Fuel wood consumption, and its influence on forest biomass carbon stock and emission of carbon dioxide. A case study of Kahinaur, district Mau, Uttar Pradesh, India

ABSTRACT

This study presents a carbon budget for a plantation forest (PF) in the village of Kahinaur, district Mau, Uttar Pradesh, India. The total carbon stock in the selected PF was approximately 4500 Mg. The results showed that species such as Prosopis juliflora (52.0%), Acacia nilotica (48.5%), Tectona grandis (46.4%) and Eucalyptus sp. (45.4%) are the more carbon sequestration potential tree species comparative to 10 dominant tree species in the PF. According to the results of a survey, fuel wood consumption varies significantly from season to season. Daily fuel wood consumption from the forest ranged from a minimum 170 kg d⁻¹ in summer to a maximum 450 kg/day in winter, giving an average annual consumption rate of 62.1 to 164.3 tonnes. The higher consumption of fuel wood is a possible reason for deforestation and emission of greenhouse gases. Based on calorific value, P. juliflora, Terminalia arjuna, Eucalyptus sp. and T. grandis are some of the most promising tree species in the region, that can be recommended for energy plantation. Therefore, findings of paper could be the basis for selection of suitable tree species for future energy plantation in this region and provide clues for adoptation and management of such high productive ecosystem in the wake of changing climate in the future. for future energy plantation, to control the environmental damage caused by excessive use of fire wood in the region.

KEYWORDS:

• Carbon sequestration
• fuel wood
• plantation forest
• tree species

Acknowledgements

First, the authors are grateful to UGC, New Delhi, for providing a national fellowship (award letter no: F1-17.1/2016-17/NFST-2015-17-ST-JAM-671/(SA-III/Website) dated 05-04-2016.) for higher education for conducting the research smoothly. The authors are thankful to U.S. Singh, IFS and ranger of the selected plantation forest, for providing necessary facilities during the field visits. The authors are also thankful to local residents of area for providing necessary information to complete this study.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Additional information

Funding

This work was supported by the UGC New Delhi [grant number F1-17.1/2016-17/NFST-2015-17-ST-JAM-671/(SA-III/Website) dated on 05-04-2016].