Atmospheric carbon capturing potential of some agroforestry trees for mitigation of warming effect and climatic change

Abstract

In present scenario of enhanced atmospheric carbon dioxide (CO₂) coupled with the rise in temperature, it becomes essential to have accurate and realistic estimates of carbon stock in trees for determining their role in mitigating global warming and climate change. The present study was conducted at National Research Centre for Agroforestry, Jhansi to assess carbon sequestration potential and its allocation in different tree-components of eight important agroforestry tree species viz. Eucalyptus tereticornis Sm., Albizia procera (Roxb.), Azadirachta indica A. Juss., Acacia nilotica (Linn.), Butea monosperma (Lamk.), Dalbergia sissoo Roxb., Anogeissus pendula Edgew. And Embilica officinalis Gaertn. of Bundelkhand region in Central India. The findings revealed that the carbon content varied significantly among tree species (38.28-42.07%) as well as tree-components (35.86-44.35%). The carbon content in different tree species was in the order of E. tereticornis=A. indica=A. nilotica= B. monosperma> A. procera= D. sissoo> E. officinalis=A. pendula. The order of carbon content in tree-components was branch =stem > root> foliage> stem bark = branch bark. Among all the studied tree species, A. procera was found to be the most efficient in capturing C (127.74 kg C/tree) and removing CO₂ from the atmosphere (46.83 kg/tree/year) while, A. pendula the least with corresponding values of carbon (8.22 kg C/tree) and CO₂ (3.01 kg/tree/year), respectively. Positive correlation existed between carbon content and tree growth attributes (height and dbh).