CARBONiSTOCKSANDiSEQUESTRATIONiPOTENTIALiOFiIBODIiMONKEY iFORESTiIBODI, iATAKUMOSAiWESTiLOCALiGOVERNMENTiAREAiOFiOSUN iSTATE, iNIGERIA

Abstract

Ibodi iMonkey iForest i(IMF) iis iknown ifor iits iillegal imining iactivities, iwhich ihave iled ito ithe idegradationiofitheiforestiecosystem. iMostistudiesionitheiforestifocusedionifloristiciandimonkey ispeciesidiversity. iThe iCarbon iStock i(CS) iand iSequestration iPotential i(SP), iwhich iare icritical ifor imitigating iCO2 iemissions iof iIMF, ihave inot ibeen ifully iquantified. iThis istudy itherefore iinvestigated ithe idistribution ipattern iof iCarbon ipools iand iSequestration ipotential iin idifferent iphysiognomiesiinitheiforest. Four iplots iof i25 im i× i25 im ieach iwere irandomly iselected iin ithree iphysiognomies: iRegrowth iForest i(RF), iCocoa iPlantation i(CP)iand iTree iFallow i(TF). iIn ieach iphysiognomy, iall istanding itreesiwith iDiameteriat iBreast iHeight i≥10cmiwere iidentified, imeasured iand ienumerated. iMean iBasal iArea i(MBA) iof ithe iplants iwas idetermined iusing istandard iformulae. iThe ibiodiversity iindices iderived iincluded iShannon-Wiener iDiversity iIndex i(SWDI), iSorenson’s iSimilarity iIndexi(SSI)iandiFamilyiImportanceiValueiIndexi(FIVI). iTheitemporalichangesiinitheistudyisite iwere idetermined iby icomparing iresultsiwith ibaseline idata. iA idiagonal itransect iwasilaid iwithin ieach iplot ifor isoil isample icollection iat ifour isoil idepths i(0-15, i16-30, i31-45, iand i46-60 icm). iBiomassiandiCSiinidifferenticarbonipools, inamelyiSoiliOrganiciCarboni(SOC), iAboveiGround iCarbon i(AGC), iBelow iGround iCarbon i(BGC), iHerb-Litter-Saplings i(HLS) iwere icalculated iusing istandard imethods. iCarbon iSequestration iPotential i(CSP) iwas idetermined ifrom ithe isoil iand iplant ilitter ianalyses ias iwell ias iallometric iequations iusing istandard iformulae. iData iwere ianalysediusingidescriptiveistatisticsiandiANOVAi(α0.05). Eighty-seven, ieighty-sixiandioneihundrediandisixiplantispeciesiwereiencounterediinitheiRF, iCP iand iTF, irespectively. iThe iestimated iMBAi(m2ha-1 )iwere i17.96, i13.12iandi1.93 iforiRF, iCPiand iTF, irespectively. iTheiSWDIiinitheithreeiphysiognomiesiwasi3.02, i0.39iandi0.29iforiRF, iCPiand iTF, irespectively. iTheiSSIiiniallitheiphysiognomiesistudiedishowedilowisimilaritiesiwithiCPiand iTF ibeing ithe imost isimilar i(48.9%), iwhile iRF iand iCP iwere imost idissimilar i(35.1%). iFamily iSterculiaceae i(60.65)ihaditheihighestiandiPolygalaceae i(1.43)ihadithe ilowestiFIVI. iThere iwere isignificant idifferences iin ithe inumber iof ispecies iwhen icompared ito ibaseline idata. iTotal iSOC i(tha-1 ) iin ithe ithree iphysiognomiesiwasi333.11, iwith i144.34 i(RF), i94.37 i(CP) iand i94.40 i(TF). iTotal iAGCi(tCha-1 ) istock iwasi5492.93, ithe itrend iwasi3529.29 i(RF)i> i1477.12 i(CP)i> i486.52 i(TF). iTotal iBGC i(tCha-1 ) istock iwasi823.94, iin ithe iorder i529.39 i(RF) i> i221.57 i(CP) i> i72.98 i(TF). iTotal iHLS iCS i(tCha-1 ) iwasi0.15 iwith ithe itrend i0.09 i(RF) i> i0.04 i(CP)> i0.02 i(TF). iThe itotal iCSP i(tCO2eha-1 ) iin iIMF iwasi24386.02. iThe ipool itrend iwasi20142.57 i(AGC) i> i3021.39 iii i(BGC)i>i1221.51i(SOC)i>i0.55i(HLS). iThereiwereisignificantlyihigheriCSiandiSPivaluesiiniRF icompared ito iCP iand iTP iacross idifferent iCarbon ipools idue ito ithe ipresence iof imore iwoody ispeciesiinitheiphysiognomy. Ibodi iMonkey iForest ihas ian iappreciable icarbon istorage ipotential, iwith ithe iregrowth iforest ibeing ibest iin icarbon istorage. iIncreased ianthropogenic iactivities iat ithe ifringes iof ithe iforest ishouldihoweveribeicontrolled. i