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BackgroundForests are known to play an important role in regulating the global climate. Therefore, it serves as natural sink of CO2 to mitigate climate change. Churches and monasteries have a long history of planting, protecting and conserving of trees. This study was conducted on selected church forests, with the objectives of estimating of the carbon stock and its variation along the altitudinal gradients. In light of this, primary data collection was done by field inventory and secondary data was collected from different sources. In order to collect vegetation data particularly above ground biomass (AGB), a total of 64 plots each with the size of 20 m x 20 m at an interval of 100 m, were laid along the established transects at 200 m apart. For litter and soil sample collection, five sub-quadrants 1 m x 1 m were established at four corners and center of every quadrant. Composite method was also used for litter and soil sampling. Data analysis of various carbon pools measured in the forests were analyzed on the excel data sheet and R software. ResultResults revealed that the total mean carbon stock density of church forests was 133.14 t/ha with aboveground biomass carbon of 24.73 t/ha and belowground biomass carbon 6.41t/ha, litter biomass carbon of 1.80 t/ha and soil carbon stock 100.19 t/ha.ConclusionThe result of this study showed that altitude has no significant impact on carbon pools. Overall, this study may increase knowledge on the study site and show contributing of church forests for climate change mitigation. |
