Above ground biomass and carbon stock estimation of Arroceros Forest Park “The Manila’s Last Lung” using geographic information system (GIS) | JBES
In an area where urbanization is rapidly growing, carbon is slowly sequestered which clogs the ozone layer. With forest biomass, carbon is easily sequestered and stored by trees. This research focuses on the potential carbon storage of the Arroceros Forest Park, one of the last lungs of the metropolis located in the heart of the National Capital Region, Manila, Philippines. Trees with ≥10 cm diameter at breast height (DBH) were inventoried, from two (2) hectare areas of the site. These trees were used in the estimation of the biomass and carbon stock. The Power-Fit Equation from Banaticla (insert year), = 0.342 (DBH (exp (0.73))) was used in the study. Results showed that Swietenia macrophylla dominated the park. The species with the highest contribution of biomass and carbon is the Swietenia macrophylla with value of 149.55t/ha. The carbon formed from this was 45%, and estimated carbon stock present is 30.59Ct/ha. Total aboveground biomass and carbon stock in the forest park is estimated at 640.21t/ha, and 130.95Ct/ha, respectively. Provided the carbon stock estimate, this could give more importance to Arroceros Forest Park in carbon sequestration. Site must be protected and enhanced to promote the important role of green spaces in Metro Manila.
In an area where urbanization is rapidly growing, carbon is slowly sequestered which clogs the ozone layer. With forest biomass, carbon is easily sequestered and stored by trees. This research focuses on the potential carbon storage of the Arroceros Forest Park, one of the last lungs of the metropolis located in the heart of the National Capital Region, Manila, Philippines. Trees with ≥10 cm diameter at breast height (DBH) were inventoried, from two (2) hectare areas of the site. These trees were used in the estimation of the biomass and carbon stock. The Power-Fit Equation from Banaticla (insert year), = 0.342 (DBH (exp (0.73))) was used in the study. Results showed that Swietenia macrophylla dominated the park. The species with the highest contribution of biomass and carbon is the Swietenia macrophylla with value of 149.55t/ha. The carbon formed from this was 45%, and estimated carbon stock present is 30.59Ct/ha. Total aboveground biomass and carbon stock in the forest park is estimated at 640.21t/ha, and 130.95Ct/ha, respectively. Provided the carbon stock estimate, this could give more importance to Arroceros Forest Park in carbon sequestration. Site must be protected and enhanced to promote the important role of green spaces in Metro Manila.
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J. Bio. & Env. Sci. 2021
Aboveground biomass of Forest Park
Swietenia macrophylla King has the most biomass
produced out of the 24 flora species found in the
forest park, with 149,545.70 kg. Another species is the
Pterocarpus indicus Willd. Forma indicus, out of the
28 species found it has 129,429.18 kg of biomass in
the forest park. The total above-ground biomass in
the Forest park is 640,206.21 kg. Furthermore,
according to Lasco R.D., & Pulhin F.B.(2000) in the
study about the Forest Land Use Change in the
Philippines and Climate Change Mitigation from the
samples collected in several locations in the
Philippines. The default value of 45% was used in
order to quantify the carbon present in the
aboveground biomass of the forest park. 45% was the
mean value of the carbon content of the wood sample
in the study of Lasco R.D., & Pulhin F.B.
Table 1. Summary of top three species with highest
values for Carbon Stock.
Tree
Species Identity ABG Biomass
(Tonne) Density
(t/ha)
Swietenia
Macrophylla
Pterocarpus
Indicus
Mean
Annual
Increment
(t C/ha/yr)
Carbon
Density
(t C/ha)
149.55 67.98 1.18 30.59
129.43 58.83 1.02 26.47
Delonix Regia 95.72 43.51 0.75 19.58
Discussion
Swietenia macrophylla King dominates the forest
park because of its availability in the area, This
species was first introduced in Manila as park trees
from unknown origins during 1907 (Ponce 1993 as
cited by Abarquez, A. et al., 2015). Furthermore, 1002
mahogany seeds from the Royal Botanic Gardens of
India was received by the College of Forestry and
Natural Resources, UPLB (Abarquez, A. et al., 2015).
Most of the sources of seeds in the urban areas were
an exotic one and this particular species does not
need to adapt to the characteristic of the soil because
our soil here in the Philippine Setting has high
sources of nutrients, one main reason is the high
biodiversity of flora in the Philippine Setting
(McNeely et al., 1990 as cited in Lasco et al., 2008).
Fig. 7. Graph per species of ABG using the Power –
Fit Equation.
Carbon Stock of the Forest Park
Biomass is directly proportional to the Carbon Stock
estimate. In Fig. 8, Swietenia macrophylla King has the
highest carbon stock with 30.59t C/ha whereas the total
carbon stock in the forest park is 130.95t C/ha.
Despite the lack of data about the soil characteristics
of the forest part, about filed up the soil, and about
the land cover of the forest park, the built-up area
surrounding the forest park and a Pasig river did not
affect the health of this forest park (Fig. 9 and 10).
Proof that Pasig River did not affect the health of
forest park is the abundance of tree species found
inside 2.2 hectares fence protected park with an
ecological trail for the people who wants to visit the
park (Santos Jr, R. 2019).
Fig. 8. Graph per Species of Carbon using Power–Fit
Equation.
Although not related to the species composition, the
presence of bird species such as pied fantails, Yellowvented
bulbuls, brown shrike, and common
kingfisher, etc. with unidentified snakes inside the
park makes it diversity rich in both flora and fauna
(Lagbas AJ 2018).
21 | Macaraig et al.
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