Land Use Cover Types and Forest Management Options for Carbon in Mabira Central Forest Reserve
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Date
2020
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
African Handbook of Climate Change Adaptation
Abstract
Mabira Central Forest Reserve (CFR), one of the biggest forest reserves in
Uganda, has increasingly undergone encroachments and deforestation. This
chapter presents the implications of a range of forest management options for
carbon stocks in the Mabira CFR. The effects of forest management options were
reviewed by comparing above-ground biomass (AGB), carbon, and soil organic
carbon (SOC) in three management zones. The chapter attempts to provide
estimates of AGB and carbon stocks (t/ha) of forest (trees) and SOC using sampling techniques and allometric equations. AGB and carbon were obtained
from a count of 143 trees, measuring parameters of diameter at breast height
(DBH), crown diameter (CW), and height (H) with tree coordinates. It also makes
use of the Velle (Estimation of standing stock of woody biomass in areas where
little or no baseline data are available. A study based on field measurements in
Uganda. Norges Landbrukshoegskole, Ås, 1995) allometric equations developed
for Uganda to estimate AGB.
The strict nature reserve management zone was noted to sink the highest
volume of carbon of approximately 6,771,092.34 tonnes, as compared to the
recreation zone (2,196,467.59 tonnes) and production zone (458,903.57 tonnes).
A statistically significant relationship was identified between AGB and carbon.
SOC varied with soil depth, with the soil surface of 0–10 cm depth registering the
highest mean of 2.78% across all the management zones. Soil depth and land use/
cover types also had a statistically significant effect on the percentage of SOC
(P ¼ 0.05). A statistically significant difference at the 95% significance level was
also identified between the mean carbon stocks from one level of management
zones to another. Recommendations include: demarcating forest boundaries to
minimize encroachment, enforcement of forestry policy for sustainable development,
promote reforestation, and increase human resources for efficient monitoring
of the forest compartments.
Description
Keywords
Above-ground biomass, Allometric equations, Soil organic carbon, Land use/ cover change
Citation
Jjagwe, A., Kakembo, V., & Bernard, B. (2020). Land Use Cover Types and Forest Management Options for Carbon in Mabira Central Forest Reserve. African Handbook of Climate Change Adaptation, 1-22. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-42091-8_145-1