The economic value and comparison of carbon storage in different forest areas in Kohgiluyeh and Boyer-Ahmad province

Forests as one of the important ecosystems plays a noticeable role in reducing the carbon dioxide by the  annual atmospheric carbon sequestration into the biomass of woody plants and soil. The three determining factors for estimating the carbon storage in a forest ecosystem are soil, vegetation, and litters. This study was carried out to investigate the carbon storage and its sequestration in four 1 ha square sample plots in forests of Boyer-Ahmad and Dena counties, Kohgiluyeh and Boyer-Ahmad province. Relevant allometric equations were used to estimate the biomass and carbon storage of the tree species in two vegetative form of coppice and high forests. For the measurement of soil carbon storage, five soil samples were taken from depths of 0- 30 cm, and percentage of organic matter and bulk density were measured in the laboratory. Analysis of variance showed that the total carbon storage in the trees, soil and litter had no significant difference amongst different sites, but the total carbon storage among the trees showed a significant difference (Parikadon site with 31 and Vezg site with 17 tons/ha, respectively). According to the results, the enclosed area (Vezg) had the highest carbon storage and the Sarabtaveh (northern aspect) had the lowest carbon storage. The average carbon storage of the studied areas was more than 159 tons/ha. The average of carbon storage in litters was about 730 kg/ha and the mean economic value of total carbon storage per ha was estimated 188 million Tomans.