Above Ground Biomass and Carbon Stocking in Tropical Deciduous Forests of State of Madhya Pradesh, India

The present study deals with the estimation of tree density, basal area, biomass and carbon status with the help of nondestructive allometric equations method in tropical deciduous forest in 0.1 ha permanent plots, established in twenty sites in four districts of state of Madhya Pradesh in central India. The volume of tree was calculated using site specific local or regional volume equation. The biomass of each species was estimated taking tree volume and species specific gravity. The relationship between basal area and above ground biomass showed positive correlation for all sites and forest types. Field measurements for density ranged from 147 trees ha-1 to 777.5 trees ha-1 while basal area were 0.6 m2·ha-1 to 10.72 m2·ha-1. The biomass ranged from 3.99 t·ha-1 to 53.90 t·ha-1 and carbon stock from 1.89 t·ha-1 to 25.6 t·ha-1 across the all different study sites. This study concludes that tropical deciduous forests of the studied area in Madhya Pradesh are having strong potential for carbon sequestration. Estimation of above ground tree biomass in the present study provides data for tropical deciduous forests covering a large part (24.66%) of state for further use