Assessing the effect of aspect on carbon stock and biodiversity in community forests of Kavrepalanchok and Kathmandu, Nepal
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.15658952Keywords:
Biodiversity, Biomass, Carbon, Community ForestAbstract
Estimation of carbon stock is essential for understanding the global carbon cycle. Community Forest is one of the leading renewable resources which had provided safety nets for poor and vulnerable people. This study was rigorously conducted to thoroughly evaluate the effect of the aspect on carbon stock and biodiversity in three Community Forests, namely Jyalachity community forest of Kavrepalanchok and Bosan Danda and Pataleban community forest of Kathmandu district. As a primary source of data, a total of forty-five nested pattern blocks having 12.61m, 5.64m, and 2.82m for tree, pole, and sapling, respectively, have been installed in inventory. GPS, DBH, and height were recorded. Descriptive and statistical test like ANOVA, Tukey’s b was performed in case of normal distribution with calculation of biomass, carbon stock, and the Importance Vegetation index. The North-East aspect was found maximum amount of carbon stock in trees, poles, and saplings. Schimma wallichii was the dominant species with the highest carbon stock mean of 29.56 tons/ha, species richness was 7, and Simpson’s Diversity Index was 0.76 in the tree in Pataleban community forests. The highest tree Shannon-Weiner diversity index values were 1.01 in Jyalachity community forests, where Bosan Danda and Pataleban community forests bore 1.3 same value of index. Evenness of trees in the South-East aspects of Jyalachity community forests was 0.9, while Bosan Danda and Pataleban community forests bore 1 same value of evenness. One-way ANOVA showed no significant difference in the carbon pool in trees in Jyalachity, Bosan Danda community forests, but showed a significant difference in Pataleban community forests, where Bosan Danda community forests showed a significant difference (p=0.008) in poles at a 95% confidence level. Carbon storage is notably higher in the Northeast aspect, underscoring the need to protect these areas to mitigate deforestation-related carbon emissions. This research will provide significant insights and benefits to both the scientific community and policymakers.
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