Carbon Stock of Trees in the Lower Montane Forest of Mt. Kalatungan Range Natural Park in Mindanao, Philippines

A tree inventory and carbon stock assessment was conducted in three 50 x 100 meter randomly established sampling plots in the lower montane forest of Mt. Kalatungan, a protected area located in Mindanao, Philippines. A total of 31 species of trees belonging to 24 families that is dominated by Fagaceae, Lauraceae and Myrtaceae was recorded. The most frequent species are Lithocarpus spp., Syzygium spp., Neolitsea spp. Out of 833 tree species, 49.70% lies in the 21-28cm dbh class based on sturge’s rule. The greatest dbh recorded was 73cm from Syzygium spp. of the family Myrtaceae. The site obtained a greater mean stand density of 555 trees ha-1. The site also contained many trees with relatively greater dbh resulting to a high biomass and carbon stock estimate. The mean tree biomass density estimate was 628 ton ha-1 while the mean Carbon density estimate was 282 ton C ha-1. These results provide a robust justification for an effective protected area management in order to salvage the area from further deforestation and forest degradation. The conservation of forest resources, especially trees in Mt. Kalatungan would be very crucial in the Philippine’s efforts to mitigate climate change