Abstract
Converting secondary natural forests (SFs) to Chinese fir plantations (CFPs) represents one of the most important (8.9 million ha) land use changes in subtropical China. This study estimated both biomass and soil C stocks in a SF and a CFP that was converted from a SF, to quantify the effects of land use change on ecosystem C stock. After the forest conversion, biomass C in the CFP (73 Mg·ha−1) was significantly lower than that of the SF (114 Mg·ha−1). Soil organic C content and stock decreased with increasing soil depth, and the soil C stock in the 0–10 cm layer accounted for more than one third of the total soil C stock over 0–50 cm, emphasizing the importance of management of the top soil to reduce the soil C loss. Total ecosystem C stock of the SF and the CFP was 318 and 200 Mg·ha−1, respectively, 64% of which was soil C for both stands (205 Mg·ha−1 for the SF and 127 Mg·ha−1 for the CFP). This indicates that land use change from the SF to the CFP significantly decreased ecosystem C stock and highlights the importance of managing soil C.
Highlights
Forests act as a continuous carbon (C) sink of 1.9–2.6 Pg C (1 Pg C = 1015 g C) per year, sequestrating one third of C emissions from fossil fuel and land use changes [1,2,3].Forest biomass and soils are important C reserves
We hypothesized that the conversion of the secondary natural forests (SFs) to the Chinese fir plantations (CFPs) would result in a loss of C stored in the tree biomass, and in the soil. These results aim to provide empirical evidence to inform decision-makers involved in planning for land use change and the management of plantations to improve their capacity to sequester C, focusing on biomass C, and considering soil C
This study demonstrated a significant loss of biomass C after conversion to CFP, which is similar to previous observations [36,37]
Summary
Forests act as a continuous carbon (C) sink of 1.9–2.6 Pg C (1 Pg C = 1015 g C) per year (from 1990 to 2007), sequestrating one third of C emissions from fossil fuel and land use changes [1,2,3]. C loss from global soil respiration has been estimated to be 98 Pg C [5], which is more than 10 times the CO2 emissions from fossil fuel combustion [2]. Small changes in the soil C pools can significantly affect atmospheric CO2 concentrations and produce positive C-climate feedbacks. These changes can result from forest conversions to other land uses, and changes in precipitation or temperature caused by climate change [6,7]
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