Abstract:
Sustainable management of forests through enhancement of forest
carbon stocks is a global effort aimed at creating incentives for developing
countries to reduce emissions. Ghana’s participation in carbon reduction
initiatives such as REDD+ has brought about huge demand for data on carbon
stocks. This pre-empted the need for carbon stock assessment in the Kakum and
Amanzule mangrove forests. Above- and below-ground carbon pools in the two
forests were assessed in order to evaluate the impact of environmental
degradation on the ecosystems. Data on tree height and diameter, and soil were
collected to estimate for carbon density. General allometric equations were used
to estimate mangrove biomass and corresponding carbon density. One-way
Analysis of Variance (ANOVA) with Tukey’s post hoc test were conducted to
test the effect of soil depth on soil carbon density, bulk density, salinity and pH
at 95 % confidence level. Total carbon density in the Kakum forest was
estimated as 465.9 MgC/ha and that in Amanzule at 5316.5 MgC/ha. The
difference in carbon density could be attributed to the differences in tree stature
in the two ecosystems. Whereas the Kakum forest comprised mainly of dwarf
mangrove trees, the Amanzule forest has a mosaic of primary and secondary
forest patches. The below-ground carbon density was higher than above-ground
carbon density within the Kakum mangrove forest. The reverse was observed in
the Amanzule forest. It is therefore recommended that forest carbon stock
change evaluation be vigorously undertaken by establishing permanent plots
since logging has a serious effect on the overall carbon stock density and
ecosystem health of mangrove forests.
