Biomass and Carbon Stock in Protected Areas Across Northwest Himalaya: An Optimal Sustainable Forest Land Management Strategy to Amplify Carbon Sequestration Potential

The present era has witnessed a changing climate due to mismanaged anthropic activities and dwindling forest ecosystems worldwide. There is a need to scale up sustainable land management approaches and their implementation to sustain and conserve the forests and carbon stock in the Indian Himalayan ecosystem. The present study investigates the carbon stocks in different stands of Cedrus deodara, Abies pindrow, and Quercus semecarpifolia- dominated forests in the Shikari Devi Wildlife Sanctuary (SDWS) and the Shimla Water Catchment Wildlife Sanctuary (SWCWS), northwest Himalaya. The study comprised 0.1 hectare-sized plots across different altitudinal gradients and documented plants over 10 cm in diameter at breast height (dbh). In the SWCWS, a total of 87 individuals of Cedrus deodara and 11 individuals of Quercus dilatata were documented. Among them, Cedrus deodara was found to be a dominant species with a mean diameter of 36.4 ± 13.3 cm. In the SDWS, the first site had 70 individuals of Quercus semecarpifolia with a mean diameter of 34.2 ± 10.5 cm, whereas 43 individuals of Abies pindrow and 12 individuals of Picea smithiana with a mean diameter of 35.6 ± 19.2 and 42.9 ± 18.5 cm, respectively, were marked from the second site. Both sanctuaries revealed the total carbon stock for Cedrus deodara, Quercus semecarpifolia, and Abies pindrow to be 350.5, 257.6, and 232.7 Cmg-ha−1, respectively. The SDWS has a profound religious significance, mainly because of the Shikari Devi temple within the sanctuary area. Both sanctuaries encompass considerable tourist sites and are extensively influenced by human activities, particularly the SDWS. Local pressure has also escalated within the sanctuaries, specifically from a single generation, and emerged a threat to the alpine pasture and forest ecosystems in the SDWS. Urgent steps to mitigate ecosystem disturbances are therefore required to safeguard the floral diversity of the forest ecosystems. In this context, conventional and sustainable land management techniques may be helpful to sustain the functioning and significance of ecological science in Himalayan ecosystems. It will impart a great contribution to increasing the carbon sequestration potential of the forest ecosystem and mitigating changing climate to a great extent.