Seedre, Meelis
- Czech University of Life Sciences Prague
Abstract
Good understanding of forest productivity and carbon (C) storage capacity is essential for better understanding of C dynamics and climate modeling. Studies of old-growth forest C dynamics from central and eastern Europe are rare and the few remaining pristine forests represent a unique opportunity to study natural forest dynamics in an otherwise managed landscape. We studied protected old-growth Norway spruce (Picea abies L.) stands in the Bohemian Forest, Czech Republic, to explore total ecosystem C pool (live and dead biomass and soil) variability in forest ecosystem as a function of stand age and elevation. These old-growth forest ecosystems store very high amounts of C, up to 570 t C ha(-1), and 393 t C ha(-1) on average. Live biomass is the dominant C pool followed by mineral soil, forest floor and dead biomass. We found that total C significantly decreased with increasing elevation (1025-1338 m a.s.1) from 456 to 294 t C ha(-1), predominantly driven by decreases in live biomass and forest floor C pools. Significant changes take place in individual pools based on age and elevation gradients, but total C was not significantly different between stands age 116-145 years. Contrary to some recent findings that old-growth forest ecosystems continue to sequester C long after maturity, our data supports the hypothesis that old-growth forests reach a steady state and become C neutral. They accumulate same amount of C through photosynthesis than is lost by decay and leaching. This study provides a detailed overview of C pools of old-growth Bohemian Forests and highlights the importance of including all major C pools in forest ecosystem C studies. (C) 2015 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.
Keywords
Carbon dynamics; Soil carbon; Spruce biomass C; Dead root C; Unmanaged ecosystem
Published in
Forest Ecology and Management
2015, volume: 346, pages: 106-113
Publisher: ELSEVIER SCIENCE BV
SLU Authors
UKÄ Subject classification
Forest Science
Publication identifier
- DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.foreco.2015.02.034
Permanent link to this page (URI)
https://res.slu.se/id/publ/85158