Solomon Negasi, Birhane Emiru, Teklay Mulley, Negussie Aklilu, Gidey Tesfay
Tigray Institute of Policy Studies, P.O. BOX 902, Mekelle, Tigray, Ethiopia.
Department of land resources management and environmental protection, Mekelle University, Mekelle, Tigray, Ethiopia.
Carbon Balance Manag. 2024 Sep 9;19(1):30. doi: 10.1186/s13021-024-00277-x.
Dry Afromontane forests play a vital role in mitigating climate change by sequestering and storing carbon, as well as reducing greenhouse gas emissions. Despite previous research highlighting the importance of carbon stocks in these ecosystems, the influence of canopy cover and environmental factors on carbon storage in dry Afromontane forests has been barely assessed. This study addresses this knowledge gap by investigating the effects of environmental factors and vegetation cover on carbon stocks in Desa'a forest, a unique and threatened Afromontane dry forest ecosystem in northern Ethiopia. Data on woody vegetation, dead litter, grass biomass, and soil samples were collected from 57 plots. A one-way analysis of variance (ANOVA) was performed at a 95% confidence level (α = 0.05) to examine the influence of canopy cover and environmental factors on the carbon stocks of various pools.
Among the 35 woody species identified, Juniperus procera was the most dominant, while Carissa edulis Vahl and Eucalyptus globulus were the least dominant. The average total carbon stock was 92.89 Mg ha, with contributions from aboveground carbon, below-ground carbon, litter carbon, grass carbon, and soil organic carbon. Among the carbon pools, soil organic carbon had the highest carbon stock, accounting for 76.8% of the total, followed by above-ground biomass carbon at 17.7%. Significant variations in carbon stocks were found across altitude class and canopy level but not slope and aspect factors.
In summary, altitude and canopy level were found to significantly influence carbon stocks in Desa'a forest, providing valuable insights for conservation and climate change mitigation efforts in dry Afromontane forests. Forest intervention planning and management strategies should consider the influence of different environmental variables and tree canopy levels.
干燥的阿夫罗山地森林在通过固存和储存碳以及减少温室气体排放来缓解气候变化方面发挥着至关重要的作用。尽管先前的研究强调了这些生态系统中碳储量的重要性，但几乎没有评估树冠覆盖和环境因素对干燥阿夫罗山地森林碳储存的影响。本研究通过调查环境因素和植被覆盖对德萨阿森林碳储量的影响，填补了这一知识空白，德萨阿森林是埃塞俄比亚北部一个独特且受到威胁的阿夫罗山地干燥森林生态系统。从57个样地收集了木本植被、枯枝落叶、草本生物量和土壤样本的数据。在95%置信水平（α = 0.05）下进行单因素方差分析（ANOVA），以检验树冠覆盖和环境因素对不同碳库碳储量的影响。
在鉴定出的35种木本物种中，刺柏最为优势，而卡氏假虎刺和蓝桉最不占优势。平均总碳储量为92.89 Mg/ha，来自地上碳、地下碳、凋落物碳、草本碳和土壤有机碳。在碳库中，土壤有机碳的碳储量最高，占总量的76.8%，其次是地上生物量碳，占17.7%。在海拔等级和树冠层发现碳储量存在显著差异，但在坡度和坡向因素上未发现差异。
总之，发现海拔和树冠层对德萨阿森林的碳储量有显著影响，为干燥阿夫罗山地森林的保护和缓解气候变化努力提供了有价值的见解。森林干预规划和管理策略应考虑不同环境变量和树冠层的影响。
