Variation in Carbon Content among the Major Tree Species in Hemiboreal Forests in Latvia

Arta Bārdule,Andis Lazdiņš,Jānis Liepiņš,Jeļena Stola,Aldis Butlers,Kaspars Liepiņš

doi:10.3390/f12091292

Arta Bārdule, Andis Lazdiņš + Show 4 more

Open Access

https://doi.org/10.3390/f12091292

Copy DOI

Journal: Forests	Publication Date: Sep 21, 2021
Citations: 9	License type: CC BY 4.0

Affiliation: Latvian State Forest Research Institute "Silava"

Abstract

This study was designed to estimate the variation in non-volatile carbon (C) content in different above- and belowground tree parts (stem, living branches, dead branches, stumps, coarse roots and small roots) and to develop country-specific weighted mean C content values for the major tree species in hemiboreal forests in Latvia: Norway spruce (Picea abies (L.) H. Karst.), Scots pine (Pinus sylvestris L.), birch spp. (Betula spp.) and European aspen (Populus tremula L.). In total, 372 sample trees from 124 forest stands were selected and destructively sampled. As the tree samples were pre-treated by oven-drying before elemental analysis, the results of this study represent the non-volatile C fraction. Our findings indicate a significant variation in C content among the tree parts and studied species with a range of 504.6 ± 3.4 g·kg−1 (European aspen, coarse roots) to 550.6 ± 2.4 g·kg−1 (Scots pine, dead branches). The weighted mean C content values for whole trees ranged from 509.0 ± 1.6 g·kg−1 for European aspen to 533.2 ± 1.6 g·kg−1 for Scots pine. Only in Norway spruce was the whole tree C content significantly influenced by tree age and size. Our analysis revealed that the use of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) default C content values recommended for temperate and boreal ecological zones leads to a 5.1% underestimation of C stock in living tree biomass in Latvia’s forests. Thus, the country-specific weighted mean C content values for major tree species we provide may improve the accuracy of National Greenhouse Gas Inventory estimates.

Highlights

The mean C content in different tree parts of the studied tree species ranged from 504.6 ± 3.4 g·kg−1 (European aspen, coarse roots) to
The results of this study showed that the relative contribution of living branches and small roots decreased with tree age for all tree species, but the contribution of the stem trended higher with tree age, reaching 77.5% of the total C stock in birches more than 60 years old
Our study shows that using the default Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) (2006) C content values to estimate C stock in the living biomass of forest land in Latvia may lead to an underestimation of 5.1% or 12.8 Mt C

Summary

Introduction

Publisher’s Note: MDPI stays neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations. Forest ecosystems continuously exchange carbon dioxide (CO2 ) with the atmosphere and are significant components of the global carbon (C) cycle [1,2,3]. In forests, living tree biomass is a key CO2 sink due to the photosynthetic assimilation of CO2 from the atmosphere [4,5]. Atmospheric CO2 is converted into carbohydrates and further integrated into the organic compounds that make up a plant’s structure [4,5,6]

Objectives

Methods

Results

Discussion

Conclusion