Abstract
Background Above ground biomass (AGB) is a useful measure for assessing changes in forest structure and functional, and play a significant role in studying carbon stocks, the effect of deforestation and carbon sequestration on the global carbon balance. The present study aimed to study the relationship between AGB and community parameters in Sal forests of Eastern India through stratified random sampling by lying 92 belt transects each of 0.5 ha size. Results It recorded a high AGB (410.70 Mg ha-1), and carbon stock (Cp) (193.06 Mg C ha-1), and forest wise AGB ranged from 0.19 to 24.75 Mg ha-1 (mean 4.45 ± 0.45 SE). The spatial pattern of AGB showed that maximum studied forests (65%) had very low AGB (<5.00 Mg ha-1), and only one forests (1%) located in the northwest corner of Ranchi had very high AGB (>20 Mg ha-1). Species wise AGB ranged from 0.001 to 7074.94 Mg ha-1 (mean 106 ± 71 SE) and Shorea robusta with maximum basal area (120.81 m2 ha−1) contributed maximum AGB (64.87% of the total AGB), however, no similar trends have been observed in any other tree species. A significant positive correlation was observed between AGB and Cp (r=1.00, p<0.01), H’ (r= .58, p<0.01), Dmg (r= .31, p<0.01), Dmn (r= .49, p<0.01), ENS (r= .57, p<0.01), E (r= .26, p<0.05), and basal area (r= 0.71, p<0.05). However, a negative correlation of AGB was evident with CD (r= -.57, p<0.01), and density (r= - 0.17). Conclusions The relationships differed greatly among plant diversity attributes, basal area, density, AGB, and Cp within and among various forests and the strongest relationships within each forests were always those having greater richness (Dmg, Dmn), diversity (H, ENS), basal area or evenness (E). Estimation of forest Cp enables us to assess the amount of carbon loss during deforestation or the amount of carbon stored during forest regeneration. The present study will directly help in studying the response of climate change on ecosystem productivity, energy and nutrient flow, and for assessing the patterns of carbon sequestration in Indian forests under global climate change.
Changes in species diversity and above-ground biomass of shrubland over long-term natural restoration process in the Taihang Mountain in North China
