Regular research paper

Carbon pools and storage along a temperate to boreal transect in Northern Scots pine (Pinus sylvestris) forests

David Reed and Linda Nagel

School of Forest Resources and Environmental Science, Michigan Technological University, Houghton, MI  49931  USA. e-mail: ddreed@mtu.edu and lmnagel@mtu.edu

Abstract: 

         Pinus sylvestris, carbon sequestration, ecosystem carbon allocation A significant portion of global terrestrial carbon is stored in forested ecosystems, particularly in systems north of 50^oN latitude.  Carbon fluxes to and from these systems have the potential to greatly influence global terrestrial C storage, and provide feedback loops in the global carbon cycle.  This study examines total ecosystem C storage, and its allocation among ecosystem components, in nine study sites located in Scots pine (Pinus sylvestris) forests located from 50^oN (southern Poland) to 70^oN (northern Finland).  Results indicate a remarkable similarity in total ecosystem C, despite great differences in physical appearance of the overstory.  In the long-run, these results do not indicate a great deal of change in total C storage in these systems.  The two component C pools that differ the most are the overstory biomass and the organic soil horizons;  this raises the concern that these sites could be short-term sources of atmospheric C due to more rapid decomposition in the face of changing climate, but the overstory biomass could be a longer-term, possibly offsetting sink of atmospheric C.

Key words: Pinus sylvestris, carbon sequestration, ecosystem carbon allocation