Monitoring vegetation dynamics and carbon stock density in miombo woodlands

SUMMARYMiombo woodlands supply ecosystem services to support livelihoods in southern Africa, however, rapid deforestation has necessitated greater knowledge of tree growth and off-take rates to understand the sustainability of miombo exploitation. We established 48 tree inventory plots within four villages in southern Malawi, interviewed representatives in these same villages about tree management practices and investigated the impact of climate on vegetation dynamics in the region using the ecosystem modelling framework LPJ-GUESS. Combining our data with the forest yield model MYRLIN revealed considerable variation in growth rates across different land uses; forested lands showed the highest growth rates (1639 [95% confidence interval 1594–1684] kg ha–1 year–1), followed by settlement areas (1453 [95% confidence interval 1376–1530] kg ha–1 year–1). Based on the modelled MYRLIN results, we found that 50% of the villages had insufficient growth rates to meet estimated off-take. Furthermore, the results from LPJ-GUESS indicated that sustainable off-take approaches zero in drought years. Local people have recognized the unsustainable use of natural resources and have begun planting activities in order to ensure that ecosystem services derived from miombo woodlands are available for future generations. Future models should incorporate the impacts of human disturbance and climatic variation on vegetation dynamics; such models should be used to support the development and implementation of sustainable forest management.

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Quantification of carbon stock under different land use regimes of Chitwan district, Nepal

Banko Janakari ◽

10.3126/banko.v29i2.28095 ◽

2019 ◽

Vol 29 (2) ◽

pp. 13-19

Author(s):

A. Poudel ◽

H. L. Shrestha ◽

R. M. Bajracharya

Keyword(s):

Land Use ◽

Soil Profile ◽

Carbon Stock ◽

Agricultural Land ◽

Terrestrial Ecosystems ◽

Combustion Method ◽

Community Forest ◽

Soc Density ◽

Carbon Stock Density ◽

Global Carbon

Carbon sequestration in terrestrial ecosystems is gaining a global attention, including Nepal, to address the issues of climate change. Since, the quantification of carbon stock under different land use systems with focus on both biomass and soil profile is lacking, objective of this paper is to quantify carbon stock in biomass and in soil profile under different land use regimes, namely community forest, leasehold forest and agricultural land of Chitwan district. The carbon stock in biomass was calculated using the standard allometric equations, and Dry Combustion Method was used to determine the Soil Organic Carbon (SOC). The carbon content in above ground tree biomass (AGTB) was found to be higher (81.25 t/ha) in community forest than in leasehold forest (80.09 t/ha). The carbon stock in above ground sapling biomass (AGSB) was calculated only for the community forest, and was found to be 3. 67 t/ha. Similarly, the density of leaf litter, herbs and grasses (LHG) was also found to be higher (9. 25 t/ha) in the community forest in comparison to leasehold forest (6.45 t/ha). Further, the root carbon stock density was also higher (16.25 t/ha) in the community forest than in the leasehold forest (16.02 t/ha). However, the SOC density was highest in the agricultural land (73.42t/ha) followed by the community forest (66.38 t/ha)and the leasehold forest (52. 62 t/ha). Overall, the carbon stock was highest in the community forest (176.8 t/ha) then in leasehold forest (155.18 t/ha) followed by the agricultural land (73.42 t/ha). Hence, this study shows that well managed community forest can contribute significantly in offsetting global carbon emission.

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Carbon stock density in planted versus natural Pinus massoniana forests in sub-tropical China

Annals of Forest Science ◽

10.1007/s13595-016-0539-4 ◽

2016 ◽

Vol 73 (2) ◽

pp. 461-472 ◽

Cited By ~ 16

Author(s):

Long-Chi Chen ◽

Meng-Jie Liang ◽

Si-Long Wang

Keyword(s):

Carbon Stock ◽

Pinus Massoniana ◽

Carbon Stock Density ◽

Tropical China

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MIOMBO — a vegetation dynamics model for the miombo woodlands on Zambezian Africa

Forest Ecology and Management ◽

10.1016/0378-1127(94)90221-6 ◽

1994 ◽

Vol 69 (1-3) ◽

pp. 87-95 ◽

Cited By ~ 19

Author(s):

Paul V. Desanker ◽

I.Colin Prentice

Keyword(s):

Vegetation Dynamics ◽

Miombo Woodlands ◽

Dynamics Model

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Carbon Sequestration Potential of Kpashimi Forest Reserve, Niger State, Nigeria

International Journal of Geography and Geology ◽

10.18488/journal.10/2014.3.12/10.12.145.158 ◽

2014 ◽

Vol 3 (12) ◽

pp. 145-158

Author(s):

Abdullahi Jibrin ◽

Sule Mohammed Zubairu ◽

Aishatu Abdulkadir ◽

Sakoma J Kaura ◽

Amos Bitrus Baminda

Keyword(s):

