Assessment of carbon sequestration in soil layers of managed forest

This research was aimed to studying the stocking volume and effects of species mixture and forest type on carbon sequestration in watershed No. 45 of Hyrcanian forest. In order to take soil samples, one soil profile was dug in each district as control profile, and then soil sampling was done in recognized forest types by Auger. Due to varying forest type in each district, a total of 11 soil profiles were dug and 288 samples were taken by auger. Soil samples were delivered to soil lab after being dried. Walcky-Black procedure was used for carbon measurement in mineral horizons and in order to evaluate the carbon in humus horizons, burning in oven with 400Oc was applied. The results showed that there is significant difference between Deldareh and Tooskachal districts in term of the amount of carbon sequestration. Over 283 ton/ha carbon sequestration in Deldareh shows that this forest ecosystem is active. Compared to other districts, Deldareh with 312 m3/ha has the highest stocking volume. There is a direct relationship between volume per hectare and forest biomass, contributing more carbon storage. Species composition and mixture in different types in Deldareh distinguish this district from others, which is an important factor of increasing carbon storage potential in mineral horizons. Determining the depth of sampling in mineral layers for quantifying carbon sequestration is another result in this study. As there was not significant difference between 50 to100 cm depths in amount of carbon sequestration in the 11 samples of this study, one can conclude that study of carbon in depth of 50 cm could be sufficient.