Journal of Ecology and Environment

pISSN 2287-8327 eISSN 2288-1220

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Published online September 11, 2024
https://doi.org/10.5141/jee.24.045

Journal of Ecology and Environment (2024) 48:35

Carbon stocks of Humbo Farmer Managed Natural Regeneration forest along altitudinal gradients, Southern Ethiopia

Wondimagegn Amanuel1* , Chala Tadesse2 , Moges Molla1 , Musse Tesfaye3 , Zenebe Mekonnen2 and Fantaw Yimer4

1Ethiopian Forestry Development, Hawassa Center, Hawassa 1832, Ethiopia
2Ethiopian Forestry Development, Central Ethiopia Center, Addis Ababa 30708, Ethiopia
3Leibniz-Zentrum für Agrarlandschaftsforschung (ZALF), Muncheberg 15374, Germany
4Wondo Genet College of Forestry and Natural Resources (WGCF & NR), Hawassa University, Shashemene 128, Ethiopia

Correspondence to:Wondimagegn Amanuel
E-mail wondimagegn.amanuel@yahoo.com

Received: May 20, 2024; Revised: July 3, 2024; Accepted: August 7, 2024

This article is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY) 4.0 International License, which permits use, sharing, adaptation, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, as long as you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to the Creative Commons license, and indicate if changes were made. The images or other third party material in this article are included in the article’s Creative Commons license, unless indicated otherwise in a credit line to the material. If material is not included in the article’s Creative Commons license and your intended use is not permitted by statutory regulation or exceeds the permitted use, you will need to obtain permission directly from the copyright holder. To view a copy of this license, visit http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ The publisher of this article is The Ecological Society of Korea in collaboration with The Korean Society of Limnology

Abstract

Background: Humbo Farmer Managed Natural Regeneration (FMNR) forest is managed through direct involvement of the local community and funded by the World Vision Australia through World Vision Ethiopia under framework of the Kyoto Protocol’s Clean Development Mechanism on greenhouse gas emissions. Understanding the amount and distribution of carbon stored in forests across different elevations will enhance ability to anticipate how forests will react to future climate conditions and carbon levels. The aim of the study was to quantify the amount of carbon stocks along altitudinal gradients in the Humbo FMNR forest in southern Ethiopia. A total of 54 nested sample plots of 20 m × 20 m were established on transects of elevation gradients. Inventories of woody species and soil samples (0–10 cm and 10–20 cm depth) were collected within each nested sample plot. Carbon stocks in woody biomass and soil were compared by three elevation classes.
Results: The total carbon stocks significantly (p < 0.05) differed among the three altitudinal gradients. There is no significant difference in biomass carbon stocks between the middle (1,610–1,750 m above sea level [a.s.l.]) and lower (1,470–1,610 m a.s.l.) elevations. However, both of these elevations significantly differ (p < 0.05) from the higher (1,750–1,890 m a.s.l.) elevation, despite an increase in carbon stocks from lower to higher elevations. The highest ecosystem carbon stock was contributed by soil carbon. The higher proportion of C stocks at the higher elevations may be associated to the species composition and dominance with larger wood density.
Conclusions: It was concluded that even though soil carbon contributed higher carbon to the total carbon stock, biomass is stronger impact than soil carbon when it comes to carbon stock variation by altitudinal gradients. We recommend that carbon-related awareness creation on reducing emission for the local people and promotion of knowledge on carbon stock credits accounting and to be claimed in future for financing, which could be considered as additional possible option for sustainable forest management.

Keywords: altitudinal gradients, biomass, carbon stocks, Clean Development Mechanism, Humbo

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Journal of Ecology and Environment

pISSN 2287-8327 eISSN 2288-1220