Carbon sequestration potential of reserve forests present in the protected Margalla Hills National Park

Objective: Protected areas are of immense importance to enhance the functional role of plants due to abundance of woody species, their carbon sequestration ability and the rich organic matter and hence it needs to be documented and quantified scientifically with special focus on its carbon sink potential. Mathods: In this study, the Carbon sequestration, diversity and abundance of woody plants were evaluated in the Margalla Hills National Park (MHNP), Pakistan using quantitative and functional ecological approaches. We randomly sampled 40 (20 m × 20 m) plots from March, 2020 to March, 2021. PC-ORD version-5 and CANOCO software were used to evaluate relationships of different environmental factors with species composition, distribution pattern and other quantitative traits of forests. R program was used for regression and correlation analyses to model Carbon sequestration capacity of MHNP. Results: A total of 4916 individuals belonging to 49 species and 28 families were reported. The higher carbon sequestration was found in Albizia lebbeck 2620.75 lbs per year followed by Pinus roxburghii 2214.48 lbs and Castanea sativa 1731.59 lbs while the lower rate of carbon dioxide sequestration per year were found in Myrsine africana 1.81 (lbs) followed by Nerium oleander 2.84 (lbs) and Jasminum officinale 3.92 (lbs). The Two-way Cluster Analysis shows the distribution of species in the study area. The CCA analysis show that pH, EC, and TDS play a significant role in the distribution of woody plant vegetation. Carbon sequestration mainly depends on plant DBH, followed by plant crown. Conclusion: The results prove that the DBH has a leading role in the carbon sequestration rather than height of the woody species. The present study indicates the MHNP is a rich source of woody plant vegetation because of its conserve nature and plays a significant role in ecosystem stability and air quality, therefore, more studies are required to study other aspects of the woody plant vegetation in the MHNP.