Estimation of biomass and carbon stock of components of subalpine birch forest of Georgia

Abstract

In Georgia birch is spread in the mountain subalpine belt on the altitudes 1,800 - 2,250 m above sea level, mostly in the form of sub-alpine sparse crooked forests of Litvinov birch (B. litwinowii A.Dol), as well as common birch (B. verrucosa Ehrh). The paper considers the biomass (2,628.5 Gg) of the forest stand and the subordinate layer (young, undergrowth, a living cover of the forest) of the sub-alpine birch forests and carbon stock (1,298.5 Gg C), sequestrated in it, their distribution by age groups and fractions of the forest. The carbon stock of dead organic mass (dead standing trees and fallen dry branches, dead forest cover). Mean annual increment of carbon in 63,781 ha of subalpine birch forests of Georgia.