Vegetation and Soil Carbon Storage of Some Typical Subtropical Evergreen Broad-leaved Forest in Dagang Mountain

Abstract

With the rapid development of human society and economy, the greenhouse effect caused by greenhouse gases had become one of the three major environmental problems in the world. Forest ecosystems mitigate the greenhouse effect by absorbing CO 2 through the photosynthesis of green plants. Based on field investigation of three subtropical evergreen broad-leaved forests including Schima superba forest, Cyclobalanopsis glauca forest, and Castanopsis sclerophylla forest in Dagang Mountain Nature Reserve of Jiangxi Province, the vegetation and soil carbon storage and carbon density were calculated. The results showed that the organic carbon content of three subtropical evergreen broad-leaved forest species in the Dagang Mountain Nature Reserve was very close, and the content of organic carbon was between 0.47 and 0.49. The order of organic carbon content in different organs was leaf > stem > branch > root. The average carbon density of vegetation layer was 7.56kg/m 2 , and the carbon density of the arbor layer was 7.16 kg/m 2 , the shrub layer was 0.17kg/m 2 , the litter layer was 0.15kg/m 2 , and the herb layer was 0.08 kg/m 2. The carbon density of the Schima superba forest was the highest which was 9.68kg/m 2 , the carbon density of the Cyclobalanopsis glauca forest was the smallest which was 6.44kg/m 2 , and the carbon density of the Castanopsis sclerophylla forest was 6.56kg/m 2. The content of soil organic carbon in subtropical evergreen broad-leaved forest in Dagang Mountain Nature Reserve decreased with the increase of soil depth. The average soil carbon density was 20.926kg/m 2 , and the soil carbon density of Schima superba forest, Cyclobalanopsis glauca forest and Castanopsis sclerophylla forest was 16.634 kg/m 2 , 29.554 kg/m 2 and 16.591 kg/m 2 respectively. The carbon storage of the standard samples of the Schima superba forest, Cyclobalanopsis glauca forest and Castanopsis sclerophylla forest were 14.971t, 26.599t and 14.932t respectively.