Woody Species Diversity and Carbon Stock Estimation of Dorze Ayira Natural Forest, Gamo Zone, Southern Ethiopia

Forests play a significant role in mitigating climate change by sequestering CO2 from the atmosphere. This study was aimed to investigate woody species diversity and to estimate the carbon stock potential at Dorze Ayira Natural Forest at Chencha District, Gamo Zone, Southern Ethiopia. Systematic sampling techniques were used to collected vegetation data from twenty 20m×20m quadrats. Aboveground carbon and belowground carbon were estimated using allometric equations. Additional 1m×1m subplot was laid for literal and soil samples data collection using destructive methods. A total of 26 woody species represented by 25 genera and 19 families were identified. The mean aboveground biomass and carbon density were 50.87±9.98 and 23.91 ± 4.69 t/ha, respectively. On the other hand, the mean belowground biomass and carbon density were 10.18 ± 1.996 and 4.78 ± 0.94 t/ha.. The average sum of all carbon pools in the study area was 91.74t/ha. The corresponding average CO2 equivalents of all carbon pools was 336.69 ton/ha. The mean leaf literal, herb and grass biomass and carbon stock were estimated to be 2.96 ± 0.49 and 1.39 ± 0.23 t/ha, respectively. Furthermore, the mean soil organic carbon was 60.95±13.49ton/ha (0-10cm, 10-20cm and 20-30cm depth). The result of the current total carbon stock capacity of Dorze Ayra forest revealed its contribution to climate change mitigation. Therefore, the forest needs more protection and due attention to reduce its current anthropogenic pressures.