Carbon sequestration potential of various litter components in temperate coniferous forests of Kashmir Himalaya, India

Abstract

Natural forests play a key role in the mitigation of atmospheric carbon and have been studied by various workers but very limited work was carried out towards to the contribution of litter in carbon mitigation potential. The current study estimated the carbon sequestration potential in different components of litter in temperate coniferous forests. The results found that carbon content was found highest in cone followed by needle, branch and bark. Seasonal variation was found in all the components of the litter with highest carbon in autumn found at Daksum. During spring season Kuthar showed maximum contribution followed by Pahalgam in summer. Among different components of litter Cone contributed maximum at Kuthar while needle at Pahalgam. The result revealed that litter decomposition was directly related to the accumulation of soil organic carbon in all the ranges which depict the relation of litter with soil organic carbon. It was concluded that litter has an important contribution in sequestering atmospheric carbon as well as providing nutrients to the standing vegetation that mitigates the carbon dioxide.