Factors affecting woody carbon stock in Sirso moist evergreen Afromontane forest, southern Ethiopia: implications for cl
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Factors affecting woody carbon stock in Sirso moist evergreen Afromontane forest, southern Ethiopia: implications for climate change mitigation Befkadu Mewded1 · Debissa Lemessa1 Received: 14 July 2018 / Accepted: 30 September 2019 © Springer Nature B.V. 2019
Abstract Among the many other factors that would be taken as one of the most important options for climate change mitigation is forest wood carbon stock. Hence, the aim of this study was to examine the carbon stock potential of woody species and how it varies by community types and topographic aspects, along altitudinal and slope gradients in Sirso moist evergreen Afromontane vegetation ecosystem of southern Ethiopia. To collect data, a systematic sampling procedure was employed. Five transects were laid out across altitudinal gradients which aligned parallel at 2 km intervals, and 50 sample plots (20 m × 20 m) were laid along transects at 100 m altitudinal interval. Carbon stock was estimated based on the equations and conversion factors formulated for tropical forest carbon stock measurement. The results showed that the total carbon stock of woody species in Sirso moist evergreen Afromontane forest was 384.44 ton/ha. The carbon stock of woody species varied among community types, along altitudinal and slope gradients, while topographic aspect had no significant effect. The carbon stock was higher for the community type of Dracaena fragrans–Rytigynia neglecta, for mid-altitude (1934–2319 m.a.s.l.), and upper slope class (58–75%). Schefflera abyssinica, Syzygium guineense, and Ficus sur contributed 49% of the total carbon stock. Our study suggests that selecting a certain forest as the mitigation option for climate change needs to consider the determinants including vegetation composition and topographic features such as altitude and slope gradients. Keywords Biomass · Carbon stock · Climate change mitigation · Determinant
* Befkadu Mewded [email protected] Debissa Lemessa [email protected] 1
Forest and Rangeland Biodiversity Directorate, Ethiopian Biodiversity Institute, P.O. Box 30726, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia
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1 Introduction Global warming is one of the major environmental issues of the world (Kassahun et al. 2015). Increasing earth’s temperature due to increasing of CO2 release is the major phenomenon affecting global climate (Pittock 2005). Deforestation and forest degradation are major contributors to rising levels of CO2 in the atmosphere and induce changes in the earth’s climate (Yohannes et al. 2015). From a variety of forests provided ecosystem services, tackling climate change by storing and sequestering carbon is one of the most important roles (Yohannes et al. 2015). Forests have more potential for sequestering and storing carbon than any other terrestrial ecosystems (Gibbs et al. 2007; Chaturvedi et al. 2008). Particularly, tropical forests are globally important carbon sinks that currently sequestering CO2 and are critical to future climate stabilization (Millar et al. 2007). However,
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