Carbon storage,structure and composition of miombo woodlands in Tanzania’s Eastern Arc Mountains |
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Authors: | Deo D. Shirima Pantaleo K. T. Munishi Simon L. Lewis Neil D. Burgess Andrew R. Marshall Andrew Balmford Ruth D. Swetnam Eliakimu Mnkondo Zahabu |
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Affiliation: | 1. Department of Forest Biology, Sokoine University of Agriculture, Box 3010, Chuo Kikuu, Morogoro 5601, United Republic of Tanzania;2. Earth and Biosphere Institute, University of Leeds, Leeds, U.K.;3. Department of Zoology, Cambridge University, Downing Street, Cambridge CB2 3EJ, U.K.;4. World Wildlife Fund, 1250 24th Street NW, Washington, DC 20037‐1193, USA;5. CIRCLE, Environment Department, University of York, York YO10 5DD, U.K.;6. Flamingo Land ltd., Kirby Misperton, North Yorkshire YO17 6UX, U.K.;7. Department of Forest Mensuration & Management, Sokoine University of Agriculture, Box 3010, Chuo Kikuu, Morogoro 5601, United Republic of Tanzania |
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Abstract: | We determine the aboveground biomass and carbon storage (ABGC) of trees and the herbaceous layer in miombo woodland in the Eastern Arc Mountains (EAM) of Tanzania. In four 1‐ha sample plots in Nyanganje and Kitonga Forests, we measured all trees ≥10 cm diameter alongside height and wood mass density. The plots contained an average of 20 tree species ha?1 (range 11–29) and 344 stems ha?1 (range 281–382) with Shannon diversity values of 1.05 and 1.25, respectively. We weighted nine previously published woody savannah allometric models based on whether: (i) the model was derived from the same geographical region; (ii) the model included tree height/wood mass density in addition to stem diameter; and (iii) sample size was used to fit the model. The weighted mean ABGC storage from the nine models range from 13.5 ± 2 to 29.8 ± 5 Mg ha?1. Measured ABGC storage in the herbaceous layer, using the wet combustion method, adds 0.55 ± 0.02 Mg C ha?1. Estimates suggest that EAM miombo woodlands store a range of 13–30 Mg ha?1 of carbon. Although the estimates suggest that miombo woodlands store significant quantities of carbon, caution is required as this is the first estimate based on in situ data. |
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Keywords: | carbon storage composition Eastern Arc Mountains miombo woodland structure |
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