Variations of biomass and carbon contents in different traits and components of herbaceous species from tropical grassland

Abstract

Grasslands play a critical role in the global storage of atmospheric carbon (C). Precise estimation of C contents in different plant components is essential to formulate a strategy for mitigating the atmospheric C. Biomass (B) and C of different herbaceous plant components at species, functional group and site levels from tropical grassland locating on the campus of Banaras Hindu University, Varanasi, India were estimated. For this; 117 herbaceous species just-before flowering were harvested. B and C contents for each species and component were measured and statistically analyzed. The measured C (g plant -1 ) across the components varied from 0.08 to 31.12. On gm -2 basis; it varied between 29 (leaf) and 49 (root). Plant components, species and functional groups in isolation caused significant differences in the measured C. In the present study; the C content of stem was greater than the leaf and root. The perennial, erect, leguminous and native traits had greater C than the others. Therefore, this observation revealed that the perennial, erect, leguminous and native plants could be a better option for reducing the atmospheric CO 2 by capturing it and then converting into B through photosynthesis. Further, the fitted regression equation between the root and shoot for B and C could be used for the extrapolation of B and C of the root component based on the shoot component. The conservative field measurement methods may give precise data on B and C but are destructive to grassland, difficult, time-consuming, and costly to cover at large scale. Hence, the present work could be substantial for the estimation of root C based on shoot component.

Establishment of regression equation between the herbaceous cover and herbage carbon of different plant functional types in a dry tropical grassland of BHU, Varanasi

“…In comparison to other growth form types, grasses contained considerably more carbon in the shoot than others due to comparatively higher carbon and biomass allocation in the above-ground component than below-ground, which has already been reported in tropical grassland (Verma et al, 2019). Native plants show higher shoot carbon content and cover percentage so they could be a better option for carbon sequestration and climate change mitigation, which has also been reported (Verma et al, 2019).…”

“…Each species' cover was calculated and further categorized into different functional types. Species-wise, herbage carbon content was calculated using the carbon-to-biomass ratio available in the open literature (Verma et al, 2019). Species-wise, herbage carbon content was further categorized into different functional types.…”

Unraveling the Relationship between Percentage Cover and Biomass of Various Herbaceous Species in the Dry Tropical Grassland

“…That may result in biodiversity loss by significantly influencing the primary productivity and ecosystem functioning (Sagar et al, 2015). Grasslands are essential for global atmospheric carbon storage (C) (Verma et al, 2019). As they contain more than 10% of the carbon in the form of terrestrial biomass, 30% as soil organic carbon, and sequester 0.5 pentagrams of carbon every year (Follett and Reed, 2010;Qiu et al, 2013;Zhau et al, 2017).…”