8. Tree species diversity and carbon stock measurement: a study in charland homesteads in Sirajganj district of Bangladesh

Abstract

Homesteads are considered as a potential sources of carbon (C) stock which mitigate the adverse effect of climate under the changing environment. Therefore, a study was conducted to find out the tree species diversity and carbon stock of the existing homesteads situated in the Kazipur upazilla of Sirajganj district, Bangladesh. Four villages were selected randomly from the selected upazila, namely Shaldah, Fuljor, Natuarpara and Panagari. A total of 64 homesteads were selected randomly from the four villages as sample of the study. From the study, a total of 18 individual tree species under 14 families were recorded where tree diversity ranged from 0 to 1.85 with average value of 1.06. Carbon stock was quantified as 50% of the tree biomass and out of 64 homesteads the average tree carbon stock was found 16.54 Mg ha-1 . The study revealed that homestead has the great potentiality to store substantial amount of atmospheric carbon and conservation of tree species diversity.