Assessments of Plant Diversity, Biomass and Carbon Pool in Natural Forests of Doon Valley Using Geospatial Technology

Doctoral Thesis / Dissertation from the year 2013 in the subject Biology - Botany, course: Doctor of Philosophy, language: English, abstract: Forests are an important natural 'brake' on climate change sequester and store more carbon than any other terrestrial ecosystem. The main carbon pools in forest ecosystems are the living biomass of trees and understorey vegetation and the dead mass of litter, woody debris and soil organic matter. The carbon stored in the aboveground living biomass of trees is typically the largest pool. Thus, estimating aboveground forest biomass carbon is the most critical step in quantifying carbon stocks and fluxes from forests. India is a large developing country known for its diverse forest ecosystems and is also a mega-biodiversity country. Forest ecosystems in India are critical for biodiversity, watershed protection, and livelihoods of indigenous and rural communities. The National Communication of the Government of India to the UNFCC has reported that the forest sector is a marginal source of CO2 emissions. India has formulated and implemented a number of policies and programmes aimed at forest and biodiversity conservation, afforestation and reforestation. All forest policies and programmes have implications for carbon sink and forest management. A number of studies highlighting carbon stocks of India forests at macrolevel utilizing Remote Sensing & Geographic Information System techniques have gained momentum. However, Carbon stock at micro level is still lacking and in view of this, the present study is an attempt to assess the vegetation, biomass and carbon stock of three ranges of Dehra Dun Forest Division.