Carbon stocks potential in regenerating trees of the tropical coastal forest ecosystems

Abstract

Estimation of carbon in the regenerating tropical coastal forest is needed to support conservation and forest monitoring strategies. This chapter presents the determined carbon stocks in regenerating species across forest sites subjected to deforestation because of crop-farming and livestock grazing. The study used thirty-three independent measurements of tree carbon stocks from thirty-three tree families found in the coastal zone of Tanzania. The vegetation was inventoried using a floristic survey of the woody component across intact, crop agriculture and livestock disturbed land-use sites. The biomass was then estimated by employing the existing allometric equations for tropical forests. Thereafter, the above-ground stored carbon was quantified on the sampled tree species found in each land uses. The tree varied (p ≤ .05) in carbon stock across species and land uses. The average carbon (Kg/ha) stored in the regenerated adult trees was 1200 in IFS, 600 in ADS, 400 in LDS. Saplings had 0.43 in LDS, 0.07 in ADS and 0.01 in IFS. Also, seedlings showed an average of 0.41 in IFS, 0.22 in ADS and 0.05 in LDS. It shows that crop-agriculture highly affects the regeneration potential of trees, biomass accumulation and carbon stock than livestock grazing. To restore the carbon storage potential of coastal tropical forests, crop-agriculture must be discouraged, while livestock grazing can be integrated into forest management. Indeed, further studies are required to gauge the integration levels of any anthropogenic activities, so that the natural capacity of coastal tropical forests to regenerate and stock carbon is not comprised further.