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Assessment of tree species composition and tree carbon stock of Nongkhyllem Wildlife Sanctuary and Nongkhyllem Reserve Forest in Ri-Bhoi District, Meghalaya, India

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Author Affiliations

  • 1Department of Environmental Studies, School of Human and Environmental Studies, North- Eastern Hill University, Shillong-793022, India
  • 2Department of Environmental Studies, School of Human and Environmental Studies, North- Eastern Hill University, Shillong-793022, India
  • 3Department of Environmental Studies, School of Human and Environmental Studies, North- Eastern Hill University, Shillong-793022, India
  • 4Department of Environmental Studies, School of Human and Environmental Studies, North- Eastern Hill University, Shillong-793022, India

Res. J. Agriculture & Forestry Sci., Volume 7, Issue (3), Pages 21-26, July,8 (2019)

Abstract

Climate change has emerged as one of the leading Environmental issues in the recent past, the major contributors to climate change are greenhouse gases such as carbon dioxide (CO2) and methane (CH4), of these, carbon dioxide is more prevalent in the atmosphere. Forests are one of the major carbon sinks of the world, assessment of carbon stock offorests is essential to obtain the baseline of carbon stored in the forests and for projection of temporal carbon sequestration potential of the forests for the conservation of biodiversity. The rapid changes in patterns of land use have resulted into forest degradation and its adverse impact on global climate due to the emissions of greenhouse gases (GHGs) from terrestrial and aquatic systems. The present study aims at assessing the above ground biomass (AGB) and below ground biomass (BGB) using allometric models, it also aims at determining the species composition, frequency, diversity and carbon density of the forests. The study was conducted in the thick dense sub-tropical forests of Ri-Bhoi district. The forests chosen for this study were Nongkhyllem Wildlife Sanctuary and Nongkhyllem Reserve forest, these forests represented an adequate representation of the phytodiversity prevalent in the district and presented as adequate study sites as they were highly undisturbed.

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