A. Miria , Anisa Basheer Khan

Abstract

Uptake of CO₂ through plant tissues and storage in the biomass is the principle behind carbon sequestration. Carbon allocation to various parts in a tree differs, with the stem or the trunk being the largest reservoir of plant carbon. With forests dwindling, agro forestry and horticultural crops are occupying large land mass. Open wild grasses with a short life cycle also play a major role as carbon sinks contributing more to the soil organic carbon. The present study is on some common multipurpose trees like ornamental trees, plantation crops which were selected within the university campus. Among the grasses both wild variety and lawn grass were selected for comparison. Peltophorum pterocarpum indicated highest total biomass carbon density (496 Kg/t) and Azadirachta indica has the lowest value (462 Kg/t). The average above ground biomass organic carbon stock in trees was 0.84 t/tree and below ground biomass organic carbon stock was 0.12 t/tree and among the grasses Apluda mutica contributed maximum of 0.280 Kg^-2 m of carbon per quadrat and Brachiaria ramose (0.055 Kg m^-2 ) had the least.

Keywords

Biomass, Carbon Storage, Trees, Grasses

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A. Miria ¹, Anisa B. Khan ¹

Affiliations
1 Department of Ecology and Environmental Sciences, Pondicherry University, Puducherry - 605 014, IN

Abstract

Growth rate and carbon storage in selected multipurpose trees were assessed to identify the fast growing trees and also those that store high carbon in their biomass. Among the plant parts studied, wood stored the higher carbon (56.38 mg/g), leaf stored the minimum (53.27 mg/g) and bark had a medium storage (54.06 mg/g). The fast growing tree with maximum increase in diameter and with maximum biomass production was Syzigium cumini (4.42 cm) and slow growing tree was Milletia pinnata (0.82 cm). Syzigium cumini stored maximum carbon (2.71 Kg/year) and biomass (4.9 Kg/year). Milletia pinnata stored the minimum carbon (0.67 Kg/year) and biomass (1.24 Kg/year). Parkia biglandulosa (3.97 cm), Khaya senegalensis (3.7 cm), Tabebuia rosea (3.5 cm), Peltaphorum pterocarpum (3.17 cm) are also considered as fast growing trees. Trees with fast growth rate and also those which store high biomass carbon are recommended for planting as avenue and ornamental trees as a step to mitigate atmospheric carbon concentration.

Keywords

Biomass, Growth, Carbon storage, Multipurpose trees.

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