Carbon Stock and Mitigation Potentials of Zeghie Natural Forest for Climate Change Disaster Reduction, Blue Nile Basin, Ethiopia
- 9 Downloads
Abstract
Although Africa is not a major emitter of greenhouse gases from commercial and industrial energy uses, it accounts about 20–30% of emission due to deforestation and land use cover change. This study was conducted to estimate the carbon stock and its contribution to climate change disaster reduction in Zeghie peninsula, Ethiopia. Sample plots were laid along line transects based on altitudinal and slope variation of the study area. A total of 45 plots (40 m × 40 m each) were selected using random sampling techniques. The data obtained from each sample were analyzed by using allometric equations. The results revealed that the mean total carbon stock was 381.41 t/ha, of which 191.58 t/ha, 45.98 t/ha, 0.03 t/ha, 139.04 t/ha and 4.77 t/ha, which were observed in the aboveground carbon, belowground carbon, litter carbon, soil organic carbon in (30 cm depth) and deadwood carbon, respectively. The mean total CO2 equivalent of the study area was also 1399.78 t/ha. In relation to altitudinal gradients and slopes, the result showed that the stock of carbon was variable along the altitudinal variation with a mean value of 420.71t/ha, 458.78t/ha and 516.77t/ha in upper, middle and lower elevations, respectively. While a mean value of carbon along the slope gradient was 401.82t/ha, 439.26t/ha and 516.9t/ha in upper, medium and lower slope classes, respectively. Generally, the carbon stocks in aboveground, belowground, litter and soil organic carbon were exhibited less distinct patterns along altitudinal gradients. The aboveground, belowground, litter and soil organic carbon stocks showed decreasing trend with increasing altitude and slope while dead wood carbon stock showed increasing trend along altitudinal gradients. The total CO2 stored in Zeghie peninsula forestland was approximately 62,990.4 tons annually, but emission was estimated to be 8274.97 tons. Therefore, better management strategies should be designed for the sustainable use of forest resources in the study area which are contributing a significant role to mitigate the current climate change.
Keywords
Biomass Climate change Forest carbon stock Natural forests Soil organic carbon Litter Mitigation Disaster Zeghie Blue Nile basinAbbreviations
- SOM
Soil organic matter
- DBH
Diameter at breast height
- AGB
Aboveground biomass
- BGB
Belowground biomass
- IPCC
Inter-Governmental Panel on Climate Change
- WCMC
The World Climate and Metrological Center
- CCS
Carbon capture and storage
- GHGs
Greenhouse gases
- GPS
Global Positioning System
- GIS
Geographic Information system
- SOC
Soil organic carbon
- UNFCCC
United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change
- CRGE
Climate resilient green economy
- FAO
Food and Agriculture Organization
- UNEP
United Nation Environmental Protection
- NWFPs
Non-wood forest products
- REDD+
Reducing emission from deforestation and forest degradation
- FCPF
Forest Carbon Partnership Facility
- CSA
Central Statistical Agency
Notes
Acknowledgements
This study would never be completed without the contribution of many people to whom we would like to express our gratitude. The administrative kebele’s development agents, district agricultural officials, local youths, in each of the sampling sites were indispensable for the successful completion of the field work. We would like also to acknowledge people who contributed their knowledge and time in data collection and other reliable supports.
Author Contributions
AY has made substantial contributions in conception design, acquisition of data, interpretation of results and leading the overall activities of the research. He has given also the final approval of the version to be published. SA and AM contributed in designing, data collection and analysis of this research. All authors read and approved the final manuscript.
Funding
Funded by Bahir Dar University and Bureau of forest, environment and climate change.
Compliance with Ethical Standards
Conflict of interest
The authors declare that they have no competing interests.
Ethics approval and consent to participate
The authors hereby declare that, this manuscript is not published or considered for publication elsewhere.
References
- Addisu S, Kendie G, Abiyu A (2019) Biomass and soil carbon stocks in different forest types, Northwestern Ethiopia. Int J River Basin Manag 17:1–19CrossRefGoogle Scholar
- Araújo MB, Pearson RG, Thuiller W, Erhard M (2005) Validation of species–climate impact models under climate change. Glob Change Biol 11(9):1504–1513CrossRefGoogle Scholar
- Balboa-Murias MA, Rodríguez-Soalleiro R, Merino A, Álvarez-González JG (2006) Temporal variations and distribution of carbon stocks in aboveground biomass of radiata pine and maritime pine pure stands under different silvicultural alternatives. Forest Ecol Manag 237(1–3):29–38CrossRefGoogle Scholar
- Blackard J, Finco M, Helmer E, Holden G, Hoppus M, Jacobs D, Lister A, Moisen G, Nelson M, Riemann R (2008) Mapping US forest biomass using nationwide forest inventory data and moderate resolution information. Remote Sens Environ 112(4):1658–1677CrossRefGoogle Scholar
- Böttcher H, Eisbrenner K, Fritz S, Kindermann G, Kraxner F, McCallum I, Obersteiner M (2009) An assessment of monitoring requirements and costs of ‘reduced emissions from deforestation and degradation’. Carbon Balance Manag 4(1):7CrossRefGoogle Scholar
- Chave J, Réjou-Méchain M, Búrquez A, Chidumayo E, Colgan MS, Delitti WB, Duque A, Eid T, Fearnside PM, Goodman RC (2014) Improved allometric models to estimate the aboveground biomass of tropical trees. Glob Change Biol 20(10):3177–3190CrossRefGoogle Scholar
- d’Oliveira MV, Reutebuch SE, McGaughey RJ, Andersen H-E (2012) Estimating forest biomass and identifying low-intensity logging areas using airborne scanning lidar in Antimary State Forest, Acre State, Western Brazilian Amazon. Remote Sens Environ 124:479–491CrossRefGoogle Scholar
- FAO F (2010) Carbon sequestration in dry land; World Soil Resources. Rome, Report 102Google Scholar
- Hairiah KS, Sitompul M, van Noordwijk, Palm C (2001). Methods for sampling carbon stocks above and below ground, ICRAF BogoiGoogle Scholar
- IPCC (2013) Climate change synthesis report on atmosphere. Forestry Review 75 1, Forest management, pp 80-91,Google Scholar
- Kendie G, Addisu S, Abiyu A (2019) Biomass and soil carbon stocks in different forest types, Northwestern Ethiopia. Int J River Basin Manag 17:1–7CrossRefGoogle Scholar
- Legesse SA (2016) The outlook of Ethiopian long rain season from the global circulation model. Environ Syst Res 5(1):16CrossRefGoogle Scholar
- Rutishauser E, Noor’an F, Laumonier Y, Halperin J, Hergoualc’h K, Verchot L (2013) Generic allometric models including height best estimate forest biomass and carbon stocks in Indonesia. Forest Ecol Manag 307:219–225CrossRefGoogle Scholar
- Takacs D (2009) Forest carbon offsets and international law: a deep equity legal analysis. Geo Int’l Envtl L Rev 22:521Google Scholar
- Wang S, Fang C, Wang Y, Huang Y, Ma H (2015) Quantifying the relationship between urban development intensity and carbon dioxide emissions using a panel data analysis. Ecol Ind 49:121–131CrossRefGoogle Scholar
- Zampieri M, Tan L, Ljubešić N, Tiedemann J (2014) A report on the DSL shared task 2014. Proceedings of the first workshop on applying NLP tools to similar languages, varieties and dialectsGoogle Scholar