IJEP 42(7): 792-805 : Vol. 42 Issue. 7 (July 2022)
1. Christian College, Department of Botany, Kattakada-695 572, Thiruvananthapuram, Kerala, India
2. University of Calicut, Department of Botany, Malappuram – 673 635, Kerala
Abstract
Enhancing carbon sequestration in biomass is presently considered one of the major strategies for reducing atmospheric CO2 concentration. The present study focused on the identification of tree species in the Christian college campus, Thiruvananthapuram, Kerala, India which would efficiently respond to global warming due to the enhanced CO2 sequestration. The primary data were collected by non-destructive methods from a total of 253 individual trees. Tree height and girth at breast height were measured using a clinometer and measuring tape, respectively. Wood density of different tree species was obtained from an authentic database and parameters, namely above ground biomass (AGB), biomass ground biomass (BGB), total biomass, carbon store and the average amount of carbon dioxide sequestered by each tree were calculated. The highest total biomass was recorded by Tamarindus indica followed by Caesalpinia pulcherrima and Anacardium occidentale. The highest biomass in Caesalpinia pulcherrima can be attributed to the increased wood density in the species. Tamarindus indica exhibited the highest CO2 sequestration followed by Artocarpus heterophyllus, Caesalpinia pulcherrima, Anacardium occidentale, Delonix regia, Tectona grandis and Syzygium cumini. The amount of CO2 sequestered by Tamarindus indica was 70372.73 kg, followed by Artocarpus heterophyllus (25567.29 kg). Of the 30 families present on the campus, CO2 sequestration was highest in Fabaceae followed by moraceae. The major share of CO2 sequestration in the campus was provided by fabaceae, moraceae, myrtaceae and anacardiaceae. Present analysis revealed a perfect positive correlation between total plant biomass and CO2 sequestered with a correlation coefficient of 0.9721.
Keywords
CO2 sequestration, Global warming, wood density
References
- Khan, S.A. 2008. Algae a novel source of renewable energy and carbon sequestration. Akshay Urja. 2:14-18.
- Moura-Costa, P.H. 1996. Tropical forestry practices for carbon sequestration. In Dipterocarp forest ecosystem: Towards sustainable management. Ed A. Schulte and D. Schone. World Scientific Publication, New Jersey.
- Norby, R., et al. 1992. Productivity and compensatory responses of yellow-poplar trees in elevated C02. Nature.357: 322-324. DOI: 10.1038/35732 2a0.
- Wisniewskil, J., et al. 1993. Carbon dioxide sequestration in terrestrial ecosystems. Climate Res., 3:1-5.
- Rathore, A. and Y.T. Jasrai. 2013. Urban green patches as carbon sink : Gujarat University campus, Ahmedabad. Indian J. Fundamental Appl. Life Sci., 3(1):208-213.
- Kumar, G.P., et al. 2009. Carbon sequestration with special reference to agroforestry in cold deserts of Ladhak. Curr. Sci., 97:1063-1068.
- Chavan, B.L. 2010. Sequestered standing carbon stock in selective tree species grown in university campus at Aurangabad, Maharashtra, India. Int. J. Eng. Sci. Tech., 2:3003-3007.
- Negi, J.D.S., R.K. Manhas and P.S. Chauhan. 2003. Carbon allocation in different components of some tree species of India: A new approach for carbon estimation. Curr. Sci., 85: 101-104.
- Patil S., B. Langi and M. Gurav. 2019. Green audit in academic institutes. Int. J. Multidisciplinary Educ. Res., 8(6): 97-107.
- Martin, P. K., P. O’Callaghan and D. Probert. 1992. Environmental auditing: Estimating and reducing corporate greenhouse-gas emissions using monitoring and targeting software systems. Appl. Energy. 42(4): 269-288.
- Dahle, M. and E. Neumayer. 2001. Overcoming barriers to campus greening: A survey among higher educational institutions in London, UK. Int. J. Sustain. Higher Educ., 2(2): 139-160. DOI: 10.1108/14676370110388363.
