nehru Institute of Physical & Social Sciences main campus. Thus it shows Angiosperms woody plants dominate over the other tree species plants in the KNIPSS main campus (Figure 2). |
The analysis of 31 woody tree species shows Ficus bengalensis recorded a twenty-one-meter height, which is the highest among all, followed by its diameter at breast height 5.2 meters. Cycus revolute has the smallest height and diameter at breast height, 3 meter and 0.20 respectively among the all. The analysis of habits of the woody plants of the institute campus reveals that there are total of 31 tree species in the Kamla Nehru Institute of Physical & Social Sciences, Sultanpur, Uttar Pradesh main campus. The present study has main objective is to find the campus tree’s carbon stock and sequestration to find out the species with the greater potential. On calculating the carbon stock and carbon sequestrating potential founds to the maximum in two tree species belonging to the same family Moraceae that is Ficus bengalensis and Ficus religiosa and their carbon stock is found to be is 2065.758 kg/tree and 1509.782 kg/tree, and carbon sequestration potential is 7581.332 tonnes CO2eq/tree and 5540.898 tonnes CO2eq/tree respectively. Cycas revoluta records lowest carbon stock, 11.35 kg/tree, and carbon sequestration, 41.65 CO2eq/tree, respectively (Figure 3). However, it is crucial to increase biodiversity by planting suitable native species in the study area for in situ conservation as well as an efficient way to preserve the species through ex-situ methods, such as by introducing botanical gardens and perhaps collecting seed banks for preservation in suitable repositories (Singh et al., 2022). To improve our understanding of the current state of overall floral diversity, it is also crucial to compile an exhaustive checklist of the campus’s overall floristic biodiversity. |
Top Figures | Figure 1: Satellite image from google earth of study site KNIPSS main campus.
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| | Figure 2:: Percentage of tree species from different groups in KNIPSS Campus.
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| | Figure 3:: Carbon Stock and carbon-sequestration potential of different tree species in KNIPSS campus.
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Tables | Table 1:: Species found in Main Campus of KNIPSS, Sultanpur, Uttar Pradesh
| | S.No. | Hindi Name | Common Name | Botanical Name | Family | DBH (m) | Height (m) | | 1 | Saptaparni | Scholar tree | Alstonia scholaris | Apocynaceae | 0.85 | 7.1 | | 2 | Chandani | Jasmine | Tabernaemontanadi vericata | Apocynaceae | 0.60 | 5.5 | | 3 | Aam | Mango | Mangifera indica | Anacardiaceae | 1.10 | 10.0 | | 4 | Semal | Silk cotton tree | Bombax ceiba | Bombacaceae | 1.30 | 14.5 | | 5 | Amaltas | Indian laburnum | Cassia fistula | Caesalpiniaceae | 0.76 | 10.1 | | 6 | Imli | Tamarind | Tamarindus indica | Caesalpiniaceae | 0.87 | 15.3 | | 7 | Kachnar | Orchid tree | Bauhinia variegate | Caesalpiniaceae | 0.62 | 7.3 | | 8 | Gulmohar | Flame tree | Delonix regia | Caesalpiniaceae | 1.60 | 17.6 | | 9 | Seemia | Spectacular Cassia | Senna spectabilis | Caesalpiniaceae | 0.56 | 10.25 | | 10 | Papita | Papaya | Carica papaya | Caricaceae | 0.45 | 4.7 | | 11 | Sheesham | IndianRosewood | Delbergia sisso | Febaceae | 1.74 | 16.8 | | 12 | Dhak | Sacred tree | Butea monosperma | Febaceae | 1.04 | 15.0 | | 13 | Sagwan | Teak | Tectona grandis | Lamiaceae | 0.94 | 17.5 | | 14 | Neem | Indian Lilac | Azardirachta indica | Meliaceae | 1.62 | 17.0 | | 15 | Saras (Sheersa) | Siris tree | Albizia lebbeck | Mimosaceae | 0.95 | 17.9 | | 16 | Babool | Indian gum Arabic tree | Acacia nilotica | Mimosaceae | 1.30 | 12.5 | | 17 | Anjeer | Fig | Ficus carica | Moraceae | 0.76 | 13.6 | | 18 | Gular | Cluster fig | Ficus racemosa | Moraceae | 0.90 | 19.0 | | 19 | Peeple | Sacred Fig | Ficus religiosa | Moraceae | 3.47 | 23.0 | | 20 | Bargad | Banyan | Ficus bengalensis | Moraceae | 5.20 | 21.0 | | 21 | Sehjana | Drumstick tree | Moringa oleifera | Moringaceae | 1.25 | 14.5 | | 22 | Kadamb | Kadam | Neolamarckia cadamba | Rubiaceae | 0.92 | 16.0 | | 23 | Mahua | Mahua tree | Madhuca indica | Sapotaceae | 1.85 | 20.5 | | 24 | Chilbil | Jungle cork Tree | Holoptelea integrifolia | Ulmaceae | 1.46 | 18.5 | | 25 | Bismarkia Palm | Bismarck Palm | Bismarckia nobilis | Arecaceae | 0.45 | 12.0 | | 26 | Pygmy Date Palm | Pygmy Date Palm | Phoenix roebelenii | Arecaceae | 0.40 | 7.0 | | 27 | Taad | Royal palm | Roystonea regia | Arecaceae | 1.20 | 21.5 | | 28 | Kewda | Screw pine | Pandanus odorifer | Pandanaceae | 0.60 | 10.0 | | 29 | Christmas tree | Monkey Puzzles | Araucaria columnaris | Araucariaceae | 1.35 | 18.5 | | 30 | Japanese sagopalm | Sago Palm | Cycus revoluta | Cycadaceae | 0.20 | 3.0 | | 31 | Vidya | Cypress | Cupressus torulosa | Cupressaceae | 0.72 | 15.0 |
| | | Table 2:: List of tree species with above ground biomass, below ground biomass, total biomass with carbon stock and carbonsequestration potential.
