Stock Carbon Estimation on Pine Tree Plantations of Different Ages in Mount Tangkubanparahu Region

• Main Author: WIDYASTUTI, HENY
• Format: Final Project
• Language: Indonesia
• Online Access: https://digilib.itb.ac.id/gdl/view/34673
• Institution: Institut Teknologi Bandung

Information on capacity of terrestrial ecosystem in sequestering carbon is very important in relation to attempts in reducing atmospheric carbon. A research to study capacity of pine tree plantation (forest) to sequester carbon has been conducted at Mount Tangkubanparahu. The aim of this research was to estimate carbon stocks on pine forests of different ages, which were distributed on the following components, i.e. tree, understory, litter and soil. Measurements were conducted at 15 pine forest sites of 8, 13, 17, 23, 26, 31 and 36 years old using nested plots according to Hairiah et al. (2001) protocol. The biomass of trees was estimated using allometric equation W = 0, 0417 D 2, 6576 (Waterloo, 1995); where W = biomass and D = diameter at breast height. Meanwhile, the biomass of understory and litter was estimated from the dry weight of samples collected from each plot. Then, the carbon stocks of tree, undestory and litter were estimated as 40 % of biomass, whereas the estimation of soil carbon stocks was based on measurements of soil organic carbon concentration and bulk density. Among all sites of seven different ages, the forest carbon stock varied between 108.00 Mg/ha to 147.15 Mg/ha. The carbon stocks of tree ranged between 47.71 to 79.56 Mg/ha, understory between 0.46 to 1.98 Mg/ha, litter between 1.42 to 4.81 Mg/ha, and soil carbon stocks between 50.05 to 66.34 Mg/ha. Therefore, tree and soil organic matter were the main contributor of (total) forest carbon stocks. The results showed that increasing ages of forest stands was not followed by increasing total forest carbon stocks, because apart from age, total forest carbon stocks were influenced by density and size of individual trees. In this respect, the total forest carbon stocks of young stands consisting of small trees with high density (1000-1550 trees/ha) were almost as high as those of old stands whose density was very low (<230 trees/ha). The soil carbon stocks in young stands were higher than those in medium-aged stands and they were almost equal to the old stands. Similar trend was found in the litter component, which suggests that the litter was important contributor for soil organic carbon. This research suggested that the capacity of pine forest in sequestering carbon was influenced by management of forest stands. In this study area, the pine forests were able to accumulate 125 Mg/ha carbon in 13 years without (artificial) thinning and 125–147 Mg/ha carbon in 30 years with thinning.