Abstract

In this study, we measure the distribution of carbon pools and component fluxes of Net Primary Production (NPP) in an Chinese arborvitae (Platycladus orientalis (L.) Franco) plantation in Beijing from 2009 to 2010. At 22 years old, the plots were reduced from 5900 to 4100 and 3000 trees/ha in three replicates. Results shown that aboveground biomass was highest in the N4100 treatment plots, lowest in the N3000 treatment and intermediate in the unthinned control plots. Annual net biomass increment followed the same pattern across treatments. NPP measures suggested that the control forests and forests from the N4100 treatment have functioned as carbon sinks (4.06 and 4.59 t C/ha/year, respectively), while forests from N3000 treatment appeared to be also a carbon sink (2.95 t C/ha/year).

Keywords:

Carbon pools, production, temperate forest, thinning,

References

Competing interests

The authors have no competing interests.

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Copyright

The authors have no competing interests.