| | S.No. | Botanical Name | AGB | BGB | TB | CSkg/tree | C.Sq. kg/tree | | 1 | Alstonia scholaris | 181.2147 | 47.11583 | 228.3306 | 114.1653 | 418.9866 | | 2 | Tabernaemontanadi vericata | 99.09008 | 25.76342 | 124.8535 | 62.42675 | 229.1062 | | 3 | Mangifera indica | 330.3003 | 85.87807 | 416.1783 | 208.0892 | 763.6873 | | 4 | Bombax ceiba | 566.0146 | 147.1638 | 713.1783 | 356.5892 | 1308.682 | | 5 | Cassia fistula | 230.4895 | 59.92728 | 290.4168 | 145.2084 | 532.9149 | | 6 | Tamarindus indica | 399.6934 | 103.9203 | 503.6136 | 251.8068 | 924.131 | | 7 | Bauhinia variegate | 135.9035 | 35.33492 | 171.2385 | 85.61924 | 314.2226 | | 8 | Delonix regia | 845.5687 | 219.8479 | 1065.417 | 532.7083 | 1955.039 | | 9 | Senna spectabilis | 172.3567 | 44.81274 | 217.1694 | 108.5847 | 398.5059 | | 10 | Carica papaya | 63.50773 | 16.51201 | 80.01975 | 40.00987 | 146.8362 | | 11 | Delbergia sisso | 877.758 | 228.2171 | 1105.975 | 552.9875 | 2029.464 | | 12 | Butea monosperma | 468.4258 | 121.7907 | 590.2166 | 295.1083 | 1083.047 | | 13 | Tectona grandis | 493.949 | 128.4268 | 622.3758 | 311.1879 | 1142.06 | | 14 | Azardirachta indica | 826.9518 | 215.0075 | 1041.959 | 520.9796 | 1911.995 | | 15 | Albizia lebbeck | 510.6142 | 132.7597 | 643.3739 | 321.6869 | 1180.591 | | 16 | Acacia nilotica | 487.9436 | 126.8653 | 614.8089 | 307.4045 | 1128.174 | | 17 | Ficus carica | 310.3621 | 80.69416 | 391.0563 | 195.5282 | 717.5883 | | 18 | Ficus racemosa | 513.4668 | 133.5014 | 646.9682 | 323.4841 | 1187.187 | | 19 | Ficus religiosa | 2396.479 | 623.0844 | 3019.563 | 1509.782 | 5540.898 | | 20 | Ficus bengalensis | 3278.981 | 852.535 | 4131.516 | 2065.758 | 7581.332 | | 21 | Moringa oleifera | 544.2448 | 141.5036 | 685.7484 | 342.8742 | 1258.348 | | 22 | Neolamarckia cadamba | 442.0018 | 114.9205 | 556.9223 | 278.4611 | 1021.952 | | 23 | Madhuca indica | 1138.785 | 296.0842 | 1434.869 | 717.4347 | 2632.985 | | 24 | Holoptelea integrifolia | 811.0373 | 210.8697 | 1021.907 | 510.9535 | 1875.199 | | 25 | Bismarckia nobilis | 162.1474 | 42.15833 | 204.3057 | 102.1529 | 374.901 | | 26 | Phoenix roebelenii | 84.07643 | 21.85987 | 105.9363 | 52.96815 | 194.3931 | | 27 | Roystonea regia | 774.7043 | 201.4231 | 976.1274 | 488.0637 | 1791.194 | | 28 | Pandanus odorifer | 180.1638 | 46.84258 | 227.0064 | 113.5032 | 416.5567 | | 29 | Araucaria Columnaris | 749.9318 | 194.9823 | 944.914 | 472.457 | 1733.917 | | 30 | Cycas revoluta | 18.01638 | 4.684258 | 22.70064 | 11.35032 | 41.65567 | | 31 | Cupressus torulosa | 324.2948 | 84.31665 | 408.6115 | 204.3057 | 749.802 |
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