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National parks and similarly managed reserves play an important role in climate change and development. However, changes in the structure and composition of vegetation due to disturbance can modify their capacity to regulate climate through carbon sequestration. We estimated aboveground carbon stocks in W National Park, and related carbon density to structure, species diversity and specific functional traits. We measured 3193 stems belonging to 89 woody species that included 63 genera and 32 families. Aboveground biomass was estimated from diameter at breast height in combination with total height and wood density, and converted to carbon. We detected structural differences among four vegetation types (gallery forest, savanna woodland, shrub savanna and tree savanna) in W National park. Carbon density varied between the different vegetation types, ranging from an average of 2.9 +/- 0.4 Mg ha(-1) in shrub savanna to 57.7 +/- 3.9 Mg ha(-1) in gallery forest. Much of the carbon (similar to 70%) is held in few large-diameter trees that make up 8% of the population. Species richness (beta = 1.28; p < 0.001) and average tree size (beta = 1.139; p = 0.012) were the main factors influencing plot level carbon density. The relative contribution of woody species to carbon storage in tree savanna and woodland was not proportional to their relative abundance. Shannon diversity index ranged from H' = 1.31 in gallery forest to H' = 1.76 in tree savanna. Functional richness explained 31% of the variance in carbon density. Community weighted mean of maximum plant height and wood density had a significant effect on carbon density, explaining 27% of the variation in functional dominance. Biomass estimates obtained in this study can be used to evaluate the contribution of protected areas to meeting targets set by Burkina Faso in her intended nationally determined contributions.