Needle, crown, stem, and root phytomass of Pinus sylvestris stands in Russia

• Published in: Forest ecology and management 1996-04, Vol.82 (1), p.59-67
• Main Authors: Monserud, Robert A., Onuchin, Alexander A., Tchebakova, Nadja M.
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Animal and plant ecology; Animal, plant and microbial ecology; Biological and medical sciences; BIOMASA; BIOMASS; BIOMASSE; CARBON; Carbon allocation; Carbon cycle; CARBONE; CARBONO; CICLO BIOGEOQUIMICO; COPA; CROWN; CYCLE BIOGEOCHIMIQUE; CYCLING; FEDERACION DE RUSIA; FEDERATION DE RUSSIE; FEUILLE; FOREST STANDS; Forestry; Fundamental and applied biological sciences. Psychology; Generalities. Production, biomass. Quality of wood and forest products. General forest ecology; HOJAS; HOUPPIER; LEAVES; MODELE; MODELOS; PEUPLEMENT FORESTIER; PINUS SYLVESTRIS; Production. Biomass; RACINE; RAICES; RODALES; ROOTS; RUSSIAN FEDERATION; Scots pine; Stand modeling; STEMS; Synecology; TALLO; Terrestrial ecosystems; TIGE
• ISSN: 0378-1127; 1872-7042
• DOI: 10.1016/0378-1127(95)03689-X

With growing concern about predicted global warming, increasing attention is being paid to the phytomass (living plant mass) components of forest stands and their role in the carbon cycle. The ability to predict phytomass components from commonly available inventory data would facilitate our understanding of the latter. We focus on Scots pine ( Pinus sylvestris L.) stands in Russia, with the objective of predicting stand phytomass (Mg ha −1) for the four major stand components: needles, crown, stems, and roots. The study area includes regions in Russia where Scots pine is a stand-forming species: from European Russia (33°E) to Yakutia (130°E) in eastern Siberia. To ensure that results will be widely applicable, only variables consistently measured in forest inventories were considered as possible predictors: stand age, site quality class, and stocking (stand stem volume with bark, m 3 ha −1). Stand phytomass data were obtained from numerous regional and local phytomass studies, and supplemented with additional unpublished data. This is the first comprehensive study synthesizing stand level phytomass relations for P. sylvestris for most of its range in Russia. The combined results from over 18 regional and local phytomass studies provide a level of generality that is not possible with individual local studies. In addition to estimating stand phytomass components across a wide range of conditions, these phytomass models can also be used to verify carbon allocation rules in process-based models.