Phytomass of litter fall in postfire larch forests of Zeisky nature reserve (Upper Priamurie)

• Published in: Сибирский лесной журнал
• Main Authors: S. V. Bryanin, E. R. Abramova
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: English; Russian
• Published: Russian Academy of Sciences, Siberian Branch Publishing House 2017
• Subjects: forest fires; litter fall; carbon; nitrogen; Gmelin larch; Larix gmelinii (Rupr.) Rupr; Forestry; SD1-669.5; taiga
• Online Access: https://doi.org/10.15372/SJFS20170210; https://doaj.org/article/c99d2abb837144ff9020c1917c0eb92c

Forest litter is one of the major carbon flow and main source for long-term carbon accumulation in forest ecosystems. Wild fires is a frequent and powerful event destroys fluxes of matter and carbon accumulation. In the article the first data of stationary investigation of litter fall in flow and its organic matter content in larch forest (Larix gmelinii (Rupr.) Rupr.) are presented. The study is conducted on Tukuringra range in Upper Priamurie (Amur Oblast, Russia) in the forest stand recovering after fire of 2003 year. Results shows that net annual inflow of forest above ground litter fall from all vegetation in burned forest is 2.8 times lower than in background forest. Grass litter fall and other tree debris (bark, seeds, cones, etc.) are main sources for annual litter fall input in burned forest. Litter fall composition in the burned forest is significantly changed and high variation of mass of litter fall fractions is observed. Accumulation of carbon and nitrogen is higher in majority of litter fall fractions in burned forest as compared to control one. Annual carbon input from litter fall is 164 gm–2 in control forest and 76 gm–2 in burned forest, total amount of nitrogen derived by litter fall is 1.7 and 2.4 gm–2 for control and burned forest respectively. Our findings suggest that carbon accumulation processes in fire-prone boreal forests changed significantly. The research results can be used for modeling of carbon balance in taiga forest damaged by fire.