摘要
Old-growth forests play a key-role in reducing atmospheric carbon dioxide(CO_(2)) concentrations by storing large CO_(2)amounts in biomass and soil over time.This quantifies the carbon pool into different forest compartments in three Mediterranean old-growth forests of Southern Italy populated by Pinus laricio,Fagus sylvatica and Abies alba.Ecosystem carbon pools have been assessed per compartment,i.e.,living trees,dead wood,litterfall(foliar and woody),roots and 0-20 cm topsoil,combining the whole old-growth forest mass,(i.e.,using tree allometric relationships,deadwood factor conversions,root-to-shoot ratios,litterfall and soil samplings) by the respective organic carbon concentrations.The results show the considerable capacity of these forest ecosystems in storing CO_(2)in biomass and soil,with carbon pool values ranging from 532.2to 596.5 Mg C ha-1.Living trees and 0-20 cm topsoil had larger carbon pool,contributing 53.0 and 22.1%,respectively.In most cases,organic carbon concentration was higher(more than 60%) than the average carbon conversion rate of 50%,especially in living trees,deadwood,and woody litterfall.This study contributes further scientific evidence of the capacity of old-growth forests in storing CO_(2)in their different compartments,with special evidence on tree biomass,litterfall and mineral soil,thereby highlighting the key role of old-growth forests within the challenge of climate change mitigation.
基金
the project"Determination of carbon pools in old-growth forests located within the Sila National Park—CARBOSIL"funded by the Ministry of the Environment,Land and Sea Protection—Department for Nature Protection under the Directive on Biodiversity。
