Carbon Storage and Allocation Pattern in Plant Biomass among Different Forest Plantation Stands in Guangdong, China

Abstract

Abstract:In order to understand how carbon storage and allocation patterns vary among plantation types, we estimated carbon allocation between above-and below-ground compartments in four subtropical plantations and a naturally recovered shrubland (as a control). Results indicated that the carbon storage and allocation pattern varied greatly among forest types and was highly dependent on specific traits of trees and understory vegetation. The fast-growing species, such as Eucalyptus urophylla, accumulated more carbon in plant biomass. The biomass carbon was about 1.9-and 2.2-times greater than the 10-species mixed plantation and Castanopsis hystrix plantations, respectively. Meanwhile, the plantations sequestered 1.5-to 3-times more carbon in biomass than naturally recovered shrubland. The carbon allocation pattern between above-and below-ground compartments also varied with plantation type and stand age. The ratio of tree root carbon to tree aboveground carbon decreased with stand age for Eucalyptus urophylla and the 10-species mixed plantation. In contrast, the ratio increased for Acacia crassicarpa. Our data suggested that planting the fast-growing species in the degraded land of subtropical China was an effective choice in terms of carbon sequestration. The information about OPEN ACCESSForests 2015, 6 795 carbon allocation patterns was also valuable for decision making in sustainable forest management and climate change mitigation.

Ecofunctional Traits and Biomass Production in Leguminous Tree Species under Fertilization Treatments during Forest Restoration in Amazonia

“…The functional aspect of this response is that it can favor plant growth by improving the uptake of the most limiting factor [52]. Changes in allocation in response to nutrient limitations are the strongest of all allocation responses [33].…”

Dynamics of Understory Shrub Biomass in Six Young Plantations of Southern Subtropical China

“…In these studied plantations, herbs were dominated by Dicranopteris dichotoma [27]. The herb biomass was the lowest in AC, and the highest in NS [32].…”

“…There were eighteen small subplots in a permanent quadrat plot for each inventory. The biomass of each shrub species was estimated by allometric regression equations in all plantations [32].…”

A Basin-Scale Estimation of Carbon Stocks of a Forest Ecosystem Characterized by Spatial Distribution and Contributive Features in the Liuxihe River Basin of Pearl River Delta

“…For tree biomass measurements, the DBH (diameter at breast height, 1.3 m) and height of each individual tree were measured. Tree biomass (including aboveground trees and underground roots) was calculated using the allometric biomass regression models proposed by Feng et al, Li et al, and Chen et al (Table 2) [41][42][43]. The tree C stock was calculated by multiplying tree biomass by the wood carbon concentration [44,45].…”