Factors influencing biomass and carbon storage potential of different land use systems along an elevational gradient in temperate northwestern Himalaya

Abstract

We observed the influence of five different altitudes and prevailing agro ecosystems on biomass and carbon sequestration potential in Kullu district of Himachal Pradesh, India. The study area had five prevailing land uses viz., agriculture, agro-horticulture, horticulture, silvi-pasture, and forest at four elevations representing about 1°C temperature change. The results showed that maximum total biomass of 404.35 Mg C ha-1 was accumulated by forest landuse and followed a decreasing trend in the order as forest [ silvi-pasture [ agro-horticulture [ horticulture [ agriculture. Similar trends were also seen with respect to biomass carbon (C) density and C-sequestration potential of different land uses. Biomass and carbon density potential enhanced with the increase in the altitudinal ranges from 1100-1400 to 2000-2300 m a.s.l. But, the rate of C-sequestration potential enhanced from 1100 to 2000 m and declined at 2000-2300 m a.s.l. Maximum carbon density (393.29 Mg C ha-1) of both plant as well as soil was displayed by the forest-based land use systems situated at an altitudinal gradient of 2000-2300 m a.s.l. The rate of C-sequestration was maximum (2.17 Mg ha-1) in the agro-horticulture at 2000-2300 m a.s.l. This study brings out the potential of different land use systems influenced by varying factors on their C-sequestration potential in western Himalayan elevation gradient, thereby providing useful information for effective management in a climate change mitigation and carbon budget.

Biomass production and carbon stock inventory of high-altitude dry temperate land use systems in North Western Himalaya

“…In the present study, increase in biomass with increasing altitude has got support from reported literature of Zhao et al (2014), Zhu et al (2010), Rajput et al (2015) and Rajput et al (2017). The above variation in the biomass level at different altitudes can be explained on the basis of combined effect of age of woody species, soil organic carbon (%) and human population density.…”

“…setegerus. The results of the present study indicate that total biomass production is influenced by the old age tree layer, herbaceous nature of plants, nature and number of woody components and is supported by the findings of Rajput et al (2015Rajput et al ( , 2017.…”

“…Sanneh (2007) and Singh (2010) have also reported decrease of soil organic carbon with increase in soil depth from the same state. The carbon density values under different LUS in the present study are quite higher than the values reported by Rajput et al (2015Rajput et al ( , 2017 for subtropical and temperate regions of the northwestern Himalayas. Shah et al (2014) reported carbon density values of 190.89 t ha − 1 for the pine forests of subtropical parts of the sub-Himalayan region and are more than the reported values of the present study.…”

“…The greater soil organic carbon density of the silvipastoral system could be due to more total root biomass offered by the system that facilitates organic matter in the top as well as deep layers, thus making carbon less prone to oxidation as observed for deep-rooted grasses (Fisher et al 1994). Significantly increased organic carbon contents in soils under these land-based use systems may be ascribed to more leaf litter deposition followed by decomposition and root turn over from trees (Kater et al 1992;Rajput et al 2015Rajput et al , 2017 and extremely low-temperature conditions between October and March months, whereas in agriculture and agri-horticulture high amount of organic carbon gets exhausted due to the intensive cultivation in these LUS and removal of high amount of harvest annually in the form of agriculture produce, fruits and pruned branches. The introduction of trees may increase the SOC stocks in agricultural systems and support the potential of agroforestry systems (Don et al 2011;Li et al 2012;Poeplau and Don 2015).…”

“…The significance of agroforestry with respect to C sequestration and other CO 2 mitigating effects has gained praise in the past as well as in the present throughout the globe, but there is still paucity of quantitative data on specific systems. Several authors (Rajput et al 2015;Rajput et al 2017;Shah et al 2014;Devi et al 2013;Saha et al 2018) in the past few years have carried their studies on carbon and climate change issues in other regions of the state of Himachal Pradesh, India, but no literature is available for higher altitudes from the region. The study is therefore the maiden attempt covering high-altitude dry temperate land use systems in Kinnur district off Himachal Pradesh, India, for estimation of above-and belowground carbon stock.…”