Carbon storage in degraded cork oak (Quercus suber) forests on flat lowlands in Morocco

Abstract

The present study aims to quantify the carbon stored in a degraded cork oak (Quercus suber L.) ecosystem in the north west of Morocco, in view of potential management implications. To this end, carbon stocks were evaluated in the first 100 cm of the soil, the cork oak trees, and the understorey species (both above-and belowground). Results show that the total carbon stocks in the cork oak ecosystem ranges from 65 to 237 Mg ha -1 with a mean value of 121 Mg ha -1 . The first 100 cm of the soil (including the forest floor) represents the largest carbon pool (~51% of the total organic carbon) of the ecosystem. Tree biomass (above-and belowground tissues of cork oak) represents the second largest pool (47%), whereas the contribution of the understorey is less than 2%. Within the first 100 cm of the soil, over 87% of all the soil organic carbon is situated in the first 40 cm of the soil depth. The amount of carbon stored here ranges from 30 to 110 Mg ha -1 and these organic carbon stocks vary considerably with the stand basal area of the cork oak (R 2 = 0.82). In practice, the carbon stocks of the different pools considered are strongly correlated with the stand density of the cork oak stands. In the semi-arid forest ecosystems of our study, management prescriptions aiming at increasing the standing biomass of the cork oak should thus considerably contribute, both directly through tree biomass and indirectly through increased soil organic matter, to efficient carbon sequestration.

Estimating carbon dynamics in forest carbon pools under IPCC standards in South Korea using CBM-CFS3

“…While most areas (69.6% -Korea Forest Service 2011) experiencing diseases and pests are treated to prevent the breeding of pests or to encourage their extermination, the ecosystem and carbon cycle within these areas is still affected. To enable a more precise and comprehensive assessment of South Korean forest C cycles, some important influences on C balance need to be considered, such as atmospheric CO2 fertilization (Bellassen et al 2011), N deposition (Fischer et al 2011), leaching (Luyssaert et al 2010), forest area changes (Liski et al 2006), forest cover changes (Choi et al 2011), forest growth changes (Byun et al 2013), illegal activities, and other disturbances (Kurz et al 2008, Oubrahim et al 2015.…”

Forest management and carbon sequestration in the Mediterranean region: A review

“…An important research effort has been undertaken over the last decade to improve forest carbon estimations and to determine the effects of management on carbon sequestration in the Mediterranean area, as described this review and summarized in Table 4. Most of this research has been done in the northern and western areas of the Mediterranean region, but more research along these lines is currently in progress in southern and eastern areas (e.g., Durkaya et al, 2013;Makineci et al, 2015;Oubrahim et al, 2015;Zribi et al, 2016). In spite of this effort, there are still certain gaps in our knowledge that need to be addressed in order to fulfill the requirements of our society.…”

Effects of traditional forest management on carbon storage in a Mediterranean holm oak (Quercus ilex L.) coppice

“…Interest in measuring and modeling car-bon storage in forests has greatly increased over the last decade, and many studies have adopted a comprehensive approach to investigate the quantification of carbon stocks that accounts for all of the five carbon pools in forest ecosystems (Nunes et al 2010, De Simon et al 2012, Ruiz-Peinado et al 2013, Moreno-Fernandez et al 2015, Oubrahim et al 2015, Ruiz-Peinado et al 2016. However, some studies focused on only one carbon pool, such as the soil (Vesterdal et al 2008, Rodeghiero et al 2011, deadwood (logs, snags, fine and coarse woody debris - Herrero & Bravo 2012, Herrero et al 2014, Paletto et al 2014 or living biomass (Ruiz-Peinado et al 2011, Ruiz-Peinado et al 2012, while other studies have considered 4 carbon pools by omitting pools such as soil (Xu et al 2016) or deadwood (Rodeghiero et al 2010, Scalenghe et al 2015.…”

“…Geographically, 55%, 32% and 14% of carbon is stored in tropical, boreal and temperate forests, respectively, which is why studies of the carbon pools in the Mediterranean region are required. In recent years, some research has focused on the influences of forest manage-ment on carbon storage (Powers et al 2013), and some studies have also investigated the distribution of carbon stocks among the different pools in the Mediterranean region , De Simon et al 2012, Ruiz-Peinado et al 2013, Moreno-Fernandez et al 2015, Oubrahim et al 2015, Ruiz-Peinado et al 2016. However, most of those studies have been carried out in coniferous stands, except for De Simon et al (2012) and Oubrahim et al (2015) who investigated broadleaved stands.…”