Research Article / 1 ABOVEGROUND CARBON CONTENT IN MIXED DECIDUOUS FOREST AND TEAK PLANTATIONS

This work has been carried out in September 2003, to compare aboveground carbon content in the mixed deciduous forest, located at Hauy Kha Kaeng Wildlife Sanctuary, and in the teak plantation of teaks aged 6, 10, 15, 23 and 24 years old, from Thai Plywood Co. Ltd. Both study sites were located in Lansak district, Uthaithani province by conducting. The calculated aboveground carbon content of those areas were 50 % of the total aboveground biomass. Allometric equation was applied to find the aboveground biomass of tree stands. Samplings, undergrowth, bamboo and litter were dried at 80 oC for 48 hours, then the percentages of moisture content were used to estimate the aboveground biomass content. The results showed that the establishment of a teak plantation over an area where there has once been a mixed deciduous forest has as great a potential of carbon storage as that found in the mixed deciduous forest. Moreover, the aboveground carbon content was likely to increase according to age. That is to say, the aboveground carbon content found in the teak plantation trees aged 6, 10, 15, and 23 and 24 years old and in the mixed deciduous forest was 39.51, 40.82, 33.87, 55.23, 41.13 and 71.60 t ha-1, respectively. Furthermore, the density of stands were positively relative to the aboveground carbon content. Namely, the greater the density o