Carbon stock trends along forested peatland margins in central Saskatchewan

2006 ◽  
Vol 86 (Special Issue) ◽  
pp. 321-333 ◽  
Author(s):  
J. S. Bhatti ◽  
R. C. Errington ◽  
I. E. Bauer ◽  
P. A. Hurdle

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

2011 ◽  
Vol 151 (5) ◽  
pp. 565-574 ◽  
Author(s):  
Michael Sprintsin ◽  
S. Cohen ◽  
K. Maseyk ◽  
E. Rotenberg ◽  
J. Grünzweig ◽  
...  

2006 ◽  
Vol 42 (2) ◽  
pp. 165-187 ◽  
Author(s):  
P. J. BURGESS ◽  
M. K. V. CARR ◽  
F. C. S. MIZAMBWA ◽  
D. J. NIXON ◽  
J. LUGUSI ◽  
...  

Over an eight-year period, harvesting methods based on simple mechanical aids (blade and shear) were evaluated against hand harvesting on mature morphologically contrasting tea clones in Southern Tanzania. The effects of shear step height (5–32 mm) and the harvest interval (1.8–4.2 phyllochrons) were also examined. Except in the year following pruning, large annual yields (5.7–7.9 t dry tea ha−1) were obtained by hand harvesting at intervals of two phyllochrons. For clones K35 (large shoots) and T207 (small shoots), the mean harvested shoot weights were equivalent to three unfurled leaves and a terminal bud. The proportions of broken shoots (40–48 %) and coarse material (4–6 %) were both relatively high. Using a blade resulted in similar yields to hand harvesting from K35 but larger yields from T207 (+13 %). The yield increase from clone T207 was associated with the harvest of more shoots and heavier shoots, smaller increases in canopy height, and a higher proportion (7–9 %) of coarse material compared to hand harvesting. On bushes, which had been harvested by hand for two years following pruning, using flat shears (no step) supported on the tea canopy resulted, over a three year period, in yields 8–14 % less than those obtained by hand harvesting and, for clone K35, a reduction in the leaf area index to below 5. The development of a larger leaf area index is made possible by adding a step to the shear. However, since annual yields were reduced by 40–50 kg ha−1 per mm increase in step height, the step should be the minimum necessary to maintain long-term bush productivity. As mean shoot weights following shear harvesting were about 13 % below those obtained by hand harvesting, there is scope, when using shears, to extend the harvest interval from 2 to 2.5 phyllochrons.


Forests ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 11 (4) ◽  
pp. 464 ◽  
Author(s):  
Bohdan Konôpka ◽  
Jozef Pajtík ◽  
Vladimír Šebeň ◽  
Peter Surový ◽  
Katarína Merganičová

Our research of common aspen (Populus tremula L.) focused on the forested mountainous area in central Slovakia. Forest stands (specifically 27 plots from 9 sites) with ages between 2 and 15 years were included in measurements and sampling. Whole tree biomass of aspen individuals was destructively sampled, separated into tree components (leaves, branches, stem, and roots), and then dried and weighed. Subsamples of fresh leaves from three crown parts (upper, middle, and lower) were scanned, dried, and weighed. Allometric biomass models with stem base diameter as an independent variable were derived for individual tree components. Basic foliage traits, i.e., leaf mass, leaf area, and specific leaf area, were modelled with regard to tree size and leaf position within the crown. Moreover, biomass stock of the woody parts and foliage as well as the leaf area index were modelled using mean stand diameter as an independent variable. Foliage traits changed with both tree size and crown part. Biomass models showed that foliage contribution to total tree biomass decreased with tree size. The total foliage area of a tree increased with tree size, reaching its maximum value of about 12 m2 for a tree with a diameter of 120 mm. Leaf area index increased with mean stand diameter, reaching a maximum value of 13.5 m2 m−2. Since no data for biomass allocation for common aspen had been available at either the tree or stand levels, our findings might serve for both theoretical (e.g., modelling of growth processes) and practical (forestry and agro-forestry stakeholders) purposes.


