Abstract
Rubber (Hevea brasiliensis (Wild. Ex Adr. De Juss.) Muell. Arg.) is emerging as a fast-expanding plantation crop in India and Southeast Asia. Traditionally, aboveground biomass (AGB) is estimated from forest type or crown density stratification by the Forest Survey of India (FSI) and does not explicitly account for standing age. The present study estimates the AGB and carbon (C) stock of natural rubber (NR) plantations in Tripura, India, which were estimated to cover 93 thousand hectares (kha) in 2021 using remote sensing. A multi-year satellite data-based rubber plantation age-class map was used with measured AGB to generate age-based rubber AGB and C-stock maps with 5-year interval age classes. The total carbon stored for all age group rubber plantations was found to be 2.8 Tg. State-level forest cover and type statistics from the Forest Survey of India (FSI) biannual reports, i.e. India State of Forest Report, were used to understand the dynamics of the forest over the past two decades. This study indicates that the expansion of rubber plantations was accompanied by a loss in natural vegetation and a reduction in standing pools. While India is committed to reducing carbon emissions, and NR plantations have the potential to be an important source of C-stocks at the state and national levels, results indicate that this study site has undergone significant changes in natural forest cover and type. The developed approach may be utilized in practical applications for accurate C-stock accounting in other managed forests.
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Data Availability
The datasets generated and analysed during the present study are available from the corresponding author on reasonable request.
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Acknowledgements
The authors gratefully acknowledge the discussions and encouragement from Prof. Shailesh Nayak, Director National Institute of Advanced Studies (NIAS), IISC campus, Bengaluru. This study has been carried out under the Indian Terrestrial Carbon Cycle Assessment and Modeling (ITCAM) Project which has been financially supported by the grants from Indira Gandhi Memorial Trust (IGMT), New Delhi, to NIAS.
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Pasha, S.V., Dadhwal, V.K. Age-Based Stratification to Estimate Aboveground Biomass (AGB) and Carbon Stocks of Rubber Plantations in Tripura. J Indian Soc Remote Sens 52, 711–721 (2024). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12524-023-01751-8
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s12524-023-01751-8