Estimation stock and economic value of carbon storage of root and stump of Populus deltoids in poplar plantation of Guilan province

Abstract

Trees are one of the most important carbon reservoirs on the earth and carbon sequestration into plant biomass is an easiest and economically most practical way for mitigating the CO2 from atmosphere. This study aims at determining the biomass and carbon storage in stump and roots of Populus deltoides in Tanian poplar plantations of Guilan province. For this purpose, 15 poplar trees were selected based on selection sampling method 15. After the cutting and moving the logs from the stump to somewhere outside the plantation, excavator machinery (KOMATSU PC 200) was used to remove the stumps and roots from the soil. After separating the stumps and roots, mentioned parts were weighed using a digital scale. In order to estimate the amount of biomass and carbon storage, some samples of various components of poplar trees were then fallen down and weighed. After drying the samples in oven (80 ̊C), the dry weight of the samples was determined. After burning an enough amount of dried samples in the electric kiln, the weight of organic matter and carbon of the stump and root samples were obtained. Results showed that the mean of stump biomass, root biomass, stump and root carbon sequestration for each tree were 2.15, 22.18, 1.05 and 10.94 kg per tree, respectively. Results indicated there was a positive and significant correlation between the biomass and carbon sequestration of stump and root with collar diameter. The amount of carbon storage in the root and stump parts was 3.836 tons per hectare and the economic value of carbon storage was calculated as 46723015.68 Rials per hectare.

Keywords

• carbon sequestration
• afforestation
• biomass
• allometric equations