2017 ◽  
Vol 23 (10) ◽  
pp. 4133-4146 ◽  
Author(s):  
Chongya Jiang ◽  
Youngryel Ryu ◽  
Hongliang Fang ◽  
Ranga Myneni ◽  
Martin Claverie ◽  
...  

2021 ◽  
Vol 304-305 ◽  
pp. 108407
Author(s):  
Cheryl Rogers ◽  
Jing M. Chen ◽  
Holly Croft ◽  
Alemu Gonsamo ◽  
Xiangzhong Luo ◽  
...  

2010 ◽  
Vol 7 (1) ◽  
pp. 801-846
Author(s):  
P. Imbach ◽  
L. Molina ◽  
B. Locatelli ◽  
O. Roupsard ◽  
P. Ciais ◽  
...  

Abstract. Regional runoff, evapotranspiration, leaf area index (LAI) and potential vegetation were modeled for Mesoamerica using the SVAT model MAPSS. We calibrated and validated the model after building a comprehensive database of regional runoff, climate, soils and LAI. The performance of several gridded precipitation forcings (CRU, FCLIM, WorldClim, TRMM, WindPPT and TCMF) was evaluated and FCLIM produced the most realistic runoff. Annual runoff was successfully predicted (R2=0.84) for a set of 138 catchments with a regression slope of 0.88 and an intercept close to zero. This low runoff bias might originate from MAPSS assumption of potential vegetation cover and to underestimation of the precipitation over cloud forests. The residues were found to be larger in small catchments but to remain homogeneous across elevation, precipitation and land use gradients. Based on the assumption of uniform distribution of parameters around literature values, and using a Monte Carlo-type approach, we estimated an average model uncertainty of 42% of the annual runoff. The MAPSS model was found to be most sensitive to the parameterization of stomatal conductance. Monthly runoff seasonality was fairly mimicked (Kendal tau correlation coefficient higher than 0.5) in 78% of the catchments. Predicted LAI was consistent with EOS-TERRA-MODIS collection 5 and ATSR-VEGETATION-GLOBCARBON remotely sensed global products. The simulated evapotranspiration:runoff ratio increased exponentially for low precipitation areas, stressing the importance of accurately modeling evapotranspiration below 1500 mm of annual rainfall with the help of SVAT models such as MAPSS. We propose the first high resolution (1 km2 pixel) maps combining runoff, evapotranspiration, leaf area index and potential vegetation types for Mesoamerica.


2021 ◽  
Vol 2021 ◽  
pp. 1-17
Author(s):  
Hongliang Fang ◽  
Yao Wang ◽  
Yinghui Zhang ◽  
Sijia Li

Leaf area index (LAI) is an essential climate variable that is crucial to understand the global vegetation change. Long-term satellite LAI products have been applied in many global vegetation change studies. However, these LAI products contain various uncertainties that are not been fully considered in current studies. The objective of this study is to explore the uncertainties in the global LAI products and the uncertainty variations. Two global LAI datasets—the European Geoland2 Version 2 (GEOV2) and Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) (2003-2019)—were investigated. The qualitative quality flags (QQFs) and quantitative quality indicators (QQIs) embedded in the product quality layers were analyzed to identify the temporal anomalies in the quality profile. The results show that the global GEOV2 (0.042/10a) and MODIS (0.034/10a) LAI values have steadly increased from 2003 to 2019. The global LAI uncertainty (0.016/10a) and relative uncertainty (0.3%/10a) from GEOV2 have also increased gradually, especially during the growing season from April to October. The uncertainty increase is larger for woody biomes than for herbaceous types. Contrastingly, the MODIS LAI product uncertainty remained stable over the study period. The uncertainty increase indicated by GEOV2 is partly attributed to the sensor shift in the product series. Further algorithm enhancement is necessary to improve the cross-sensor performance. This study highlights the importance of studying the LAI uncertainty and the uncertainty variation. Temporal variations in the LAI products and the product quality revealed herein have significant implications on global vegetation change studies.


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