Estimation of carbon stocks of Balganga Reserved Forest, Uttarakhand, India

Abstract

Forest carbon (C) stock estimation was carried out for tree species of Balganga Reserved Forest (BRF) in district Tehri Garhwal, Uttarakhand, India. The highest total biomass density (TBD) and total carbon density (TCD) were estimated at site III in the altitudinal range of 1800–2600 m as 108.26 and 53.45 Mg⋅ha−1 followed by site II in the range of 1600–1800 m as 83.92 and 41.96 Mg⋅ha−1, and the least at site I in the altitudinal range of 1000–1400 m as 57.22 and 28.61 Mg⋅ha−1 with an average of 83.13 and 41.56 Mg⋅ha−1, respectively. The study found average TBD and TCD of the BRF are 23% more when compared to forests located in the same ecoregion due to difference in diameter at breast height and height of tree species. It also found that the C stock increases with increasing altitude due to fine root area, fine root length growth, and decreasing temperature. The BRF was found to have 16.65 million tons of forest organic C stocks in the year 2014. Accordingly, the C transported to the reservoir from the catchment undergoes aerobic/anaerobic degradation to release greenhouse gases to atmosphere. The study also reveals that oak, devdar, and fir have greater C sequestration capacity compared to other species found in BRF.