Deadwood carbon stock and stand structure characteristics in different vegetation types in Tanzania
Loading...
Date
2023
Authors
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
Sokoine University of Agriculture
Abstract
Deadwood is an important element playing an essential role in the maintenance of
biodiversity, soil fertility and carbon sequestration. The amount of carbon stored in
standing dead trees and other fallen woody debris alive or dead forms an important
component of the carbon pools. Previous studies have estimated total carbon stocks
for different land cover classes but they did not segregate deadwood in estimating
carbon and none had considered levels of uncertainty estimates and the state of the
woody decay. Also, there are limited information on stand structure of deadwood and
how it is related to deadwood biomass. This study aimed to quantify deadwood
carbon stocks in different vegetation types, the relationship between deadwood
species structural diversity and deadwood carbon stock along different environmental
variables. The study used dataset from National Forestry Resources Monitoring and
Assessment of Tanzania (NAFORMA). The study revealed that solid deadwoods had
higher carbon stocks and emission factor than rotten deadwoods whereby the
estimated deadwood carbon stock ranges from 0.11 to 1.01 tC ha -1 , contributing
0.79% of the total carbon from different vegetation types. Compared to other
vegetation types, forests and woodlands had higher deadwood carbon stocks and
emission factor while grasslands had the lowest. Species abundance and soil
moisture were positively significant related to deadwood carbon, with the highest
effect shown by soil moisture while species richness and soil organic carbon had a
negative significant relationship with deadwood carbon. In lowland forest, deadwood
carbon stock of Brachystegia sp.-Pterocarpus angolensis (BP) community was
positively significant influenced by soil moisture while in woodlands, deadwood
carbon stock for Julbernardia globiflora-Pterocarpus angolensis (JP) community was
negatively significant influenced by soil organic carbon and deadwood carbon stock
of Dalbergia melanoxylon-Pteleopsis myrtifolia (DP) community was positively
significant influenced by soil moisture. Understanding how deadwood carbon and
stand structure of deadwood interact with environmental conditions contributes to the
understanding of forests and woodlands carbon dynamics. Therefore, this study
provides valuable insights for policymaking related to climate change mitigation,
carbon accounting and effective biodiversity conservation in tropical ecosystems
Description
MSc. Dissertation
Keywords
Deadwood carbon, Stock and Stand, Structure characterist, Vegetation, Soil fertility