Carbon Sequestration ◽

Carbon Stock ◽

Riparian Forest ◽

Forest Degradation ◽

Forest Reserve ◽

Vegetation Communities ◽

Carbon Sequestration Potential ◽

Carbon Biomass ◽

Sequestration Potential ◽

Carbon Stock Density

This study provides a preliminary assessment of the biophysical potential for carbon sequestration. Quantification of carbon stock and estimation of carbon sequestration potential was carried out in the Kpashimi Forest Reserve, Niger state, Nigeria. Carbon stock was measured in the six vegetation communities existing in the study area. Forty-eight randomly selected 20 x 20 metre quadrats were established wherein data was collected from the main forest carbon pools; including above ground tree, below ground root, undergrowth (shrub grasses), dead wood, litter and soil organic carbon. Biomass of the respective pools was quantified by destructive sampling and use of allometric equations. Thereafter, biomass values were converted to carbon stock equivalent. Four satellite imageries TM, SPOT, ETM+, and NIGERIASAT-1 of 1987, 1994, 2001 and 2007 respectively were used to estimate vegetation cover and carbon stock change over 20 years. The results showed that average carbon stock density (Mg C/ha) of the vegetation communities was in the decreasing order; Riparian forest (123.58 ± 9.1), Savanna woodland (97.71 ± 8.2), Degraded forest (62.92 ± 6.1), Scrubland (36.28 ± 4.1), Grassland (18.22 ± 5.1), and bare surface (9.31 ± 3.1). Deforestation and forest degradation between 1987 and 2007 have resulted in emission of 240.2 Mg (ton) C ha-1 at an annual rate of 12.01 Mg C ha-1. This suggests that the study site has carbon sequestration potential of 240.2 Mg C ha-1 based on its capacity to increase carbon stock through restoration; back to speculated 1987 levels and even higher. Thus, the study recommends the need to analyse carbon offset project feasibility in the study area.

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A comparative study on carbon stock in Sal (Shorea robusta) forest in two different ecological regions of Nepal

Banko Janakari ◽

10.3126/banko.v26i1.15498 ◽

2016 ◽

Vol 26 (1) ◽

pp. 24-31 ◽

Cited By ~ 5

Author(s):

H. P. Pandey ◽

M. Bhusal

Keyword(s):

Organic Carbon ◽

Soil Organic Carbon ◽

Carbon Stock ◽

Total Carbon ◽

Soil Horizon ◽

Biomass Carbon ◽

Shorea Robusta ◽

Ecological Regions ◽

Carbon Stock Density ◽

The Hill

Estimation of total biomass and carbon sequestration in any forest is crucial as it gives ecological and economic benefits through various environmental services. With an aim to quantify the carbon stock densities in the two different ecological regions–the Hills and the Terai, two Community Forests (CFs) having the dominance of Shorea robusta were selected from Gorkha (in the Hills) and Chitwan (in the Terai) districts for the purpose of the study. Systematic random sampling with 1% sampling intensity was used to collect necessary data. The total carbon stock in the CFs of the Hills and the Terai were found to be 234.54 t ha-1 and 479.29 t ha-1, respectively. The biomass carbon stock density in the CF of the Terai was found to be higher (384.20 t ha-1) than the one in the Hills (123.15 t ha-1). Carbon densities of different carbon pools such as tree; sapling; leaf litter, grass and herbs were significantly higher (P<0.05) in the Terai than in the Hill forest whereas dead wood and stumps and the soil organic carbon density were found to be not significantly different in these regions. Similarly, the highest amount of soil organic carbon (SOC) was found in the uppermost soil horizon in the forests of both the regions. These results revealed that the biomass carbon stock density was higher in the Terai S. robusta forest than in the Hill S. robusta forest. However, the SOC obtained was in inverse relation to that of the biomass carbon stock in both the ecological regions. It would not be biased if different ecological regions with similar forest types are intervened with different management strategies for having more carbon stocks and for the conservation of biodiversity in the days to come.Banko JanakariA Journal of Forestry Information for NepalVol. 26, No. 1, Page: 24-31, 2016

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Carbon Stocks in Miombo Woodlands: Evidence From Over 50 Years

10.20944/preprints202103.0029.v1 ◽

2021 ◽

Author(s):

Medha Bulusu ◽

Christopher Martius ◽

Jessica Clendenning

Keyword(s):

Soil Carbon ◽

Carbon Stock ◽

Carbon Stocks ◽

Dry Forest ◽

Systematic Sampling ◽

Miombo Woodlands ◽

Old Growth ◽

Aboveground Carbon ◽

Wide Range ◽

Soil Carbon Stocks

Miombo woodlands are extensive dry forest ecosystems in central and southern Africa covering ≈2.7 million km2. Despite their vast expanse and global importance for carbon storage, the long-term carbon stocks and dynamics have been poorly researched. The objective of this paper is to present and summarize the evidence gathered on above- and belowground (root and soil) carbon stocks of miombo woodlands from the 1960s to mid-2018 through a review. We analyzed data to answer: (1) What is the range of aboveground and belowground carbon stocks found in miombo woodlands over the last six decades? (2) Are there differences in carbon stocks based on land-management categories? (3) Does precipitation influence aboveground carbon stocks in old-growth miombo? (4) Do differences in cover type, age and region influence carbon stocks? (5) How does previous land-use affect carbon stocks in re-growth miombo? A literature review protocol was used to identify 56 publications from which quantitative data on aboveground and soil carbon pools were extracted. We found that the mean aboveground carbon stock in old-growth miombo was 30.83±16.76 Mg C ha-1 (range 1.48—107.24 Mg ha-1). Old-growth miombo had an average calculated root carbon stock of 16.49±9.18 Mg C ha-1 (range 0.8—57.81 Mg ha-1). Soil carbon stocks in old-growth miombo varied widely, between 8.75 and 134.6 Mg C ha-1 while in re-growth miombo they varied between 10.73 and 52.2 Mg C ha-1. It must be noted these soil data are given only for information; they inconsistently refer to varying soil depths and are thus difficult to interpret. The wide range reported suggests a need for further studies, much more systematic in methods and reporting. Other limitations of the dataset include the lack of systematic sampling and lack of data in some countries, viz. Angola and Democratic Republic of the Congo.

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