Comparing Aboveground Carbon Sequestration of Three Economically Important Bamboo Species Grown in Bukidnon, Philippines

Abstract

Bamboo is widely distributed in the Philippines. As a non-timber forest product with a wide-ranging economic importance, bamboo has attracted the attention of ecologists because of its versatility in terms of ecological services including carbon sequestration and its potential to mitigate climate change. This paper assessed the carbon sequestration potential of three economically important bamboo species grown in plantations in Bukidnon, Philippines. Aboveground biomass (leaves, twigs and branches, and culms) and carbon densities of plantations of Dendrocalamus asper, Bambusa blumeana and Bambusa vulgaris were determined. D. asper statistically (α=0.01) had the highest aboveground biomass density with 177.6 t ha -1 while B. vulgaris had the lowest density with 72.2 t ha -1 . Aboveground biomass of the three species yielded an average organic carbon content of 47.38% with D. asper having the highest at 48.71%. Consequently, D. asper statistically (α=0.01) had the highest aboveground carbon stored with an average of 86.7 tC ha -1 , followed by B. blumeana with 46.1 tC ha -1 and B. vulgaris with 33.4 tC ha -1 . Considering the potential of these bamboo species to store atmospheric carbon, there is a need to propose policies that strongly advocate the establishment of bamboo plantation-related projects in the country as an alternative course of action that can mitigate the impacts of global warming and climate change. Planting and managing bamboo plantations are recommended utilizing species like D. asper which has the potential to sequester relatively higher amount of carbon.

Bamboo diversity and carbon stocks of dominant species in different agro-ecological zones in Cameroon

“…This has also been reported by several authors who studied these three bamboo species and other bamboo species in the world (Gurmessa et al, 2016;Li et al, 2016;Nath et al, 2012;Yuen et al, 2017;Zhuang et al, 2015). With respect to literature review, bamboo carbon stocks found in the world vary in function of bamboo species (Jyoti et al, 2009;Nath et al, 2012;Patricio and Dumago, 2014;Yuen et al, 2016Yuen et al, , 2017. This observation was confirmed in the context of this study where the average carbon stocks of three bamboo species varied in relation to the bamboo species: 13.13; 29.62 and 67.78 t C. ha -1 respectively for O. abyssinica, B. vulgaris and P. aurea.…”

Carbon Sequestration Potential of Oil Palm Plantations in Southern Philippines

“…Carbon stored in coconuts has an average of 22.73 tC/ha based on a study in Sri Lanka (Ranasinghe and Thimothias 2012). However, bamboo plants (Patricio and Dumago 2014), fruit trees (Janiola and Marin 2016) as well as forest trees (Tulod 2015) in general have higher carbon stock than the oil palms in this study.…”

Comparative Study on Estimation of Carbon Content in Different Parts of Selected Bamboo Species

“…This study assumes that 50% of the biomass of the bamboo species is its Carbon content [2] (Table 1). CHNS Elemental Analyzer gives the exact value of carbon percentage present in the plant biomass.…”

“…This data was used in this thesis work. This study assumed that 50% of the biomass of the bamboo species is its Carbon content [2]. But the vario MACRO cube CHNOS Elemental Analyzer helped to know the actual carbon percentage present in different bamboo parts of selected bamboo species.…”

“…It is one way to reduce the amount of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere with the aim of reducing global climate change [1]. Trees and other vegetation absorb carbon dioxide from the atmosphere, furthering about a third of the world's emissions [2]. That we both maintain an existing sink and improve their ability to absorb more carbon.…”