Vol. 12, Special Issue 9 (2023)

Author(s):
Anurag Jain, GR Rao, Avinash Jain and M Rajkumar

Abstract:
Riparian Forest areas are known as the three-dimensional ecotones and it is the transition zone between the terrestrial and aquatic ecosystems. Natural riparian corridors are the most diverse, dynamic, and complex habitats on the terrestrial portion of Earth. These riparian forests can play an important role in mitigating and adaptation of climate change because a considerable amount of carbon dioxide is stored in these natural ecosystems which act as a vital buffer regulating the atmospheric level of carbon dioxide by sequestering it from the atmosphere. A riparian buffer of 100 m has been created on both sides of the Narmada River using GIS software and based on that, the buffer area falls under three districts of Madhya Pradesh viz., Mandla, Jabalpur and Seoni. The riparian forests along Narmada River in Madhya Pradesh are divided into three classes according to the density of the forest i.e., very dense forest (canopy density ≥ 70%), moderately dense forest (canopy density between 40-70%) and open forest (tree canopy density between 10-40%). A total of 35 tree species belonging to 23 families were recorded from the three different classes of forest along the Narmada River. The dominant tree species found in all the above three classes are Tectona grandis, Terminalia arjuna, Lannea coromandelica, Diospyros melanoxylon, Chloroxylon swietenia etc. The species richness was highest at the MDF (29) followed by VDF (23) and OF (17). The total biomass C-stock in VDF, MDF and OF class has been estimated as 90.75 t ha-1, 56.88 t ha^-1 and 30.58 t ha^-1 respectively. The total C-stock is equal to 112.79 t ha^-1, 74.11 t ha^-1 and 42.95 t ha^-1 in VDF, MDF and OF respectively. The purpose of this paper was to compare the community composition, species diversity, distribution and tree population structure and carbon sequestration potential of riparian forest in Narmada river.