College of Geography and Environmental Science, Northwest Normal University, Lanzhou, 730070, China.
Department of Bioresource Engineering, Faculty of Agricultural and Environmental Science, McGill University, Sainte Anne de Bellevue, Québec, H9X 3V9, QC, Canada.
Sci Rep. 2019 Feb 28;9(1):3005. doi: 10.1038/s41598-019-39626-z.
At an ecosystem level, stand age has a significant influence on carbon storage (CS). Dragon spruce (Picea asperata Mast.) situated along the upper reaches of the Bailongjiang River in northwest China were categorized into three age classes (29-32 years, Y; 34-39 years, Y; 40-46 years, Y), and age-related differences in total carbon storage (TCS) of the forest ecosystem were investigated for the first time. Results showed that TCS for the Y, Y, and the Y age groups were 323.64, 240.66 and 174.60 Mg ha, respectively. The average TCS of the three age groups was 255.65 Mg C ha, with above-ground biomass, below-ground biomass, litter, and soil in the top 0.6 m contributing 15.0%, 3.7%, 12.1%, and 69.2%, respectively. CS in soil and TCS of the Y age group both significantly exceeded those of the Y age group (P < 0.05). Contrary to other recent findings, the present study supports the hypothesis that TCS is likely to decrease as stand age increases. This indicates that natural resource managers should rejuvenate forests by routinely thinning older stands, thereby not only achieving vegetation restoration, but also allowing these stands to create a long-term carbon sink for this important eco-region.
在生态系统层面上，林龄对碳储存（CS）有重大影响。中国西北白龙江上游的云杉（Picea asperata Mast.）被分为三个年龄组（29-32 年，Y；34-39 年，Y；40-46 年，Y），首次研究了森林生态系统中与年龄相关的总碳储存（TCS）差异。结果表明，Y、Y 和 Y 年龄组的 TCS 分别为 323.64、240.66 和 174.60 Mg ha。三个年龄组的平均 TCS 为 255.65 Mg C ha，其中地上生物量、地下生物量、凋落物和 0.6 m 以上的土壤分别贡献 15.0%、3.7%、12.1%和 69.2%。Y 年龄组的 CS 和 TCS 均显著高于 Y 年龄组（P<0.05）。与最近的其他发现相反，本研究支持了随着林龄增加 TCS 可能会降低的假设。这表明自然资源管理者应该通过定期疏伐较老的林分来使森林恢复活力，从而不仅实现植被恢复，而且使这些林分成为这个重要生态区的长期碳汇。
