Woody Species Diversity and Aboveground Live Carbon Storage in Agroforestry Systems of Sokoru District, Jimma Zone, Southwest Ethiopia

Abstract

There is a growing interest in the role of different types of land use systems in stabilizing the atmospheric CO2 concentration, reducing the CO2 emissions and on increasing the carbon sink of forestry and agroforestry systems. Agroforestry has potential to mitigate climate change and help farmers to adapt the impacts of climate change. Different types of agroforestry systems such as homegarden, cropland and pastureland have great role in storing carbon and stabilizing the climate change by absorbing CO2 from the atmosphere. The main objective of this study was to investigate woody species diversity and aboveground live carbon storage in Sokoru District, Jimma Zone. The study was conducted from February to May, 2018. Descriptive statistics and one way ANOVA were used to analyze the population density, above ground live biomass, carbon storage, tree height and diameter at breast height and basal area for each tree was calculated. Aboveground live biomass of each tree was determined by using the revised non destructive equation. The amount of carbon stored in each tree was estimated at 50% of the aboveground live biomass hence 5.54 t, and in homegarden, 9 t in cropland and 3.47 t pastureland carbon was stored. The result of the study showed that woody species diversity were higher in homegarden (2.79) followed by pastureland(2.77) and cropland (2.1).Moreover, the higher similarity in woody species composition were found between homegarden and cropland(65.7%)whereas homegarden and pastureland showed higher difference with similarity of 38.8%..From three land use types the highest amount of carbon was stored in cropland followed by homegarden and pastureland. Eventually, the study revealed that the woody species found in different agroforestry system of the study area have great role in carbon storage and CO2 sequestration. Thus all stakeholders should focus on conservation of trees and shrubs found agricultural landscapes.