PJB-2019-424
Forest Soils: An Enormous Carbon Pool and Potential for Climate Change Mitigation in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Province, Pakistan
Anwar Ali
Abstract
Forest soils typically have high carbon density compared to other land uses. Soil carbon sequestration is an important strategy to reduce amount of CO2 in the atmosphere to mitigate climatic changes. Khyber Pakhtunkhwa is the most forested province of Pakistan hosting about one third of the country’s 4.5 million ha forest area. Soil organic carbon stocks in different forest types of the province were determined through a field-based study carried out during 2014-2017 covering the whole province. The data was collected from 373 sample plots laid out in different forest areas across the province using a stratified cluster sampling technique. Total organic carbon stock in the forests of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa was estimated at 59.42 million tonnes with an average of 52.42 ± 5.28 t/ha. About 69% of the total soil carbon of the ecosystem is present in temperate forests. Subtropical broad-leaved forests and subtropical pine forests constitute 11.42% and 8.82% of the total soil carbon. Subalpine forests and oak forests share 5.13% and 5.66% in the total soil carbon stock respectively. The lowest carbon stock was found in dry- tropical thorn forests which is 0.1% of the total soil carbon stock of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province. The highest soil organic carbon was found in subalpine forests (69.46±7.22 t/ha) followed by moist temperate forests (68.47±6.67 t/ha) and dry temperate forests (60.74±6.53 t/ha). Oak forests have soil carbon 59.62±7.12 t/ha Subtropical pine forests, subtropical broad-leaved forests and dry tropical thorn forests have soil carbon stocks of 36.28±3.73 t/ha, 32.82±6.24 t/ha and 31.52±3.48 t/ha respectively. It was concluded that the forests of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa have substantial amount of soil carbon which must be conserved for climate change mitigation and to maintain sound forest health.
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