Woody debris in a 16-year old Pinus radiata plantation in Australia: Mass, carbon and nitrogen stocks, and turnover

• Published in: Forest ecology and management 2006-06, Vol.228 (1), p.145-151
• Main Authors: Guo, Lanbin B., Bek, Emily, Gifford, Roger M.
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Animal and plant ecology; Animal, plant and microbial ecology; Biological and medical sciences; Carbon; carbon sequestration; degradation; diameter; equations; Forest floor; forest litter; Forest management; Forest management. Stand types and stand dynamics. Silvicultural treatments. Tending of stands. Natural regeneration; forest plantations; Forestry; Fundamental and applied biological sciences. Psychology; Nitrogen; Pinus; Pinus radiata; Release; soil-atmosphere interactions; Synecology; Terrestrial ecosystems; volume; Woody debris
• ISSN: 0378-1127; 1872-7042
• DOI: 10.1016/j.foreco.2006.02.043

Woody debris that is accumulated on the forest floor could potentially be a relatively long-term carbon (C) sink in forest ecosystems. For a 16-year old Pinus radiata D. Don. plantation in Australia, we quantified the dry mass, C and nitrogen (N) stored in woody debris (including dead logs, branches and twigs) relative to the loss of soil C that followed afforestation of the native pasture onto which the plantation had been established. This debris derived mainly from forest management (thinning and pruning) 8 years earlier. The line intersect technique was used on ten 10 m × 12 m plots to estimate the mass of woody debris on the forest floor in 10 diameter classes. There was 6.1 Mg ha −1 of oven dry woody debris, containing 3.1 Mg C ha −1 and 12.9 kg N ha −1, on the forest floor. The largest diameter class (>50 mm) contributed most of the debris’ mass. We also estimated rates of decomposition, and C and N release from the woody debris and calculated its half-life and “life time” (95% disappearance). The overall decay rate constant ( k) for all woody debris was 0.069 year −1. The overall half-life and lifetime was 10 and 43 years, respectively. Almost half (42%) of the original C in woody debris was released in the 8 years of decay, but only 12% of the original N was released. Decay rate varied with size class with the largest diameter (>50 mm) decaying the fastest, the smallest diameter class (