Carbon budgets of three temperate forest ecosystems in Dongling Mt., Beijing, China

Abstract

There is a general agreement that forest ecosystems in the Northern Hemisphere function as significant sinks for atmospheric CO 2 ; however, their magnitude and distribution remain large uncertainties. In this paper, we report the carbon (C) stock and its change of vegetation, forest floor detritus, and mineral soil, annual net biomass increment and litterfall production, and respiration of vegetation and soils between 1992 to 1994, for three temperate forest ecosystems, birch (Betula platyphylla) forest, oak (Quercus liaotungensis) forest and pine (Pinus tabulaeformis) plantation in Mt. Dongling, Beijing, China. We then evaluate the C budgets of these forest ecosystems. Our results indicated that total C density (organic C per hectare) of these forests ranged from 250 to 300 t C ha -1 , of which 35-54 t C ha carbon budget, carbon density, carbon flux, mountainous area, temperate forest.

Litterfall deposition and leaf litter nutrient return in different locations at Northeastern Mexico

“…Trap contents were collected at 15-day intervals between December 21, 2006, andDecember 20, 2007. Since area and height above the ground of litter traps as well as the sampling period of collection in litterfall studies are variable, which in many circumstances depends on the total area sampled, type of vegetation, the temporal and spatial variation in litterfall production, and to prevent significant decomposition and leaching loss of nutrients by throughfall between collections resulting in an underestimation of the true litterfall flux of nutrients to the forest soil, in this study, the area of sampling, number of traps and height above soil level, and litter collection period are within the range of previous studies (Ukonmaanaho and Starr 2001;Finotti et al 2003;Read and Lawrence 2003;Yang et al 2004Yang et al , 2006Fang et al 2007;Zhou et al 2007). Litter contents were manually sorted into the following categories: leaves, reproductive structures (flowers, fruits, and seeds) twigs or branches (\2 cm in diameter), and miscellaneous residues (unidentified, fine plant tissue such as bark, pieces of insect bodies or feces).…”

Variation in biomass and carbon storage by stand age in pine (Pinus tabulaeformis) planted ecosystem in Mt. Taiyue, Shanxi, China

“…However, little research was conducted on ecosystem-scale forest C budgets. Ecosystem-scale studies of C budgets can help evaluate this spatial heterogeneity and uncertainty and understand ecological processes and driving forces of the C cycle (Fang et al 2007). To monitor the C stock in artificial forest ecosystem at ecosystem level could be helpful to the improvement of the precision of forest C sequestration evaluation (Huang et al 2008).…”

Carbon cycling of Chinese forests: From carbon storage, dynamics to models

“…The root:shoot ratios range from 22.0% to 28.3% and small root (diameter <5 mm) biomass range from 0.95 to 3.24 t C hm −2 . This is another detailed case study on C cycling of temperate forest ecosystems following studies on Mt Dongling, Beijing [7].…”

“…Based on these results and related studies on forest C cycling [7,8], it is possible to combine these data and show the variations of forest biomass with latitude in East China (Figure 1…”

“…Currently, some detailed C-cycling models have been developed for forest ecosystems, e.g., temperate oak forest in Hubbard Brook, New Hampshire [16] and Pseudotsuga-Tsuga coniferous forest of Wind River Experimental Forest in Washington State, USA [17]. In contrast, we still lack a detailed and representative model of C cycling in China, although some very preliminary models exist [7].…”