Carbon stock in Kolli forests, Eastern Ghats (India) with emphasis on aboveground biomass, litter, woody debris and soils

Abstract

The efficacy of tropical forest sinks in India continues to diminish in spite of several conservation efforts carried out at both governmental and non-governmental level. Lack of proper periodical and complete spatial inventory of carbon stock in India is a disturbing aspect at this aim. Carbon stock assessments are available only for few patches of Western Ghats of India, while assessment is almost negligible for Eastern Ghats. This paper focuses on estimation of existing carbon stock in the above ground biomass, litter, debris and soils (up to 30 cm) of different forest types of Kolli forest, located in Eastern Ghats of Tamilnadu, India (78°20’ to 78°30’E Long and 11°10’ to 11°30’ N Lat), within an area of 503 km2. Floristic diversity of Kolli hills is rich of endemisms and includes about 150 tree species. To estimate the carbon stock, about 26 quadrates of 25 X 25 m size were established. The organic carbon content of forest soil varied from 1.71 to 12.59%. The total carbon stock of soil, surface litter, coarse wood debris and total above ground biomass were estimated as 5.54, 0.034, 0.001 and 4.49 Tg C, respectively.

Keywords

• Above ground biomass
• Carbon stock
• Eastern Ghats India
• Soil carbon
• Tropical forest