We apologize for possible errors in the machine translation of the site

Carbon storage in soil and tree biomass

GIS analysis – Vardan Asatryan (NAS RA)  

The assessment of soil carbon stocks was made using data from the World Soils 250m Organic Carbon Stocks dataset.

As for the estimates of carbon content in tree biomass, according to the Acopian Center, a pilot study conducted in forests near the town of Vanadzor (northeastern Armenia) revealed a value of 98 tC/ha. However, data from State of the World’s Forests, FAO, 2011 estimate the total carbon stock in living forest biomass in Armenia at 13 million tons, with an average of 48 tC/ha across the country. We used this average in our calculations.

Carbon stocks in provinces and vegetation zones

The average soil carbon content across provinces ranges from 62 to 32 tС/ha and across vegetation zones from 64 to 29 tC/ha. Total carbon stock in soils in Armenia amounts to 158.4 MtC, and in tree biomass 15 MtC (in 2023). The total carbon stock in soils and tree biomass amounts to 173 MtС. Due to the relatively small forest area in Armenia, the main carbon stock (91,4%) is stored in soils.

Figure 1. Carbon stock in provinces
(area of the marz Gegharkunik is accounted excluding Lake Sevan)

Figure 2. Carbon stock in vegetation zones

Changes in carbon stock from 2017 to 2023

Changes in carbon stock were assessed based on changes in the area of tree land cover class, using ESRI data. Most provinces and vegetation zones experienced a decrease in carbon stock within woody biomass. The most significant relative decline was observed in Armavir province and Alpine vegetation zone.

Figure 3. Changes in carbon stock in tree biomass in provinces and vegetation zones
from 2017 to 2023

Table 1. Carbon stock in provinces and changes in it

Province	Mean carbon content in the 30 cm soil layer (tC/ha)	Area (excluding Lake Sevan), ha	Carbon stock in soil, MtC	Area of trees, ESRI 2017,  ha	Area of trees, ESRI 2023,  ha	Carbon stock in tree biomass, 2017, MtC	Carbon stock in tree biomass, 2023, MtC	Total carbon stock in soil and tree biomass, 2023, MtC	Changes in carbon stock in tree biomass from 2017 to 2023
									MtC	% relative to 2017
Aragatsotn	52	273612	14.10	5254	4825	0.25	0.23	14.34	-0.02	-8.2
Ararat	44	211491	9.37	3047	2620	0.15	0.13	9.50	-0.02	-14.0
Armavir	32	126370	4.10	284	55	0.01	0.00	4.10	-0.01	-80.5
Gegharkunik	61	397392	24.14	13493	12956	0.65	0.62	25.01	-0.03	-4.0
Kotayk	56	211480	11.90	17174	15310	0.82	0.73	12.63	-0.09	-10.9
Lori	62	376300	23.41	86951	88374	4.17	4.24	27.65	0.07	1.6
Shirak	58	271863	15.87	1308	1343	0.06	0.06	15.93	0.00	2.6
Syunik	58	449335	26.27	63426	50774	3.04	2.44	28.71	-0.61	-19.9
Tavush	57	272624	15.60	130410	131633	6.26	6.32	21.92	0.06	0.9
Vayots Dzor	58	229654	13.36	4710	3813	0.23	0.18	13.54	-0.04	-19.0
All pro-vinces	56	2820122	158.11	326059	311701	15.65	14.96	173.32	-0.69	-4.6

Table 2. Carbon stock in vegetation zones and changes in it

	Carbon content in the 30 cm soil layer (tC/ha)	Area, ha	Carbon stock in soil, MtC	Area of trees, ESRI 2017,  ha	Area of trees, ESRI 2023,  ha	Carbon stock in tree biomass, 2017, MtC	Carbon stock in tree biomass, 2023, MtC	Total carbon stock in soil and tree biomass, 2023, MtC	Changes in carbon stock in tree biomass from 2017 to 2023, MtC	Changes in carbon stock in tree biomass from 2017 to 2023, % relative to 2017
Marsh	45.9	39055	1.79	246.8	146.6	0.01	0.01	0.02	-0.005	-40.6
Alpine meadows and carpets	63.6	163794	10.42	588.6	106.4	0.03	0.01	0.03	-0.023	-81.9
Subalpine meadows	64.2	460885	29.60	51282.2	43987.0	2.46	2.11	4.57	-0.350	-14.2
Meadow-steppe	63.6	318335	20.26	13415.2	13327.4	0.64	0.64	1.28	-0.004	-0.7
Forest	58.7	564380	33.14	432710.2	416416.2	20.77	19.99	40.76	-0.782	-3.8
Juniper	57.2	13560	0.78	901.2	720.7	0.04	0.03	0.08	-0.009	-20.0
Broadleaf woodland	49.8	117317	5.84	43015.7	46096.8	2.06	2.21	4.28	0.148	7.2
Steppe	57.1	696619	39.78	18417.5	16405.2	0.88	0.79	1.67	-0.097	-10.9
Semidesert	35.0	437940	15.32	1137.1	602.9	0.05	0.03	0.08	-0.026	-47.0
Desert	29.1	752	0.02	0.0	0.0	0	0	0.00	0.000	0