Woody Species Diversity and Aboveground Live Carbon Storage in Different Land use types of Yem Special District, Southwest Ethiopia

Abstract

Agroforestry principles and practices have long been recognized and applied in tropical countries, temperate countries have lagged behind in this regard. The desire for more environmentally responsible agricultural practices and systems has provided an ideal context for developing and implementing agroforestry in temperate regions. Agroforestry is a system in which trees and different crops are grown together in the same area for net economic returns to farmers. Interactions between trees and other components of agriculture may be important at a range of scales: in fields (where trees and crops are grown together), on farms (where trees may provide fodder for livestock, fuel, food, shelter, or income from products, including timber) and landscapes (where agricultural and forest land uses combine in determining the provision of ecosystem services). Agroforestry has been identified as a potential greenhouse gas mitigation and afforestation approach under the Kyoto Protocol. The main objective of this study is to investigate Woody Species Diversity and Aboveground live Carbon Storage in Different Land uses of Yem Special district, Southwest Ethiopia. This study was conducted from January – June, 2020. A transect line has been established across different land use types (homegarden, pastureland and cropland). Stem count of woody species in three land use types was recorded. The circumference of each stem with diameter at breast height (DBH) ≥ 5cm, height ≥ 1.3 m were recorded from the 39 total sample plots. Woody species diversity was calculated using Shannon-Wiener diversity index and woody species in pastureland was highly diversified (3.37). The similarity of woody species composition among the three land use types was calculated by using Sorenson’s similarity index. As a result cropland and pasture land showed the highest similarity when compared to the others. Aboveground live biomass of each tree was calculated by using the revised nondestructive allometric equation AGB = 0.0673(ρD2H) 0.976 . As a result Cropland stored the highest amount AGC (11.52 t/ha). As a whole 20.11 t/ha of AGC was stored in the three land use types. Depending on the result of this study I recommend for further investigation on other components to fully understand the contribution of agroforestry systems in biodiversity conservation and carbon storage.