Species Diversity and Above Ground Carbon Stock of Trees in Forest Patches at Khon Kaen University, Nong Khai Campus

Abstract

The aims of this study were to determine and compare the species diversity and aboveอground carbon stock of trees among forest patches in Khon Kaen University, Nong Khai Campus which is the importance data for land management of the campus. At present, there are only 3 major forest patches in the campus. Therefore, these 3 forest patches, named forest patch A-C, were selected as the study site. Three of 25×15 m² were designated in each forest patch. All trees with the diameter at breast height (DBH) larger than 4.5 cm in each plot were identified to species and DBH and number of trees were also recorded. The results showed that although rarefaction curve indicated that tree diversities were not significantly different among 3 forest patches, the total number of species, Jackknite 1 richness estimator and Shannon index indicated that species diversity in forest patch A trend to be higher than in patch B and C. Moreover, cluster analysis indicated that species composition of forest patch A was covered most of species found in all 3 forest patches. Average above ground biomass from allometric equation and carbon stock indicated that the above ground biomass and carbon stock of forest patch A (101.39 ton/ha; 47.65 ton C/ha) were higher than forest patch B (80.88 ton/ha; 38.01 ton C/ha) and C (81.33 ton/ha; 38.22 ton C/ha). Therefore, based on the results from species diversity and carbon stock, the forest patch A should be the first priority to be conserved.