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Contribution of Cedrus deodara forests for climate mitigation along altitudinal gradient in Garhwal Himalaya, India

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Abstract

The climatic and non-climatic stresses impacted adversely to the functioning and productivity of the forests, resulting in disturbing the existing carbon flow in the atmosphere. Cedrus deodara occurs in pure forest stands throughout the Western Himalayas and has high biomass and soil carbon sequestration potential. The present study aims to provide the contribution of the Cedrus deodara forests under the current stresses for climate mitigation by analysing the three elevation ranges of the Dhanaulti forest division of Garhwal Himalaya, India. The results report that soil organic carbon (SOC) was adversely and bulk density favourably related with elevation. Moreover, SOC as CO2eq also decreased significantly with an increase in soil depths. Biomass carbon for various parts of the plant was also estimated for the three elevations of the Cedrus deodara forests. The trend in total carbon stock (bole, branch, twig, foliage and soil) decreased significantly with an increase in altitude. The carbon stock of Cedrus deodara forests was maximum (545 t ha−1) at upper altitude (2350 m.a.s.l) and minimum (330 t ha−1) at a lower altitude (2050 m.a.s.l). The difference in litter production between the seasons is significant with maximum production in summer followed by rainy and winter seasons. This study provides inputs for greenhouse gas (GHG) estimation for national communication to various platforms. The information on the soil is crucial for understanding about the ecology of the forests assisting prediction of functioning and productivity of forests.

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Acknowledgements

All the authors are highly thankful to the forest officers and divisional head for providing support for the study. The authors are thankful to the reviewers for constructive comments to improve the quality of the paper.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Forestry and Natural Resources, HNB Garhwal University, (A Central University), Srinagar, Uttarakhand, India

    Mehraj A. Sheikh, Munesh Kumar & N. P. Todaria

  2. College of Horticulture and Forestry, Rani Lakshmi Bai Central Agricultural University, Jhansi, Uttar Pradesh, 284003, India

    Jahangeer A. Bhat

  3. School of Hydrology and Water Resources, Nanjing University of Information Science and Technology, Nanjing, 210044, China

    Amit Kumar

  4. Forest Research Institute, Dehradun, India

    Rajiv Pandey

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  1. Mehraj A. Sheikh
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Contributions

M.A.S., M.K. and N.P.T. have conceptualized and designed the study. M.A.S. collected data, analysed and interpreted the data with the support of M.K., N.P.T., A.K. and R.P. M.A.S. and M.K. have developed the first draft. J.A.B., A.K., N.P.T. and R.P. read and modified the manuscript.

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Correspondence to Amit Kumar.

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Sheikh, M.A., Kumar, M., Todaria, N.P. et al. Contribution of Cedrus deodara forests for climate mitigation along altitudinal gradient in Garhwal Himalaya, India. Mitig Adapt Strateg Glob Change 26, 5 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11027-021-09941-w

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