Total Carbon Stock and Potential Carbon Sequestration Economic Value of Mukogodo Forest-Landscape Ecosystem in Drylands of Northern Kenya

Abstract

Carbon sequestration is one of the important ecosystem services provided by forested landscapes. Dry forests have high potential for carbon storage. However, their potential to store and sequester carbon is poorly understood in Kenya. Moreover, past attempts to estimate carbon stock have ignored drylands ecosystem heterogeneity. This study assessed the potential of Mukogodo dryland forest-landscape in offsetting carbon dioxide through carbon sequestration and storage. Four carbon pools (above and below ground biomass, soil, dead wood and litter) were analyzed. A total of 51 (400 m) sample plots were established using stratified-random sampling technique to estimate biomass across six vegetation classes in three landscape types (forest reserve, ranches and conservancies) using nested-plot design. Above ground biomass was determined using generalized multispecies model with diameter at breast height, height and wood density as variables. Below ground, soil, litter and dead wood biomass; carbon stocks and carbon dioxide equivalents (CO2eq) were estimated using secondary information. The CO2eq was multiplied by current prices of carbon trade to compute carbon sequestration value. Mean ± SE of biomass and carbon was determined across vegetation and landscape types and mean differences tested by one-way Analysis of Variance. Mean biomass and carbon was about 79.15 ± 40.22 TB ha and 37.25 ± 18.89 TC ha respectively. Cumulative carbon stock was estimated at 682.08 TC ha; forest reserve (251.57 TC ha) had significantly high levels of carbon stocks How to cite this paper: Leley, N. C., Langat, D. K., Kisiwa, A. K., Maina, G. M., & Muga, M. O. (2022). Total Carbon Stock and Potential Carbon Sequestration Economic Value of Mukogodo Forest-Landscape Ecosystem in Drylands of Northern Kenya. Open Journal of Forestry, 12, 19-40. https://doi.org/10.4236/ojf.2022.121002 Received: October 3, 2021 Accepted: November 19, 2021 Published: November 22, 2021 Copyright © 2022 by author(s) and Scientific Research Publishing Inc. This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution International License (CC BY 4.0). http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ Open Access