Preliminary Assessment of Forest Structure.pdf - Sokoine University ...

Proceedings of the first Climate Change Impacts, Mitigation and Adaptation Programme Scientific Conference, 2012the southern highland miombo forests(17.9 – 20.4 t/ha, Munishi et al., 2010).However, this range was lower thanpublished for afromontane forests in theEastern Arc Mountains (Munishi & Shear,2004). Further, the differences in carbonestimates of the soil samples among studysites were due to variability in localenvironmental factors such as soil nutrientdynamics as well as rainfall pattern.Differences in ecology and the reasonswhy people lit fires in the different regionswill be addressed in a future article.5.0 ConclusionThis study reports preliminary findings ofa big research project based on initial dataavailable during the first phase of datacollection in the field. We have describedthe structure and composition as well asinitial carbon stocks of forest reservesunder different management authorities.The forest reserves are diverse andcomprise of distinct forest communitiesdue to various species assemblages inthem. The data reported here will be usedas benchmark to monitor the variability incarbon stocking on study plots set out inKilwa, Handeni and Kilosa forest reserveswhere burning treatments will beperformed and monitored over the threeyears in order to develop a strategy toreducing wildfires in miombo woodlandsof Tanzania. Preliminarily, it is however,concluded that: There were local differences in treeabundance in the surveyed plots andmore than 200 different species oftrees and shrubs were recorded andKilosa site contributed to the largestproportion (40.7%) of the treeabundance total, followe by Kilwa andHandeni each contributing (35.6%) and(20.7%) Species richness and diversity variedconsiderably within and between thestudy sites, Kilwa and the villageforests giving the highest speciesrichness and diversityOn the average carbon content of thestanding tree biomass was lower inyoung than in old trees. Similarly thereis an indication that village forestshave higher stock of carbon than thecentral government and localgovernment forests.On the average early burning is betterfor carbon storage than late burning orno burningAcknowledgementThis work is part of a large researchproject working towards developing firereduction strategy as a potential tool forcarbon sequestration in miombo woodland,Tanzania. Authors would like to thank theClimate Change Impacts and Mitigation(CCIAM) program for funding theresearch over a three year period. Wethank numerous local botanists and villageleaders for facilitating smooth field workand to Nurman Amanzi and CharlesKilawe and Dr. Ever Mtengeti for helpingin data collection,and analysis.ReferencesAloo, I. 2001. Forest fires in Tanzania. Lecturenotes for MNRSA short courseparticipants. SUA, Morogoro, Tanzania(Unpublished)Amichev, B.Y. Burger, J.A. & Rodrigue, J. A.2008. Carbon sequestration by forests andsoils on mined land in the Midwestern andAppalachian coalfields of the U.S. ForestEcology and Management 256:1949-1959Campbell, B. 1996. The miombo in transition:Woodlands and welfare in Africa. CIFOR,Bogor, IndonesiaCampbell, B., Frost, P. & Byron, N.1996. Miombowoodlands and their use: overview andkey issues. In: The Miombo in Transition:Woodlands and Welfare in Africa (Ed. B.Campbell). CIFOR, Bogor.Campbell, B.M., Angelsen, A., Cunningham, A.,Katerere, Y., Sitoe, A., and Wunder, S.2008 Miombo woodland: opportunitiesand barriers to sustainable forestmanagement. CIFOR, Bogor.Chamshama, S.A.O., Mugasha, A.G. & Zahabu, E.2004. Stand biomass and volumeestimation for miombo woodlands atKitulangalo, Morogoro, Tanzania. J. S.Afr. For. 200: 59- 64.115