Use the "back" button of your browser to return to the list of abstracts.
THE ROLE OF PROTECTED NATURAL VEGETATION ON CARBON SEQUESTRATION POTENTIAL IN SOUTHERN TIGRAY, ETHIOPIA. IMPLICATION FOR CLIMATE CHANGE MITIGATION. [Abstract ID: 0605-04]
Land degradation, which includes the degradation of vegetation cover and soil, and nutrient depletion, is a major ecological problem for Ethiopia in general and the study area in particular. Restoration of such degraded land enhances the vegetation’s carbon sequestration potential. This research was therefore conducted in the two land use systems, protected natural vegetation (PNV) and communal grazing land (CGL) of Gra-Kahssu natural vegetation, in Alamata district. Soil organic carbon, herb biomass carbon, litter biomass carbon, and the above and below ground carbon stocks of the natural vegetation in the adjacent land use systems were described. Vegetation biomass data was collected using systematic sampling methods, laying 19 transects and 62 quadrats of 20 m x 20 m each for trees and 5m x 5m for shrubs. In each quadrat, the diameters (>2.5cm) of each plant species were measured. In addition, 1 m x 1m sub-quadrats were laid within the main quadrat to sample herb, litter biomass and soil sample. Soil was collected from three soil depths (0-10, 10-20 and 20-30 cm) and soil organic carbon was analysed at Mekele soil laboratory research center. For both land use systems, the carbon stock’s potential of woody species was estimated using allometric equations. The mean above ground and below ground carbon stock of the PNV (21.05 ton/ha, 10.39 ton/ha) was higher than CGL (15.31ton/ha, 7.65ton/ha), respectively. The average values of soil organic carbon for PNV were 16.60 and 13.76 ton/ha for CGL. The total carbon stock estimated in the study area was 50.74ton/ha and 37.11ton/ha for PNV and CGL, respectively. The major output of this research showed that above and below ground carbon stocks in the PNV are improved as a result of a rehabilitation program with limited use of the local community’s surplus resources. This is indicative of the role of PNV as the best practice in carbon restoration programs, through the exclusion of free-grazing livestock and human interference, and its potential to play a major role in climate change mitigation by means of carbon sequestration.