CUTTING MANAGEMENT VERSUS BIOMASS AND CARBON STOCK OF OAK UNDER HIGH DENSITY PLANTATION IN CENTRAL HIMALAYA, INDIA

Tree growth and productivity are influenced by silvicultural strategies such as tree density and cutting management, which determine the potential of tree species to store carbon in the vegetation. A field experiment was conducted at Vivekananda Institute of Hill Agriculture, Almora, India in a 30-year-old Quercus leucotrichophora to evaluate the changes in vegetation carbon pools as a function of four cutting management (1m, 2m, local practice, and above 1/3rd part undisturbed), under high density plantation (1.0m x 1.0m). Tree cutting management significantly (<0.01) influenced the carbon stocks of Q. leucotrichophora trees. Total vegetation (aboveground + below ground) carbon stock was highest for the above 1/3rd part undisturbed (356.9 Mg ha(-1)) and lowest in the cutting at 1m (86.7 Mg ha(-1)). Overall, less disturbance to stands promote carbon storage, but intense cutting management (e.g., cutting at 1m) may adversely affect tree growth and productivity, reducing vegetation carbon pools. Cutting management effects are very much visible on carbon stock of Q. leucotrichophora under high density plantation. By extension, stand cutting exerts negative or positive feedbacks on biomass accretion, which may also influence the amount of carbon sequestered by the trees.