Black Spruce Fuel Weights and Biomass in Two Interior Alaska Stands

Barney, Richard J.; Cleve, Keith Van

doi:10.1139/x73-042

Cited by 20 publications

(11 citation statements)

References 0 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Order By: Relevance

“…3A, B). When literature biomass values are presented as biomass C, using the conversion factor of 0.5, our results agree well with published estimates of 60 Mg C ha -1 for the BOREAS OBS site (Nakane et al 1997), the 0.6 to 38 Mg C ha -1 observed along a wet chronosequence of black spruce forest in northern Manitoba (Wang et al 2003), and an estimate of 10 Mg C ha -1 for a 55-yr-old wet black spruce stand in Alaska (Barney and Van Cleve 1973). More generally, the biomass estimates for black spruce were well within the range of existing studies for boreal forests.…”

Section: Carbon Stockssupporting

confidence: 91%

Carbon stock trends along forested peatland margins in central Saskatchewan

Bhatti¹,

Errington²,

Bauer³

et al. 2006

Can. J. Soil. Sci.

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

. 2006. Carbon stock trends along forested peatland margins in central Saskatchewan. Can. J. Soil Sci. 86: 321-333. Forested peatlands store significant amounts of soil carbon (C) compared with upland forests and are strongly influenced by climatic parameters. Carbon stocks at peatland margins, although likely to be most sensitive to changes in climate, have not been well quantified, making it difficult to predict their response to climate change. The purpose of this study was to characterize the physical environment and associated changes in C stocks across the forested margins of two boreal fens. Peat depth increased and water table depth decreased toward the peatland centre, and these parameters acted as the controlling environmental variables. Above-ground biomass C was primarily derived from tree biomass and decreased from upland to peatland, despite an opposite trend in understorey (herbaceous and shrubby) biomass stocks. Leaf area index was related to peat depth through a negative power function and increased linearly with above-ground tree biomass. Total ecosystem C increased from upland to peatland, with minimum and maximum values of 270 and 2100 Mg C ha -1 , respectively, and was largely dominated by soil C stocks, even at the upland end of the gradient. Although numerous small trees toward the peatland interior might allow a rapid increase in tree biomass C with lowering water tables, it seems likely that this would be a limited response, overshadowed in the long term by declines in the more substantial soil C stocks.Key words: Peatlands, carbon stocks, biomass, soil, leaf area index, peat depth Bhatti, J. S., Errington, R. C., Bauer, I. E. et Hurdle, P. A. 2006. Tendances des stocks de carbone à la bordure des tourbières boisées dans le centre de la Saskatchewan. Can. J. Soil Sci. 86: 321-333. Les tourbières boisées emmagasinent sensiblement plus de carbone que les forêts situées en altitude. Elles subissent aussi fortement l'influence des paramètres climatiques. Bien qu'elles soient particulièrement sensibles aux changements climatiques, les réserves de carbone à la lisière des tourbières n'ont pas été très bien quantifiées, de sorte qu'il est difficile de prévoir comment elles réagiront au réchauffement de la planète. L'étude devait caractériser les conditions physiques et les variations des réserves de carbone sur le pourtour boisé de deux tourbières basses boréales. L'épaisseur de la couche de tourbe augmente et la profondeur de la nappe phréatique diminue à mesure qu'on s'approche du centre de la tourbière. Ces paramètres sont ceux qui régissent le milieu. Le carbone de la biomasse aérienne vient surtout des arbres et sa quantité diminue quand on passe des hauteurs aux terres basses, même si l'on assiste à la tendance inverse avec la biomasse du sous-étage (herbacées et broussailles). Les auteurs ont associé l'indice foliaire à l'épaisseur de la couche de tourbe grâce à une fonction à puissance négative et ont constaté qu'il augmente linéairement avec la biomasse aérienne issue des arbres. La qu...

show abstract

Section: Carbon Stockssupporting

confidence: 91%

Carbon stock trends along forested peatland margins in central Saskatchewan

Bhatti¹,

Errington²,

Bauer³

et al. 2006

Can. J. Soil. Sci.

