Abstract
We studied the recovery of tree- and stand-level carbon (C) storage in a lodgepole pine (Pinus contorta Dougl. ex Loud. var. latifolia Engelm.) forest in northern British Columbia that experienced substantial (∼83%) mortality in 2006–2007 (total loss by 2013 = 86%) during a severe mountain pine beetle (MPB; Dendroctonus ponderosae Hopkins, 1902) infestation. Earlier work suggested that this forest recovered positive annual C storage 3 years after attack based on eddy covariance measurements. We sought to confirm these results by examining C storage in surviving pine trees using tree core analysis. Average growth release of surviving lodgepole pine trees was 392% (range of –53% to 2326%) compared with mean decadal growth prior to MPB attack. Nearly 97% of trees underwent a growth release, considerably higher than the 15%–75% reported for lodgepole pine in previous studies. Mean annual stem C storage of the surviving trees in this study was highly correlated (r = 0.88) with 10 years of annual net ecosystem productivity estimates made using the eddy covariance technique, indicating that surviving lodgepole pine remain an important part of C recovery after MPB attack. Mean annual stem C storage was also highly correlated (r = 0.92) with the cumulative percentage of downed stems per hectare at the site, suggesting that increased availability of resources is likely assisting the growth release.
Highlights
Smalian's formula uses the formula for the area of a circle to find A1 and A2: A1 =
If the average diameter occurs exactly equidistant from both ends the log form is conoid
Smalian's formula arrives at average area by averaging the areas of the top and butt ends of a log
Summary
Smalian’s formula states that the volume of a log can be closely estimated by multiplying the average of the areas of the two log ends by the log’s length. = radius of the small end in centimetres (or the diameter in rads as illustrated in Figure 4.5), B = radius of the large end in centimetres (or the diameter in rads as illustrated in Figure 4.5), and
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