Abstract

The objective of present study was to assess the total carbon stock of tree vegetation and its relationship with altitudinal gradient from the Shervarayan hills located in India. Tree carbon stock determined by non-destructive method was 56.55 ± 12.28 t/ha. Regression analysis revealed that the quantity of carbon stock increased with altitude (R2 = 0.5703). The tree species Syzygium cumini shared maximum carbon stock followed by Anogeissus latifolia, Prumus ceylanica, Terminalia paniculata and Tamarindus indica. One way ANOVA revealed that the carbon stock among different forest types varied significantly (F(2,11) = 4.232, p<0.05), and the semi-evergreen forest had high carbon stock 77.64 t/ha. The distribution of carbon stock among different tree size classes did not vary significantly (F (10,74)=1.509, p>0.05), however, the contribution of higher tree size class (trees >330 cm girth at breast height) to total carbon stock (t/ha) was maximum (66%). The present study provides valuable data useful for modeling carbon stock potential of tree vegetation at national as well as at global level.

Keywords: Altitudinal gradient; Carbon stock; Regression; Shervarayan hills; Tree vegetation