Stand density and species richness affect carbon storage and net primary productivity in early and late successional temperate forests differently

Abstract

How stand density and species richness affect carbon (C) storage and net primary productivity (NPP) changes with forest succession is poorly understood. We quantified the C storage of trees and the aboveground NPP in an early successional secondary birch forest (birch forest) and a late successional mixed broadleaf‐Korean pine (Pinus koraiensis) forest (mixed forest) in northeastern China. We found that: 1) tree C storage in the mixed forest (120.3 Mg C ha−1) was significantly higher than that in the birch forest (78.5 Mg C ha−1), whereas the aboveground NPP was not different between the two forest types; and 2) only stand density had a positive linear relationship with tree C storage and aboveground NPP in the birch forest. In the mixed forest, both tree C storage and aboveground NPP were significantly affected by the combination of the stand density and species richness. The tree C storage to stand density and species richness relationships were hump‐shaped. The aboveground NPP increased with increasing stand density, but its relationship to species richness was hump‐shaped. We conclude that the effect of stand density and species richness on tree C storage and aboveground NPP was influenced by forest stand succession, and such effects should be considered in studying stand density‐ and species richness‐ ecosystem function (e.g., C storage and NPP) relationships in temperate forest ecosystems.

The Influence of Stand Density and Species Diversity Into Timber Production and Carbon Stock in Community Forest

“…These findings were considerably different from the study published by Filqisthi and Kaswanto (2017), who reported that there was no significant effect of species diversity on stand attributes of community forests in West Java, mainly related to timber production and carbon stock. The results are also different with the study conducted by Cai et al (2016) in China, who documented a high effect of richness on carbon storage in the Korean pine forest (P. koraensis). Nevertheless, this study reported a similar result to an observation undertaken by McNicol et al (2018) in South-Eastern Tanzania, who noted a substantial influence of stand density and species diversity on timber production and carbon stock in dry savannah forest.…”

“…Comparing stand attributes among observation sites was analyzed separately for each variable using Kruskal-Wallis, followed by Kruskall-Nemenyi (Tenzin & Hasenauer, 2016). Afterwards, the influence of stand density and species diversity on timber production and carbon stock in the community forest was assessed for every parameter using the general least square regression with the maximum likelihood method (Cai, Di, Chang, & Jin, 2016). The linear model pattern was used to evaluate the effect of stand density and species diversity on timber production and carbon stock.…”

“…A study conducted in a Korean pine forest (Pinus koraensis) located in China observed that higher stand density linearly increases timber production and carbon stock. The relationship between species diversity with both indicators creates hump-shaped curves (Cai, Di, Chang, & Jin, 2016). A study from the dry savannah forest in South-Eastern Tanzania reported that higher stand density and species diversity significantly improved timber production and carbon stock.…”

Spontaneous development of early successional vegetation improves Norway spruce forest soil after clear-cutting and renewal failure: a case study at a sandy-soil site

“…Differences between preceding and successive forest generations greatly impacted on ecological conditions, properties and biodiversity in individ-ual succession stages, carbon storage and also on the economic situation (Chazdon et al 2016). The early successional birch stands have the lower tree carbon storage as reported for example by Cai et al (2016) for 62-year-old Betula platyphylla with Larix gmelinii compared to late successional 300-year-old Pinus koraiensis dominating in mixture with other admixed species though the aboveground net primary productivity was not different between the two forest types (Cai et al 2016). Bose et al (2014) found the lower birch aboveground biomass than that of pine and comparable with oak and other broadleaves.…”

Soil diversity influences on oil palm productivity in ultramafic ecosystems, Southeast Sulawesi, Indonesia

“…A hierarchical clustering using heat map was implemented to identify the similarity of soil characteristics among sites (Li et al 2019). Afterward, the influence of soil diversity on oil palm productivity was tested for each parameter separately by generalized least square regressions (GLS) with maximum likelihood method (Cai et al 2016). Finally, a stepwise regression was doing to develop an equation that capable of estimating oil palm productivity using soil parameters as predictor variables (Balasundram et al 2006;Suryanto et al 2020).…”