Abstract

The article presents biomass carbon stock for an Ailanthus excelsa plantation in Dehradun Forest Division, Uttarakhand, India. Destructive sampling was used to calculate the biomass of A. excelsa and undergrowth vegetation (shrubs and herbs); volumetric equations were used for estimating the biomass of associated tree species. The total biomass of A. excelsa was calculated as 126.07 t ha^-1 with above ground biomass (AGB) 102.96 t ha^-1 and below ground biomass (BGB) 23.11 t ha^-1. The total biomass of the two associated tree species was estimated as 43.91 t ha^-1 (AGB 34.01 and BGB 9.9 t ha^-1). The total biomass of shrub and herb species was calculated as 1.62 and 0.98 t ha^-1, respectively. Litter biomass was calculated as 0.98 t ha^-1. The estimated total biomass of the whole ecosystem (173.56 t ha^-1) was obtained as the sum of these component biomass values. Carbon content of the main tree species, associated tree species, and understory vegetation (shrubs+herbs), was estimated in AGB pool (63.76 Mg ha^-1) and BGB pool (14.84 Mg ha^-1), and added to the litter carbon (0.35 Mg ha^-1) and soil organic carbon (SOC) (46.27 Mg ha^-1) to estimate the carbon stock in the whole ecosystem (125.22 Mg ha^-1). The SOC to AGB ratio was 0.72.

Key words: Biomass, carbon stock, litter, Ailanthus excelsa Roxb. plantation ecosystem, above ground biomass and below ground biomass.