Assessment of carbon stocks in Sal forests(Shorea robusta)under core and buffer zones of Shuklaphanta National Park,Nepal

Forests play a significant role in sequestrating carbon and regulating the global carbon and energy cycles.Estimation of total biomass and soil carbon sequestered in any forest is very important as it gives ecological and economic benefits to the local people.The study was carried out to quantify and compare the carbon stocks in the Sal(S.robusta)forest in the core and buffer zones of Shuklaphanta National Park in Kanchanpur district of Nepal.A total of 50 sample plots with 25 in each core and buffer zone were laid in the field.Circular nested plots with an area of 500 m2,100m2,and 25m2 were established in the field to measure trees,poles,and saplings respectively.The soil samples were collected from 0-10 cm,10-20 cm,and 20-30 cm depth.The above ground and below ground biomass of forests was estimated using Chave et al.and soil carbon was analysed using Walkley and Black method.The total carbon stock in the core zone was estimated to be 258.56 t/ha with 75.64%in biomass and 24.36%in the soil.In the buffer zone,the total carbon stock was almost 25%lower than that at the core zone but a slightly higher composition of biomass(i.e,80.41%of 193.3 t/ha).These differences are likely due to the effect of the differences in management practice in the core and buffer zones.These estimates suggest that national parks have the great potentiality to sequester more carbon than the buffer zones.Findings from this study provide useful information on how different management practices could alter forest carbon stocks in Nepal.