TY - JOUR
T1 - Assessment of carbon stocks of semi-evergreen forests in Cambodia
AU - Chheng, Kimsun
AU - Sasaki, Nophea
AU - Mizoue, Nobuya
AU - Khorn, Saret
AU - Kao, Dana
AU - Lowe, Andrew
N1 - Funding Information:
This study was supported by a Grant-in-Aid for Scientific Research (No. 24252002 , No. 23405029 ) from the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology of Japan and by Kyushu University ( P&P B-1, 18027 ). N. Mizoue was also supported by Researcher Exchange Fellowship between Natural Science and Engineering Research Council of Canada and Japan Society for the Promotion of Science to the University of British Columbia for data analysis and discussions.
Publisher Copyright:
© 2015 The Authors.
PY - 2016/1/1
Y1 - 2016/1/1
N2 - Understanding carbon stocks relative to tree species is important for managing tropical forests in a way that will result in the carbon emission reductions and biodiversity conservation required under the REDD+ scheme. Here we analyse inventory data from 179 sample plots in semi-evergreen forests of three provinces in Cambodia. Across all study sites, 5,995 trees with a diameter at breast height (DBH) ≥10 cm, comprising 79 species from 38 families, were analysed. Tree species of the Dipterocarpaceae were most common (10 species), followed by the species of Caesalpinaceae, Combretaceae and Ebenaceae. Analysis of relative carbon stocks (RCS) suggested that Lagerstroemia calyculata Kurz (RCS=14.3%), Syzygium sp. (6.8%), Shorea vulgaris (5.0%), Irvingia malayana (4.8%), Anisoptera costata Kort (4.6%), Vatica astrotricha (4.2%), and Dehaasia cuneata Blume (3.8%) together accounted for 43.6% of the total average carbon stocks of 99.8±4.8 MgC ha-1. We found that carbon stock is highly correlated to basal area (R2=0.993) but not to stem density (R2=0.153). Using carbon stock values, we estimated the carbon emission due to deforestation of semi-evergreen forests to be 8.3 TgCO2 year-1 in Cambodia between 2002 and 2010. These emissions and the loss of 79 tree species in our study sites could be avoided if financial incentives were available for protecting semi-evergreen forests in Cambodia.
AB - Understanding carbon stocks relative to tree species is important for managing tropical forests in a way that will result in the carbon emission reductions and biodiversity conservation required under the REDD+ scheme. Here we analyse inventory data from 179 sample plots in semi-evergreen forests of three provinces in Cambodia. Across all study sites, 5,995 trees with a diameter at breast height (DBH) ≥10 cm, comprising 79 species from 38 families, were analysed. Tree species of the Dipterocarpaceae were most common (10 species), followed by the species of Caesalpinaceae, Combretaceae and Ebenaceae. Analysis of relative carbon stocks (RCS) suggested that Lagerstroemia calyculata Kurz (RCS=14.3%), Syzygium sp. (6.8%), Shorea vulgaris (5.0%), Irvingia malayana (4.8%), Anisoptera costata Kort (4.6%), Vatica astrotricha (4.2%), and Dehaasia cuneata Blume (3.8%) together accounted for 43.6% of the total average carbon stocks of 99.8±4.8 MgC ha-1. We found that carbon stock is highly correlated to basal area (R2=0.993) but not to stem density (R2=0.153). Using carbon stock values, we estimated the carbon emission due to deforestation of semi-evergreen forests to be 8.3 TgCO2 year-1 in Cambodia between 2002 and 2010. These emissions and the loss of 79 tree species in our study sites could be avoided if financial incentives were available for protecting semi-evergreen forests in Cambodia.
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=84949908748&partnerID=8YFLogxK
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/citedby.url?scp=84949908748&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1016/j.gecco.2015.11.007
DO - 10.1016/j.gecco.2015.11.007
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:84949908748
SN - 2351-9894
VL - 5
SP - 34
EP - 47
JO - Global Ecology and Conservation
JF - Global Ecology and Conservation
ER -