Carbon Stock in Forest Stands of Ukrainian Eastern Forest-Steppe: Forest Monitoring Data

Abstract

In Ukraine, carbon stocks in forests are assessed by the gain-loss method since the national forest inventory is under development now. For the evaluation of main pools of oak and pine forest stands, typical for the Forest-steppe of Ukraine, the stock-difference method was used for the data of repeated observations on 18 intensive forest monitoring plots. The average carbon stock in the phytomass was 94.1 ± 19.8 tC·ha−1 and 93.4 ± 12.8 tC·ha−1, while in the deadwood, it was 8.8 ± 7.3 tC·ha−1 and 5.3 ± 4.3 tC·ha−1 for oak and pine forest stands, respectively. In terms of age classes, pine stands, due to their higher productivity, in general, had a higher carbon (C) stock in phytomass compared to oak. C stock changes in trees phytomass were the highest in younger stands, and they decreased with age, while in deadwood, they increased. At age 81–100 years, oak forest stands had higher carbon storage capacity than pine (total stock in main pools (phytomass, mortmass, and soils (30-cm layer)) was 191.7 tC·ha−1 for oak and 175.4 tC·ha−1 for pine stands). Trees phytomass carbon prevailed among other pools (50.3% in oak forests and 57.6% in pine).