Author(s)

Chemuku Wekesa^1,2*, Nereoh Leley¹, Elias Maranga², Bernard Kirui², Gabriel Muturi³, Musingo Mbuvi¹, Ben Chikamai³

¹Kenya Forestry Research Institute, Coast Eco-Region Research Programme, Malindi, Kenya.
²Department of Natural Resources, Egerton University, Egerton, Kenya.
³Kenya Forestry Research Institute, Headquarters, Nairobi, Kenya.

The structure and species composition of undisturbed natural forests serve as benchmarks for understanding forest carbon storage potential for reduced carbon emissions. Even though Kenya is seeking to stabilize forest cover, reverse degradation and increase forest cover through mechanisms such as REDD+, there is relatively little information on inherent forest carbon storage potential or its response to disturbance. Comparative studies were undertaken in three remnant fragments of indigenous forests in Taita Hills, Kenya to characterize the structure and forest carbon storage potential of undisturbed, moderately and heavily disturbed sites within these forests. The sensitivity of forest carbon storage estimates to different methods of tree biomass estimation were also examined, including estimates which used DBH, tree height and wood density from extracted tree cores. Disturbance altered the forest structure, reduced species diversity and decreased the capacity of the forests to sequester carbon. The forests’ capacity to sequester carbon reduced by between 9.2% and 70.7% depending on the site (forest fragment) and level of disturbance. Models with DBH and wood density gave higher quantities of carbon of between 0.9% and 44.4% for sites exhibiting different levels of disturbance. The present results suggest that disturbance had strong influence on forest structure, species diversity and carbon stocks and therefore maintaining the forests’ ecological integrity over the long-term may prove difficult if the frequency and intensity of disturbance increases. Moreover, development and implementation of effective mitigation strategies to reduce carbon emissions will require the use of local biomass models since they are accurate.

Carbon Stocks, Forest Disturbance, Height, Indigenous Forest, REDD+, Wood Density

Wekesa, C. , Leley, N. , Maranga, E. , Kirui, B. , Muturi, G. , Mbuvi, M. and Chikamai, B. (2016) Effects of Forest Disturbance on Vegetation Structure and Above-Ground Carbon in Three Isolated Forest Patches of Taita Hills. Open Journal of Forestry, 6, 142-161. doi: 10.4236/ojf.2016.62013.