Assessment of Soil Carbon Stock Status of Sekelemariam Dry Evergreen Montane Forest Along Altitudinal Gradient: Implication for Climate Change Mitigation

This study was conducted in Sekelemariam Dry Evergreen Montane Forest which is situated within 37° 27' and 37° 30' east, and 10° 34' and 10° 36' north, near Dembecha Town in west Gojam Zone, North Western Ethiopia. It is characterized by steeply sloped areas with huge Rocky Mountains extended throughout the middle parts of the forest. The aim of this study was to estimate the soil carbon stock potential of the forest. A systematic transect sampling technique was adopted in this study and following these transects plots of 1mx1m (1m2) data was taken from the field. The carbon stock density of soil organic carbon was calculated from the volume and bulk density of the soil as V = h× r2. The data analysis was conducted using Microsoft excel sheet used as platform in carbon calculations, and SPSS software version 20 to determine the impact of altitude gradient and slope factors on soil carbon stock potential and to compare the relationship between dependent and independent variables. The carbon stock of the SOC showed increasing trend with increasing elevation. In contrast to the elevation, the forest soil carbon stock decreases as increasing slope gradient. Soil laboratory analysis was conducted in Holeta Agricultural Research center to determine the soil organic carbon density and was estimated to be101.56 ± 3.66 t C ha-1. All in all, this study gives estimation of the soil carbon stock in Sekelemariam State Forest.