Shankar Anand, Chandra Garkoti Satish
School of Environmental Sciences, Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi, 110067, India.
J Environ Manage. 2025 Jan;373:123755. doi: 10.1016/j.jenvman.2024.123755. Epub 2024 Dec 18.
Understanding and regulating global carbon relies crucially on comprehending the components and services of forest ecosystems. In particular, interactions that govern carbon storage in trees, soil, and microbes, driven by factors like vegetation structure, function, and soil characteristics, remain poorly understood, especially in the central Himalayas. To address this gap, we investigated carbon storage in tree aboveground biomass, root biomass, and soil across different vegetation types. We also examined how vegetation parameters {vegetation diversity (H'), diameter at breast height (DBH), basal area (BA), and biomass}, and soil characteristics {bulk density (BD), moisture (M), pH, and total nitrogen (N)} might influence forest carbon storage. Our study, based on 14 plots (0.1 ha each) spanning four distinct vegetation types {Sal forest (SF, 3), Chir-pine forest (PF, 4), Nepalese-alder forest (AF, 3), and Banj-oak forest (OF, 4)} in the central Himalaya, revealed several key insights. Tree carbon storage ranged from ∼79 to 261 Mg C ha, accounting for 41-65% of forest carbon storage, while soil carbon storage ranged from ∼28 to 69 Mg C ha, contributing 35-58%. These values varied with vegetation types and were influenced by the vegetation and soil characteristics associated with each forest type. Important contributors to tree and soil carbon storage included soil M, N, and vegetation structural diversity (H', BA), explaining 8-64 % of the variation. Path analysis indicated that increased vegetation diversity, soil properties, and conservative traits (fine roots and leaves) strongly influence tree and soil carbon storage. The study highlights the potential complex system to optimizing carbon storage in natural forest ecosystems, offering valuable insight for managing carbon sinks. Further research is needed to fully understand ecosystem responses to carbon storage across different forest habitats and different spatial-temporal scales.
了解和调节全球碳循环关键取决于对森林生态系统的组成部分及其服务功能的理解。特别是，由植被结构、功能和土壤特性等因素驱动的树木、土壤和微生物中碳储存的相互作用，目前仍知之甚少，尤其是在喜马拉雅山脉中部地区。为了填补这一空白，我们调查了不同植被类型中树木地上生物量、根系生物量和土壤中的碳储存情况。我们还研究了植被参数{植被多样性（H'）、胸径（DBH）、断面积（BA）和生物量}以及土壤特性{容重（BD）、湿度（M）、pH值和总氮（N）}如何影响森林碳储存。我们的研究基于喜马拉雅山脉中部14个样地（每个样地0.1公顷），涵盖四种不同的植被类型{娑罗双树林（SF，3个样地）、喜马拉雅长叶松林（PF，4个样地）、尼泊尔桤木林（AF，3个样地）和高山栎林（OF，4个样地）}，得出了几个关键结论。树木碳储量在79至261 Mg C/公顷之间，占森林碳储量的41 - 65%，而土壤碳储量在28至69 Mg C/公顷之间，占35 - 58%。这些数值因植被类型而异，并受与每种森林类型相关的植被和土壤特性的影响。树木和土壤碳储存的重要贡献因素包括土壤湿度、氮含量以及植被结构多样性（H'、BA），解释了8 - 64%的变化。路径分析表明，植被多样性增加、土壤性质以及保守性状（细根和树叶）对树木和土壤碳储存有强烈影响。该研究强调了优化天然森林生态系统中碳储存的潜在复杂系统，为管理碳汇提供了有价值的见解。需要进一步研究以全面了解不同森林栖息地和不同时空尺度下生态系统对碳储存的响应。
