Effects of Silvicultural Treatments on Forest Carbon Stock: A Case Study of Bhudkaya Buffer Zone Community Forest, Bardia National Park, Nepal

Enhancement of forest growth through silvicultural treatments is one of the various strategies to increase carbon (C) sequestration in forests. This study was carried out to examine the effects of silvicultural treatments on Bhudkaya Buffer zone community forest (BBZCF) in Bardia National park.

The inventory for estimating above and below ground biomass of forest was carried out using stratified random sampling technique. Group discussion was carried out with the members of BBZCF to know the management practices adopted there. The biophysical data were analyzed using statistical analysis. Soil samples were collected from three different depths 0-10, 10-20 and 20-30 cm in order to determine the soil carbon. Total carbon stock was computed by adding carbon stocks of five different forest pools viz; tree, soil, litter, herb and grass, estimated using standard methods for each plot.

BBZCF adopted general silvicultural treatments like thinning, pruning, selective cutting and cleaning in 56.98 ha. The aboveground carbon stock in non-treatment blocks for trees, saplings, litter, herb and grass, and root was calculated at 127.38 t ha-1, 0.16 t ha-1, 0.04 t ha-1, 2.65 t ha-1, and 25.48 t ha-1, respectively and in the treatments block it was estimated as 112.65 t ha-1, 0.1 t ha-1, 0.42 t ha-1, 1.31 t ha-1 and 22.52 t ha-1, respectively. Soil organic carbon of silvicultural treatments block was estimated 45.99 t ha-1 and non-silvicultural treatments block was estimated 36.05 t ha-1.