Quantification of Phytomass and Carbon Storage of Woody Vegetation in Logone Valley (Far North, Cameroon)

The degradation of the vegetation through anthropogenic or natural phenomena leads to the release of more carbon into the atmosphere than that occurs during photosynthesis. This constitutes a great burden to world. In order to assess the contribution of the Logone Valley vegetation to climate change mitigation, the present study aims to estimate the phytoomass and carbon stock. Woody carbon was quantified using the non-destructive Brown equation in 500 × 20 m transects for each vegetation formation. The species and families with the highest phytomass were Balanites aegyptiaca (3 16.35 t/ha) and Balanitaceae family (316.35 t/ha). The quantities of carbon sequestered in the plant formations were 373.06 tC/ha in the woody savannah, 237.23 tC/ha in the shrub savannah, 45.82 tC/ha in the grassy savannah and 71.31 tC/ha in the cultivated zone. Hence, this study add knowledge of the contribution of each plant formation to carbon sequestration. Actions to strengthen the woody potential are required to minimise the long-term degradation of this site and to make it a sustainable source of carbon sequestration.