Effect of Land Use Changes on Carbon Stock Dynamics in Major Land Use Sectors of Mizoram, Northeast India

Abstract

Land use change activities have greatly affected the total ecosystem carbon stock (TECS) and also contribute to global change through emission of greenhouse gases. The present study assessed the change in vegetation biomass carbon stock (VBCS) and soil organic carbon stock (SOCS) following conversion in major land use sectors (agriculture, agroforestry, forest and plantation) in Mizoram, Northeast India. SOCS was the highest in agroforestry (50.85 Mg C ha −1) and the lowest in agriculture (33.99 Mg C ha −1). VBCS was the highest in plantation (131.66 Mg C ha −1) and the lowest in agriculture (7.44 Mg C ha −1). The highest positive TECS change rate was observed when agriculture was converted to plantation (6.61 Mg C ha −1 •yr −1), while negative rate of change in carbon stock was observed following the establishment of agriculture from other land use. A positive rate of change was observed in both VBCS and SOCS with TECS rate of 3.58 Mg C ha −1 •yr −1 when agriculture got converted to agroforestry. The absolute carbon stock change rates were higher in VBCS than SOCS signifying the importance to maintain tree based vegetation cover.

Quantifying Tree Diversity, Carbon Stocks, and Sequestration Potential for Diverse Land Uses in Northeast India

“…The single-story vegetation in plantations favor homogenous growth environment, in contrast to the natural forests and shifting cultivation fallows. The forests, agroforests, and shifting cultivation fallows, as expected, had higher tree density and basal area than the plantation forests occupied by monoculture trees (Singh et al, 2018a). Relatively lower organic inputs and higher soil disturbance in the latter could have caused lower SOC stock than the former land uses (Singh et al, 2018b).…”

“…The confounding effects from other soil characteristics and management regimes may affect carbon stock too (Newaj et al, 2016). The rate of carbon sequestration in a habitat is influenced by several factors such as age of the stand/ maturity index, management, and woody species composition (Singh et al, 2018a). The elevation, slope, and aspect could also influence the carbon sequestration rate (Gogoi et al, 2020;Thong et al, 2020).…”

“…Thus, the conservation and sustainable development of land-use systems are expected to stabilize CO 2 accumulation at the local, regional, and national levels. Moreover, the accurate estimation of biomass, soil carbon stocks, and their spatial distribution in various habitats will be crucial to understanding carbon storage potential and its dynamics (Weiskittel et al, 2015;Singh et al, 2018a).…”

“…Over the last decades, environmentalists and policymakers have become more aware of the vital role that tree diversity plays in combating climate change, and this has prompted them to be more conscious while designing any climate change mitigation and adaptation strategy (Con et al, 2013;Bhat et al, 2020;Sheikh et al, 2021). It has been established that plantation forestry (Brahma et al, 2017;Singh et al, 2018a;Nath et al, 2018;Kurmi et al, 2020), agroforestry (Tamang et al, 2021), and home gardens (Singh et al, 2015;Singh and Sahoo, 2021) have great potential for carbon sink in the Northeastern region of India. Similarly, secondary forests (accounting for variation in age) play an important role in carbon storage (Gogoi et al, 2020;Thong et al, 2020).…”

Soil carbon stock in different land-use systems in the hilly terrain of Mizoram, Northeast India

“…Soil C stock (Mg ha -1 ) in different land-use systems. LSD is shown at p < 0.05. cently,Singh et al (2018) reported the highest soil C stock in agroforestry land use (50.85 Mg C ha −1 ) and the lowest in agricultural cropland(33.99 Mg C ha −1 ) when compared with forest and plantations of Mizoram. OPP and HG at upper depth suggested that the surface soil is more active for sequestering C from the atmosphere after the land use change Haghdoost et al (2013).…”