Estimation of Carbon Sequestration; Using Allometric Equations; in Azrou Cedar Forests (Cedrus atlantica Manetti) in the Central Middle Atlas of Morocco under Climate Change

Abstract

The topic of carbon sequestration in forest ecosystems has recently taken a lot of attention due to concerns about global climate change. As a spontaneous species of the Central Middle Atlas, the Atlas Cedar was the subject of our study. Thus, a total of 30 sample trees were subjected to the weight measurements for the estimation of biomass and organic carbon stock in a logging lot in the Azrou forest. The amount of sequestered carbon was then extrapolated in all stand forests studied from the developed carbomass models. The results obtained show that the largest allocation of carbon stock (93%) is in the stem, followed by branches (5%) and foliage (2%). The average carbon storage in this cedar forest is 99.42 tC/ha (aboveground and belowground), or 364.58 t/ha of CO2, a value significantly higher than that found in other Moroccan forest ecosystems.