Stand Structure, Biomass and Carbon Storage in Gmelina arborea Plantation at Agricultural Landscape in Foothills of Eastern Himalayas

Mendup Tamang, Roman Chettri, Vineeta, Gopal Shukla, Jahangeer A. Bhat, Amit Kumar, Munesh Kumar, Arpit Suryawanshi, Marina Cabral-Pinto and Sumit Chakravarty
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Mendup Tamang: Department of Forestry, Uttar Banga Krishi Viswavidyalaya, Pundibari, Cooch Behar, West Bengal 736165, India
Roman Chettri: Department of Forestry, Uttar Banga Krishi Viswavidyalaya, Pundibari, Cooch Behar, West Bengal 736165, India
Vineeta: Department of Forestry, Uttar Banga Krishi Viswavidyalaya, Pundibari, Cooch Behar, West Bengal 736165, India
Gopal Shukla: Department of Forestry, Uttar Banga Krishi Viswavidyalaya, Pundibari, Cooch Behar, West Bengal 736165, India
Jahangeer A. Bhat: Department of Forest Products and Utilization, College of Horticulture and Forestry, Rani Lakshmi Bai Central Agricultural University, Jhansi 284003, India
Amit Kumar: School of Hydrology and Water Resources, Nanjing University of Information Science and Technology, Nanjing 210044, China
Munesh Kumar: Department of Forestry and Natural Resources, H.N.B. Garhwal University (A Central University), Srinagar Garhwal, Uttarakhand 249161, India
Arpit Suryawanshi: Department of Soil Science and Agricultural Chemistry, College of Agriculture, Rani Lakshmi Bai Central Agricultural University, Jhansi 284003, India
Marina Cabral-Pinto: Department of Geosciences, University of Aveiro, Campus de Santiago, 3810-193 Aveiro, Portugal
Sumit Chakravarty: Department of Forestry, Uttar Banga Krishi Viswavidyalaya, Pundibari, Cooch Behar, West Bengal 736165, India

Land, 2021, vol. 10, issue 4, 1-15

Abstract: In the modern era, Gmelina arborea plantations are a hotspot of future research because of their high carbon sequestration potential. The present work was conducted during 2018 to 2020 on a young unmanaged Gmelina farm to understand the ecosystem’s carbon and its dynamics. The study area was categorized into three age classes: ≤5, 5–10, and 10–15 years. In a plantation, Gmelina trees (10%) were randomly selected while other trees (90%) were also taken into the consideration for ecosystem carbon. A stratified random nested quadrate sampling method was adopted for analyzing other vegetation forms under study. Overall, 51 individual species in the studied Gmelina farm were found which includes 23 tree species, 7 shrub species, 16 herbs, 2 climbers, and 3 species of ferns. The estimated quantitative vegetation parameters and diversity indices indicate that the plant assemblages were heterogeneous with native diverse species evenly distributed with fairly higher densities, frequencies, and abundance. Herbs were the most important species followed by shrubs and trees. Consequently, with the increasing age of plantation, the richness of plant species increased. Soil properties were significantly influenced by the age of the plantation but exhibited no discreet trend. Total biomass density and total carbon density increased with increasing plantation age while no drastic variation was found in available soil organic carbon (SOC) because of insignificant variability in litter production. Total carbon, available SOC (up to 60 cm depth) and ecosystem carbon in the three age class plantations fell in the ranges of 54.51–59.91, 48.18–55.73, and 104.81–110.77 Mg ha −1 , respectively. The carbon sequestration potential of Gmelina arborea is higher compared to other reported species and highly supportive of converting unutilized agricultural landscapes to reduce the atmospheric carbon dioxide in future.

Keywords: plantation; climate change; land use management; carbon sequestration; soil (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: Q15 Q2 Q24 Q28 Q5 R14 R52 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2021
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (3)

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