Estimation of biomass, carbon stock and soil properties of different forest types in Uttarkashi district, Garhwal Himalaya
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Date
2023
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College of Forestry, Ranichauri
Abstract
Title: “Estimation of biomass, carbon stock and soil properties of different forest types in Uttarkashi district, Garhwal Himalaya”.
The investigation entitled “Estimation of biomass, carbon stock and soil properties of different forest types in Uttarkashi district, Garhwal Himalaya” was carried out during the year 2021-22 to know the status of Phytosociology, Biomass, Carbon stock and Soil properties in selected study area. The study was carried out in four study sites viz; Matli, Dindsari, Fold and Chaurangi Khal forests in Uttarkashi district of Uttarakhand, India at various altitudinal ranges viz. 1000-1200 m asl, 1400-1600 m asl, 1800-2000 m asl, 2200-2400 m asl. Under this study, 40 quadrats (with 10 replications in each site) of size 10×10 m for trees were laid out randomly in which 5m × 5 m for shrubs were laid out. Estimation of variation in biomass and carbon density of different sites was done by using volume equation of different species. Soil samples were randomly taken from the entire 40 quadrats from three different depth 0-10 cm,10-20cm and 20-30 cm to estimate the variation in soil properties of different forests types. Among all the locations, total 45 tree species were observed which included 26 tree species from 7 families and 19 shrub species from16 families. The tree density (trees/ha) was found maximum atChaurangi Khal site (860) and minimum in Matli site (620) and the total density ranged from 620-860. For shrubs, the density (shrub/ha) varied between 410-520.The values of Shannon-wiener ( ) diversity index of studied sites ranged from 0.60-2.07 for trees and 1.50-2.33 for shrubs, Margalef's index of species richness ranged from 1.57-2.42 for trees and 2.07-2.56 for shrubs. The above ground biomass density (AGBD) ranged from 266.32 Mg/ ha in Fold to 326.48 Mg/ ha in Chaurangi Khal and below ground biomass density (BGBD) from 80.07 Mg/ ha in Fold to 94.48 Mg/ha in Matli. The lowest value for total biomass density (TBD) of 355.09 Mg ha was observed at Fold and the highest 416.57 Mg /ha at Chaurangi Khal. The total carbon density (TCD) ranged from 177.54 Mg/ha to 208.29 Mg/ha.Among all the three depth the bulk density for 0-10 cm ranged from 1.154 g/cc to 1.328 g/cc and 1.048 g/cc to 1.216 g/cc for the 10-20 cm depth while for 20-30 cm it ranged from 1.027 g/cc to 1.163 g/cc for all the sites. Among all the sites the value of organic carbon for the upper depth (0-10cm) ranged from 3.43% to 5.58% and for the middle depth (10-20 cm) it ranged from 2.57%to 55.15% whereas for the lower layer (20-30 cm) it ranged from 2.15% to 5.06%. For all the sites the value of pH for the upper depth (0-10 cm) ranged from 5.06 to 7.03. However, the range for the middle depth (10–20 cm) was 4.82 to 7.1 while the range for the lower depth (20–30 cm) was 5.25 to 7.25 to 5.06%. The nitrogen concentration varied among three distinct depths for all the sites, ranging from 476 kg/ha to 627.2 kg/ha for the upper depth while 478 kg/ha to 537.83 kg/ha for middle depth (10-20 cm) whereas for lower depth (20 to 30 cm) nitrogen concentration ranged from 366.91 kg/h to 493.92 kg/h. Among all sites for three distinct depths , the potassium concentration ranged from 240 kg/h to 271.5 kg/ha for 0–10 cm depth, from 228.8 kg/h to 252 kg/h for 10–20 cm depth, and from 206.4 kg/h to 248 kg/h for 20–30 cm depth. Among all three different depth the phosphorous estimation for 0-10 cm depth ranged from 45.28 kg/h to55.20 kg/ha.,29.89 kg/ha to 41.39 kg ha for the 10-20cm depth while for 20-30cm it ranged from 20.43 kg/ha to 35.98 kg/ha for all the sites. Among all the sites the value of Sulphur for the upper depth (0-10cm) ranged from 32.29 mg/kg to 39.55mg/kg whereas for middle depth (10-20cm) it varied from to 25.4 mg/ha to 35.02 mg/ha and for the lower depth (20-30cm) it ranged from to 20.82 mg/ha to 29.60 mg/ha.The sulphur was found significant with both altitude and depth but the interaction between the altitude and depth was insignificant.The dehydrogenase enzyme activity ranged from 4.33-16.01 µg/g/h at 0-10cm depth whereas for 10-20 cm depth it ranged from 3.73-10.40 µg/g/h and for 20-30 cm depth it ranged from 3.54-8.48 µg/g/h under different altitudinal ranges of studied area of Uttarkashi district.The interaction of elevation and soil depth was found to be significant.All the collected research data from the studied forest ranges of Uttarkashi district reveals rich biodiversity of the site but at present the biodiversity of these forest are under threat due to anthropogenic causes and climate change. It should be conserved by implementing proper conservation and management practice.