Carbon sequestration in forest plantations in Iceland ARNÓR SNORRASON and
The main goal of the current project was to develop methodology for determining the total organic carbon stocks (C-stocks) at afforestation sites, and to estimate their mean annual carbon sequestration (C-se-questration) by stock-change method. This method involves a comparison between C-stocks on a...
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| Language: | English |
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| Online Access: | http://citeseerx.ist.psu.edu/viewdoc/summary?doi=10.1.1.535.1025 http://landbunadur.rala.is/landbunadur/wgsamvef.nsf/5ed2a07393fec5fa002569b300397c5a/9e0df706a430cb6300256dc5004666ea/$file/as-ofl.pdf |
| Summary: | The main goal of the current project was to develop methodology for determining the total organic carbon stocks (C-stocks) at afforestation sites, and to estimate their mean annual carbon sequestration (C-se-questration) by stock-change method. This method involves a comparison between C-stocks on afforest-ation sites and adjacent pastures on the same soil type and with the same pre-planting land-use history. The total C-stock in a 32-yr old larch stand (Larix sibirica) was 276 Mg ha1, compared to 157 Mg C ha1 on an adjacent grazed pasture. This indicates mean C-sequestration of 2.6 Mg ha1 yr1. A 54-year old native birch stand (Betula pubescens) had total C-stock of 149 Mg ha1 and mean C-sequestration rate of 1.0 Mg ha1 yr1. A 40-year old Sitka spruce stand (Picea sitchensis) had a total C-stock of 431 Mg ha1 and mean C-sequestration rate of 3.0 Mg ha1 yr1. The increase in C-stocks at the afforestation sites was mostly due to an accumulation in the trees and the litter layer. Other compartments did not always show significant changes in C-stocks. The largest part of the C-stock was always in the soil organic matter (SOM). High spatial variation in SOM at sites make estimates of C-sequestration of the soil compartment especially difficult. However, in absence of repeated measurements of SOM and aboveground C-stocks on permanent plots, the stock-change approach can give useful information about carbon dynamics of afforestation areas. |
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