Assessment of soil organic carbon in different land uses of scrub forest in Lehtrar, Pakistan

Abstract

The current study was conducted in the scrub forest of Lehtrarin region, Rawalpindi district of Punjab province. It was aimed to explore the potential of carbon storage in different land uses of scrub forest. Furthermore, the carbon stock, the growing stock and biomass of scrub forest along with the land use and land use change were also estimated. Carbon stock of scrub forest was assessed for the soil, below ground and above ground. The main species of tree in the study site of scrub forest were Accaciamodesta(Phulai) and Olea ferruginea(Kahu). Results indicate that the minimum carbon stock was recorded as 7.699 t/ha in soil and maximum carbon stock was recorded as 81.349 t/ha in above ground carbon. Total carbon stock assessed in study site was 818.85 t/ha. Further analysis reveals that there is a significant difference between carbon stocks of soil with different land uses of scrub forest in Lehtrar region. The maximum soil carbon was present in intact forest as 12.318 t/ha. However, the minimum soil carbon was present in land use agriculture converted from forest land as 4.65 t/ha. Total carbon stock present in scrub forest of study area is estimated as 818.85 t/ha. Results of classified maps showed that the land use class of forest land is changed into the other land use classes, as forest cover of study site was 39 % in year 1998 and decreased to 33 % in year 2017, while other land increased from 58 % in year 1998 to 64 % in year 2017.