The effect of tree species on greenhouse gas emissions from forest plantation soils (Case study: Sari, Iran)

Accumulation of greenhouse gases in the Earth’s atmosphere resulted in global warming and climate change. To mitigate climate change and cope with its consequences several strategies has been proposed. Silviculture and organic matters decomposition management, respectively, propose to sequestrate carbon and mitigate atmospheric greenhouse gases. The aim of this study is to evaluate the influence of tree species on soil greenhouse gas (CO2, CH4, N2O) emissions within forest plantations. For this purpose 20-year old maple, alder, oak, poplar and cypress species plantations were chosen in Sari region, Iran, and soil CO2, CH4, N2O emission rates measured during summer and winter times. Within each plantation area, 3 collecting gas chambers were installed at 10 cm soil depth randomly. The kind of emitted gases and their emission rates measured using gas chromatography. The results indicates that there are highly significant differences (P≤0.01) between tree plantations for CO2, CH4 and N2O gas emissions in the summer time, while during winter significant difference (P≤0.05) observes for CO2 emission. The TOPSIS ranking indicates that oak, maple, cypress, alder and poplar, respectively, are the more favorite sites in declining greenhouse gas emissions. Therefore, it concluded that in future silviculture attempts this issue should be taken into considerations.