Department of Forestry, School of Earth Sciences and Natural Resource Management, Mizoram University, Aizawl, 796004, India.
Department of Forestry, School of Earth Sciences and Natural Resource Management, Mizoram University, Aizawl, 796004, India.
J Environ Manage. 2022 Jan 15;302(Pt A):113972. doi: 10.1016/j.jenvman.2021.113972. Epub 2021 Oct 23.
Forest's ecosystem is changing at an alarming rate and anthropogenic alteration of forests to other land use is a major driver of carbon (C) emission and biodiversity loss. We estimated ecosystem-level C stock and factors affecting C stock in six major forest types; tropical wet evergreen forest, montane subtropical forest, temperate forest, bamboo forest, quercus forest, and jhum land of the eastern Himalayan region (India). We determined ecosystem structure, biodiversity, and plant and soil C stock by laying random plots in each forest site. The average C stock was estimated in the range of 79.0-373.4 Mg C ha and found significantly different among the forest types. Partitioning ecosystem C stocks in plant (24-55%), soils (43-75%), deadwood (1-4.8%) and litter (0.20-1.25%) components varied largely. Pearson correlation analysis shows a significant positive relation of basal area with species diversity, tree density, and ecosystem C stock. Linear mixed-effect model demonstrates the high influence of species density and soil moisture content on the ecosystem C stock. We recommend the inclusion of forest structural attributes and pedological characteristics while predicting synergies between C stock and future climatic conditions. Additionally, conversion of natural forests to jhum land should be minimized because they stored lesser ecosystem C stocks thus plays a minimum role in C accumulation and cycling. The study provides estimates of C stocks in major forests that can be useful in suggesting a path forward to partially fulfill India's commitments to REDD + policy.
森林生态系统正以惊人的速度发生变化，人为将森林转变为其他土地用途是碳排放和生物多样性丧失的主要驱动因素。我们估计了喜马拉雅山东部地区（印度）六种主要森林类型（热带湿润常绿林、山地亚热带林、温带林、竹林、栎林和轮垦地）的生态系统水平碳储量及其影响因素。我们通过在每个森林地点随机布置样本来确定生态系统结构、生物多样性以及植物和土壤碳储量。平均碳储量估计范围为 79.0-373.4 Mg C ha，在不同森林类型之间存在显著差异。将生态系统碳储量在植物（24-55%）、土壤（43-75%）、枯木（1-4.8%）和凋落物（0.20-1.25%）组分之间进行划分，差异很大。Pearson 相关分析表明，基面积与物种多样性、树木密度和生态系统碳储量呈显著正相关。线性混合效应模型表明，物种密度和土壤水分含量对生态系统碳储量的影响很大。我们建议在预测碳储量与未来气候条件之间的协同作用时，纳入森林结构属性和土壤特性。此外，应尽量减少将天然林转化为轮垦地，因为它们储存的生态系统碳储量较少，因此在碳积累和循环中发挥的作用最小。本研究提供了主要森林碳储量的估计值，这对于为印度履行 REDD+政策的部分承诺提供了一个前进的方向。
