Carbon Stock of Necromass in Harvested Forest of Gunung Basor, Kelantan

Abstract

The information on the carbon sequestration potential and associated dynamics of necromass in the east coast of Malaysia particularly in Kelantan is scanty. No prior studies have been carried out to quantify the above ground biomass of necromass in Kelantan. The decrease of live tree biomass in response to selective timber harvesting within the vicinity may lead to an increase of necromass stock. Therefore, this study was executed to estimate the carbon stocks of necromass of harvested tropical forest. Necromass and carbon stocks were measured in two sampling plots of 200m2 in Gunung Basor, Kelantan, Malaysia. All dead standing trees; trunks; dead trees on the ground; stumps with diameter >5 cm and length of >0.5m were sampled. The total necromass recorded within the study area was 124.4 Mg ha-1 whilst a total of 62.2 Mg ha-1 carbon stock was estimated from 12 different diameter size classes. Out of 803 necromass samples, the highest carbon stock (18.5 Mg ha-1) was represented by 1% of fallen dead tree with dbh more than 55 cm. About 21% (n=169) necromass contributed the second largest pool of carbon stock (42.7 Mg ha-1). Meanwhile, 79% (n=634) of necromass was accounted for the lowest carbon sock (1.0 Mg ha-1) in the study area. The high necromass stocks in this study site may suggests that the flux of carbon dioxide by virtue to decomposition process may contribute to 30 to 40% of gross carbon dioxide efflux in the future. This study is vital in providing data on the carbon storage capacity of tropical forests in Kelantan and may as well aid in the decision making processes for sustainable forest management.