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Carbon Storage of Land Cover Types in the Western Margin of Mt. Makiling, Laguna, Philippines
Abstract:
Carbon storage of land cover types that represent stages of a common land use system in Barangay Puting Lupa, Calamba City at the western margin of the Mt. Makiling Forest Reserve was determined. The land cover types were open kaingin (cultivated for one year), 13- and 22-year-old abandoned kaingins, ipil-ipil (Leucaena leucocephala)-dominated stand, and secondary forest located at the ridges. The carbon (C) stock in the following pools was measured using field methods: live trees, coarse woody debris, understory vegetation, standing litter, coarse and fine roots, and soil up to a 30 cm depth.
Deterministic models were used to estimate aboveground tree biomass and coarse woody debris necromass. The estimates of C stored in live trees were 19.08- 40.13 Mg/ha for the open kaingin, 24.78-46.62 Mg/ha for the 13-year-old abandoned kaingin, 38.00-67.16 Mg/ha for the 22-year-old abandoned kaingin, 38.75-74.78 Mg/ha for the ipil-ipil stand, and 33.42-67.16 Mg/ha for the secondary forest. For coarse woody debris, the estimates were 1.66-2.58 Mg/ha for the open kaingin, 0.11 Mg/ha for the 13-year-old abandoned kaingin, 2.21-3.17 Mg/ha for the 22-year-old abandoned kaingin, 10.43 Mg/ha for the ipil-ipil stand, and 3.34-6.72 Mg/ha for the secondary forest.
The understory C stocks were 0.02 mg/ha for the open kaingin, 5.71 Mg/ha for the 13-year-old abandoned kaingin, 0.90 Mg/ha for the 22-year-old abandoned kaingin, 6.55 Mg/ha for the ipil-ipil stand, and 0.72 Mg/ha for the secondary forest. The estimated C stocks in standing litter were 1.352 Mg/ha for the open kaingin, 3.075 Mg/ha for the 13-year-old abandoned kaingin, 3.038 Mg/ha for the 22-year-old abandoned kaingin, 3.044 Mg/ha for the ipil-ipil stand, and 3.051 Mg/ha for the secondary forest; while for roots, the values were 0.524 Mg/ha for the open kaingin, 0.618 Mg/ha for the 13-year-old abandoned kaingin, 0.517 Mg/ha for the 22-year-old abandoned kaingin, and 0.877 Mg/ha for the ipil-ipil stand.
The open kaingin had the lowest total soil C storage (42.11 Mg/ha), followed by the 22-year-old abandoned kaingin (50.74 Mg/ha), secondary forest (57.70 Mg/ ha), 13-year-old abandoned kaingin (57.83 Mg/ha), and ipil-ipil stand (66.65 Mg/ha).
The land cover types in decreasing order of total C stock were ipil-ipil stand > secondary forest > 22-year-old abandoned kaingin > 13-year-old abandoned kaingin > open kaingin. Estimates for C stock and aboveground C accumulation rates (2 Mg/ha/yr for the abandoned kaingins and 2-3 Mg/ha/yr for the ipil-ipil stand) indicated that belowground C storage was less prone to losses from land use and natural disturbances but greater C sequestration will be potentially achieved aboveground.
Land use analysis of the study area indicated that for the past 20-30 years, the system had been in CO2 equilibrium and that a potential net gain in total system C stocks can occur if the direction of land use continues to shift toward permanent tree-based systems (agroforests), with adequate protection of regenerating lands.