Relationship between Carbon Stock and Plant Biodiversity in Collaborative Forests in Terai, Nepal

Abstract

Reducing emission from deforestation and forest degradation (REDD+) programme has prime concern to carbon stock enhancement rather than biodiversity conservation. Participatory managed forest has been preparing to get benefit under this programme, and collaborative forest is one of them in Nepal. Hence, this research is intended to assess the relationship between carbon stock and biodiversity. Three collaborative forests (CFMs) were selected as study sites in Mahottari district, Nepal. Altogether 96 sample plots were established applying stratified random sampling. The plot size for tree was 20 m × 25 m. Similarly, other concentric plots were established. Diameter at breast height (DBH) and height were measured, species were counted, and soil samples were collected from 0–0.1, 0.1–0.3, and 0.3–0.6 m depths. The biomass was calculated using equation of Chave et al. and converted into carbon, soil carbon was analyzed in laboratory, and plant biodiversity was calculated. Then, relation between carbon stock and biodiversity was developed. Estimated carbon stocks were 197.10, 222.58, and 274.66 ton ha−1 in Banke-Maraha, Tuteshwarnath, and Gadhanta-Bardibas CFMs, respectively. The values of Shannon-Wiener Biodiversity Index ranged 2.21–2.33. Any significant relationship between carbon stock and biodiversity, and was not found hence REDD+ programme should emphasize on biodiversity conservation.

Relationships between tree species richness, evenness and aboveground carbon storage in montane forests and miombo woodlands of Tanzania

“…The unimodal associations between AGC and tree species evenness in montane forests and for small tree sizes in miombo woodlands (Table 2; Fig. 3), is different from previous studies from sub-tropical forests in Puerto Rico (Vance-Chalcraft et al 2010) and in the Terai area of Nepal (Mandal, Dutta, Jha, & Karmacharya 2013). This discrepancy could be due to differences in forest tree structure response to growth limiting factors, such as light availability (Cai, Poorter, Han, & Bongers 2008).…”

Trade-offs and synergies between carbon, forest diversity and forest products in Nepal community forests

“…In some cases, lower carbon stocks can exist even in highly diverse forests if the dominant tree species has a low carbon storage capacity (Kirby & Potvin 2007;Baral et al 2009). Mandal et al (2013) and Kimaro and Lulandala (2013) found negative relationships between carbon and plant species diversity. Forest thinning through selective removal of large trees may reduce carbon without impacting negatively on plant species diversity (Widenfalk & Weslien 2009), and the majority of CFs in our study apply thinning to extract large trees.…”

Revitalisasi Pekarangan Lanskap Perdesaan Sebagai Penyedia Jasa Lanskap Untuk Meningkatkan Kese-Jahteraan Masyarakat

“…Variasi karbon tersimpan tidak berpengaruh dengan biodiversitas tanaman. Hasil ini sejalan dengan hasil penelitian Mandal et al (2013) dan Karna (2012).…”