Assessment of major pools and fluxes of carbon in Indian forests

The major pools including phytomass, soil, litter, and fluxes of carbon (C) due to litterfall and landuse changes were estimated for Indian forests. Based on growing stock-volume approach at the state and district levels, the Indian forest phytomass was estimated in the range of 3.8-4.3 PgC. The total soil organic pool in the top 1m depth was estimated as 6.8 PgC, using estimated soil organic carbon densities and Remote Sensing (RS) based area by forest types. Based on 122 published Indian studies and RS-based forest area, the total litterfall carbon flux was estimated as 208.8 MgC ha(-1) yr(-1). The cumulative net carbon flux (1880-1996) from Indian forests (1880-1996) due to landuse changes (deforestation, afforestation and phytomass degradation) was estimated as 5.4 PgC, using a simple book-keeping approach. The mean annual net C flux due to landuse changes during 1985 1996 was estimated as 9.0 TgC yr(-1). For the recent period, the Indian forests are nationally a small source with some regions acting as small sinks of carbon as well. The improved quantification of pools and fluxes related to forest carbon cycle is important for understanding the contribution of Indian forests to net carbon emissions as well as their potential for carbon sequestration in the context of the Kyoto protocol.