Tree Structure Analysis, Biomass and Carbon Stock of Sal Forests in Central Himalayan Region

Abstract

Present study deals with density, species diversity, basal area, IVI, biomass and carbon stock in Sal forests. The study was conducted in three Sal forest sites around Champawat at Tanakpur. Among the fifteen tree species, total density of trees varied between 290-690 ind. ha-1 in all studied forest. The basal area of trees in forests was 50.92 to 78.84 m2 ha-1. Tree species diversity of Sal forests varied from 1.07-2.11. Biomass and carbon stock of trees ranged from 473.3 to 786.8 tha-1 and 224.8- 373.7 tha-1yr-1 respectively. Shorea robusta was dominated species based on density parameter in all studied forest sites. The tree density of Sal forests was slightly on lower side with comparison to natural forests in and around the region. However, density exhibits positive correlation at (p?0.05) with biomass and carbon. But the difference in age and size of Sal trees showed the variation in biomass and carbon stock among the studied forest site. Present study concludes that Sal forests in and around nearby villages were in degraded conditions due to anthropogenic pressure. Thus, the forests must be conserved through judicious management by providing proper scientific inputs for high biomass and carbon.