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…In central Canada, biomass C pools are 70.6 t C ha −1 for 115‐year‐old dry black spruce stand in BOREAS northern study area (Gower et al ., 1997), 67.6 and 17.3 t C ha −1 for 115‐year‐old dry and wet stands in BOREAS southern study area (Bisbee et al ., 2001). In the black spruce forests in Alaska, Barney and Van Cleve (1973) reported 14.6 and 9.9 t C ha −1 for 55‐year‐old dry stand and 51‐year‐old wet black spruce stands, respectively; Oechel and Van Cleve (1986) estimated 21.3 t C ha −1 for a for a 200‐year‐old wet stand. Pooling these data and conducting an analysis of covariance by excluding the effects of stand age and soil drainage, we found no significant difference between our results and the previous estimates of C pools for black spruce stands ( F 3, 13 = 0.68, P = 0.578).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…(2002) used the existing C pool data of the boreal forests in central Canada and averaged the above‐ground biomass for well‐ and poorly‐drained boreal forests as 11–77 and 20–93 t C ha −1 , respectively. The trend that boreal forests in well‐drained soils have less biomass C than in poorly drained soils contradicts the ecosystem‐level results of this and previous studies (Barney & Van Cleve, 1973; Bisbee et al ., 2001). This may be because Bhatti et al .…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Carbon distribution of a well‐ and poorly‐drained black spruce fire chronosequence

Wang

Bond‐Lamberty

Gower

2003

Global Change Biology

125

115

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

The objective of this study was to quantify carbon (C) distribution for boreal black spruce (Picea mariana (Mill.) BSP) stands comprising a fire chronosequence in northern Manitoba, Canada. The experimental design included seven well‐drained (dry) and seven poorly‐drained (wet) stands that burned between 1998 and 1850. Vegetation C pools (above‐ground + below‐ground) steadily increased from 1.3 to 83.3 t C ha−1 for the dry chronosequence, and from 0.6 to 37.4 t C ha−1 for the wet chronosequence. The detritus C pools (woody debris + forest floor) varied from 10.3 to 96.0 t C ha−1 and from 12.6 to 77.4 t C ha−1 for the dry and wet chronosequence, respectively. Overstorey biomass, mean annual biomass increment (MAI), woody debris mass, and litterfall were significantly greater (α = 0.05) for the dry stands than for the wet stands, but the bryophyte, understorey, and forest floor C pools were significantly less for the dry than for the wet stands. The root mass ratio decreased with stand age until 37 years after fire, was fairly constant thereafter, and was not significantly affected by soil drainage. The C pools of the overstorey and bryophyte tended to increase with stand age. Foliage biomass, litterfall, and MAI (for the dry stands) peaked at 71 years after fire and declined in the oldest stands. The results from this study illustrate that the effects of disturbance and edaphic conditions must be accounted for in boreal forest C inventories and C models. The appropriateness of using chronosequences to examine effects of wildfire on ecosystem C distribution is discussed.

show abstract

“…Black spruce is the dominant forest type in interior Alaska, covering approximately 44% of the landscape (Van Cleve et al, 1983), and is typically underlain by permafrost. Mosses dominate forest floor cover in black spruce ecosystems (Barney and Van Cleve, 1973;Beringer et al, 2001). Moss species vary with soil drainage in black spruce ecosystems.…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

The Effect of Moisture Content on the Thermal Conductivity of Moss and Organic Soil Horizons From Black Spruce Ecosystems in Interior Alaska

O’Donnell¹,

Romanovsky

Harden³

et al. 2009

Soil Science

160

140

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Organic soil horizons function as important controls on the thermal state of near-surface soil and permafrost in high-latitude ecosystems. The thermal conductivity of organic horizons is typically lower than mineral soils and is closely linked to moisture content, bulk density, and water phase. In this study, we examined the relationship between thermal conductivity and soil moisture for different moss and organic horizon types in black spruce ecosystems of interior Alaska. We sampled organic horizons from feather mossYdominated and Sphagnumdominated stands and divided horizons into live moss and fibrous and amorphous organic matter. Thermal conductivity measurements were made across a range of moisture contents using the transient line heat source method. Our findings indicate a strong positive and linear relationship between thawed thermal conductivity (K t ) and volumetric water content. We observed similar regression parameters (A or slope) across moss types and organic horizons types and small differences in A 0 ( y intercept) across organic horizon types. Live Sphagnum spp. had a higher range of K t than did live feather moss because of the field capacity (laboratory based) of live Sphagnum spp. In northern regions, the thermal properties of organic soil horizons play a critical role in mediating the effects of climate warming on permafrost conditions. Findings from this study could improve model parameterization of thermal properties in organic horizons and enhance our understanding of future permafrost and ecosystem dynamics.

show abstract

Black Spruce Fuel Weights and Biomass in Two Interior Alaska Stands

Cited by 20 publications

References 0 publications

Carbon stock trends along forested peatland margins in central Saskatchewan

Carbon stock trends along forested peatland margins in central Saskatchewan

Carbon distribution of a well‐ and poorly‐drained black spruce fire chronosequence

The Effect of Moisture Content on the Thermal Conductivity of Moss and Organic Soil Horizons From Black Spruce Ecosystems in Interior Alaska

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About