- Xu, B. and N. Mitchell. 2011. Carbon sequestration by trees on the city campus. The University of Auckland, Auckland (unpublished working paper).
- County, B. 2012. How to calculate the amount of CO2sequestered in a tree per year, Available at: www.broward.org/NaturalResources/ClimateChange/Documents/Calculating%20CO2%20Sequestration%20b%20Trees.pdf.
- Ravindranath, N.H. and M. Ostwald. 2008. Carbon inventory methods: Handbook of greenhouse gas inventory, carbon mitigation and roundwood production projects. Springer.
- Chave, J., et al. 2005. Tree allometry and improved estimation of carbon stocks and balance in tropical forests. Oecologia. 145: 87-99.
- Adams, D., et al. 1999. Minimum cost strategies for sequestering carbon in forests. Land Eco., 75(3): 360-374.
- Sundquist, E.T., et al. 2008. Carbon sequestration to mitigate climate change (fact sheet 2008–3097). U.S. Geological Survey.
- Moulton, R.J. and K.R. Richards. 1990. Costs of sequestering carbon through tree planting and forest management in the United States. General technical report WO-58. U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest Service, Washington, DC.
- Warran, A. and A. Patwardhan. 2001. Carbon sequestration potential of trees in and around Pune city. Ranwa, Pune, India. pp 1-16.
- Chavan, B. and G. Rasal. 2012. Total sequestered carbon stock of Mangifera indica. J. Env. Earth Sci., 2: 37-49.
- Nowak, D.J. 1994. Atmospheric carbon dioxide reduction by Chicago’s urban forest. In Chicago’s urban forest ecosystem: Results of the Chicago urban forest climate project. General technical report NE-186. Ed E.G. McPherson, D. J. Nowak and R. A. Rowntree. US Department of Agriculture, Forest Service, Washington DC. pp 83-94.
- Kiran, S.G. and K. Shah. 2011. Carbon sequestration by urban trees on roadsides of Vadodara city. Int. J. Eng. Sci. Tech., 3(4): 3666-3070.
- Nowak, D.J. and D.E. Crane. 2002. Carbon storage and sequestration by urban trees in the USA. Env. Poll., 116:381-389.
- Jana, B.K., et al. 2009. Carbon sequestration rate and above ground biomass carbon potential of young species. J. Ecol. Natural Env., 1:15-24.
- Nowak, D.J. 1993. Atmospheric carbon reduction by urban trees. J. Env. Manage., 37: 207-217. DOI: 10.1006/jema.1993.1017.
- Peper, P.J., E.G. McPherson and S.M. Mori. 2001. Equations for predicting diameter, height, crown width and leaf area of San Joaquin Valley street trees. J. Arboric. 27: 306–317.
- Alamgir, M. and M. Al-Amin. 2008. Allometric models to estimate organic carbon in forest vegetation. J. Forestry Res., 19:101-106.
- Peper, P.J. and G. McPherson. 2012. How large is large? Urban tree allometric from 16 U.S. climate regions. 97th Meeting of Contribution to the Portland ESA 2012. Washington D.C. Available at: http://eco.confex.com/eco /2012/webprogram/Paper 35077.html.
- Mutanal, S.M., S.J. Patil and G. Shahapurmath. 2007. Investigation on the productivity of multipurpose tree species in degraded waste lands. Karnataka J. Agric. Sci., 20:2804-2806.
- Singh, B. and L.S. Lodhiyal. 2009. Biomass and carbon allocation in 8 year old poplar (Populus deltoids Marsh) plantation in Tarai agroforestry systems of Central Himalaya, India. New York Sci. J., 2:49-53.
- Ullah, M.R. and M. Al-Amin. 2012. Above and below-ground carbon stock estimation in a natural forest of Bangladesh. J. Forest Sci., 58: 372-379.
- Mariappan, M., et al. 2012. Carbon accounting of urban forest in Chennai city using Lidar data. European J. Sci. Res., 81: 314-328.
