Based
on satellite imagery for the 1988s and 2001s, land-use/cover change and
associated carbon stock and flux as a result of changes were estimated in
Mamlay watershed of Sikkim Himalaya, India. The total area of forest was
decreased by 28%, whereas open cropped area increased by more than 100%. The
conversion of forests into other land-uses resulted in a remarkable decline in
the C densities. Across the land-use/cover, total mean C densities ranged from
46 t ha-1 in open cropped area temperate to a high of 669 t ha-1
in temperate natural dense forest. The heavily converted areas lost an
estimated 55% of their total 1988 C pools, whereas the low impacted area lost
only 0.12%. Changes in land-use released 7.78 tC ha-1 yr-1,
demonstrating that land-use changes significantly affected C flux. Therefore,
the conversion of forest to agriculture land should be reversed.
Author: Purnima Sharma, and S.C. Rai (raisc1958 at rediffmail dot com)
Filesize: 28.59 Kb