Estimation of Carbon Sequestration by Two Desert Plants: Haloxylon sp and Atriplex Canescens

Climate change and global warming as a result of increase in the concentration of greenhouse gases is considered as one of the main challenges of sustainable development. Carbon sequestration by plant and soil is the easiest and the most practical strategy to reduce the concentration of atmospheric carbon. In the present research to investigate and compare the potential of carbon sequestration in two species included Atriplex canescens and Haloxylon spp, a part of a rehabilitated area by these two species within the area of Carbon Sequestration International Project, Hossein Abad Ghinab, Sarbisheh Township located in South Khorasan Province was selected as the study area. Plant Sampling was done from the aerial and terrestrial biomass parts of the two study plants separately (leaf, stem and root). Similarly in order to determine the amount of carbon sequestration in soil, soil sampling was carried out from two depths of 0-30 and 30-60 cm in the place of 10 profiles and different physical and chemical characteristics of soil were measured. The results of statistical analysis indicated that the amount of carbon sequestration in soil by Haloxylon spp and Atriplex canescens were 99.8 and 86.8 ton/ha respectively. Also based on the results, the amount of carbon sequestration in depth of 0-30 cm was more than depth of 30-60 cm in both stands. Furthermore the amount of soil carbon sequestration in depth of 0-30 cm by Haloxylon spp stand was more than Atriplex canescens. The results of analysis correlation between physical and chemical characteristics of soil and soil carbon sequestration showed that organic carbon, organic material, Phosphorus, potassium, electrical conductivity, bulk density and nitrogen, respectively, are the most important components influencing carbon sequestration in soil in Atriplex canescens stand. Similarly, Organic carbon, organic matter, bulk density, potassium and nitrogen, respectively, were the most important factors affect soil carbon sequestration in Haloxylon spp stand. Total carbon sequestration by Haloxylon spp and Atriplex canescens were estimated 364.32 and 107.64 kg/ha respectively. On the other hand, based on the results of estimation for the amount of carbon sequestration in plant organs which was done for each of the two study species, it was concluded that the portion of different organs of plants in carbon sequestration was different, so that the highest and the lowest amount of carbon sequestration were measured in the stem and leaves of both study species. Total Carbon dioxide removed from the atmosphere by Haloxylon spp and Atriplex canescens were 1337 & 395 kg per hectare, respectively. Regarding the total area of the study area (400 ha.) this amount was estimated 346400 kg per hectare during the 4 study years of this research.