CARBON SEQUESTRATION POTENTIAL IN BIOMASS OF HALOXYLON APHYLLUM AND STIPAGROSTIS PLUMOSA (ARAN-O- BIDGOL DESERT, IRAN)

ABSTRACT Carbon sequestration in soil organic matter (SOM) is increasingly advocated as a potential win-win strategy for reclaiming degraded lands, particularly in arid regions of the developing world, mitigating global climate change and improving the livelihoods of resource-poor farmers. Vegetation management to develop the shrub or tree species in arid and semi-arid regions is one of the inexpensive and multipurpose methods to decrease CO2. Afforestation in desert regions is one of the most practical and advantageous methods of desert management. This research was done in Saxaul (Haloxylon aphyllum) stands as the afforested area and the surrounding native vegetation Stipagrostis plumosa (Control area) in Aran-o-Bidgol desert of Iran. In both areas, the amounts of aboveground and underground biomass of the species were calculated by cutting and weighting the aerial parts (leaves, stem) and roots in both species. Ash method was used to determine carbon sequestration coefficient of the studied species. The amounts of soil carbon sequestration were measured too by using of wacky black method. The comparison of carbon sequestration of H. aphyllum in the unit of the measuring surface and control areas (S. plumosa biomass) showed the difference of this ability between two areas (p<0.01). The results indicated that total soil carbon sequestration of H. aphyllum (24.31 mg/ha) was significantly (p<0.01) more than S. plumosa (11.2 mg/ha)