Biomass and Carbon Stock of Trees Growing in Cotton University, Guwahati, Assam, India

A large institutional campus with trees can be a potential solution for global warming and climate change. There were many international and national studies on Carbon stock of trees growing in university campus. However, such studies in North Eastern India are very meager. Considering the gap in the studies, the present study was conducted to estimate the total biomass and Carbon stock of trees growing in Cotton University, Guwahati, Assam, India. The study site was sub-divided into different plots, in each plot, random quadrats of 10 m × 10 m were laid for vegetation sampling of all the trees. Altogether 47 trees species from 45 genera and 24 families were recorded on the campus. The tree density (stem h −1 ), total above-ground biomass, total below-ground biomass, total biomass and total Carbon stock of all the trees growing in campus were 370 ha −1 , 544.42 Mg h −1 , 142.85 Mg h −1 , 692.27 Mg h −1 , and 346.14 Mg C ha −1 respectively. The present study revealed that Cotton University campus has good tree diversity and high Carbon stock potential. Higher educational institutions particularly in urban area maintaining good green cover chiefly with trees have the potential to conserve biodiversity and also to act as local Carbon sinks.