Abstract:
Ibodi iMonkey iForest i(IMF) iis iknown ifor iits iillegal imining iactivities, iwhich ihave iled ito ithe
idegradationiofitheiforestiecosystem. iMostistudiesionitheiforestifocusedionifloristiciandimonkey
ispeciesidiversity. iThe iCarbon iStock i(CS) iand iSequestration iPotential i(SP), iwhich iare icritical
ifor imitigating iCO2 iemissions iof iIMF, ihave inot ibeen ifully iquantified. iThis istudy itherefore
iinvestigated ithe idistribution ipattern iof iCarbon ipools iand iSequestration ipotential iin idifferent
iphysiognomiesiinitheiforest.
Four iplots iof i25 im i× i25 im ieach iwere irandomly iselected iin ithree iphysiognomies: iRegrowth
iForest i(RF), iCocoa iPlantation i(CP)iand iTree iFallow i(TF). iIn ieach iphysiognomy, iall istanding
itreesiwith iDiameteriat iBreast iHeight i≥10cmiwere iidentified, imeasured iand ienumerated. iMean
iBasal iArea i(MBA) iof ithe iplants iwas idetermined iusing istandard iformulae. iThe ibiodiversity
iindices iderived iincluded iShannon-Wiener iDiversity iIndex i(SWDI), iSorenson’s iSimilarity
iIndexi(SSI)iandiFamilyiImportanceiValueiIndexi(FIVI). iTheitemporalichangesiinitheistudyisite
iwere idetermined iby icomparing iresultsiwith ibaseline idata. iA idiagonal itransect iwasilaid iwithin
ieach iplot ifor isoil isample icollection iat ifour isoil idepths i(0-15, i16-30, i31-45, iand i46-60 icm).
iBiomassiandiCSiinidifferenticarbonipools, inamelyiSoiliOrganiciCarboni(SOC), iAboveiGround
iCarbon i(AGC), iBelow iGround iCarbon i(BGC), iHerb-Litter-Saplings i(HLS) iwere icalculated
iusing istandard imethods. iCarbon iSequestration iPotential i(CSP) iwas idetermined ifrom ithe isoil
iand iplant ilitter ianalyses ias iwell ias iallometric iequations iusing istandard iformulae. iData iwere
ianalysediusingidescriptiveistatisticsiandiANOVAi(α0.05).
Eighty-seven, ieighty-sixiandioneihundrediandisixiplantispeciesiwereiencounterediinitheiRF, iCP
iand iTF, irespectively. iThe iestimated iMBAi(m2ha-1
)iwere i17.96, i13.12iandi1.93 iforiRF, iCPiand
iTF, irespectively. iTheiSWDIiinitheithreeiphysiognomiesiwasi3.02, i0.39iandi0.29iforiRF, iCPiand
iTF, irespectively. iTheiSSIiiniallitheiphysiognomiesistudiedishowedilowisimilaritiesiwithiCPiand
iTF ibeing ithe imost isimilar i(48.9%), iwhile iRF iand iCP iwere imost idissimilar i(35.1%). iFamily
iSterculiaceae i(60.65)ihaditheihighestiandiPolygalaceae i(1.43)ihadithe ilowestiFIVI. iThere iwere
isignificant idifferences iin ithe inumber iof ispecies iwhen icompared ito ibaseline idata. iTotal iSOC
i(tha-1
) iin ithe ithree iphysiognomiesiwasi333.11, iwith i144.34 i(RF), i94.37 i(CP) iand i94.40 i(TF).
iTotal iAGCi(tCha-1
) istock iwasi5492.93, ithe itrend iwasi3529.29 i(RF)i> i1477.12 i(CP)i> i486.52
i(TF). iTotal iBGC i(tCha-1
) istock iwasi823.94, iin ithe iorder i529.39 i(RF) i> i221.57 i(CP) i> i72.98
i(TF). iTotal iHLS iCS i(tCha-1
) iwasi0.15 iwith ithe itrend i0.09 i(RF) i> i0.04 i(CP)> i0.02 i(TF). iThe
itotal iCSP i(tCO2eha-1
) iin iIMF iwasi24386.02. iThe ipool itrend iwasi20142.57 i(AGC) i> i3021.39
iii
i(BGC)i>i1221.51i(SOC)i>i0.55i(HLS). iThereiwereisignificantlyihigheriCSiandiSPivaluesiiniRF
icompared ito iCP iand iTP iacross idifferent iCarbon ipools idue ito ithe ipresence iof imore iwoody
ispeciesiinitheiphysiognomy.
Ibodi iMonkey iForest ihas ian iappreciable icarbon istorage ipotential, iwith ithe iregrowth iforest
ibeing ibest iin icarbon istorage. iIncreased ianthropogenic iactivities iat ithe ifringes iof ithe iforest
ishouldihoweveribeicontrolled. i
