Tree Species Richness and Carbon Stock in Tripura University Campus, Northeast India

Trees are the prevalent component of a terrestrial ecosystem. They provide benefiting function by accumulating atmospheric Carbon. Instead of forest area, trees are generally found sporadically in every urban area within the boundaries of cities, towns along the road side or even in the periphery of settlement and institutional confinement. In the present study, we explored the potential of tree species richness in an institutional campus. The study constitutes an assessment of tree species richness, standing biomass and carbon stock of trees in Tripura University campus. A total of 66 tree species with 1301 individuals (40.69 individual ha^-1) belonging to 56 genera from 32 families were identified. The dominant family was Mimosaceae and species was Acacia auriculiformis (n=524), followed by Cassia siamea (n=31) and Cassia fistula (n=25). The compositional pattern shows that number of individual with the lower DBH was higher and only 47 individuals were found in > 45 cm DBH class. The total biomass (AGB and BGB) was 377.76 T in the entire area, with 11.82 Tha-1 and carbon as 5.91 Tha-1. Acacia auriculiformis emerged as the highest biomass contributor due to its higher number of individuals. The study shows that the tree species found in the campus make an important contribution in conserving diversity and helps to maintain the carbon stock in the University Campus.