Title: Biomass production and carbon sequestration of dense downy birch stands on cutaway peatlands
Abstract:The establishment of biomass plantations with short-rotation forestry principles is one of the after-use options for cutaway peatlands. We studied biomass production and carbon sequestration in the ab...The establishment of biomass plantations with short-rotation forestry principles is one of the after-use options for cutaway peatlands. We studied biomass production and carbon sequestration in the above- and below-ground biomass of 25 naturally afforested, 10–30 years old downy birch (Betula pubescens Ehrh.) stands located in peat cutaway areas in Finland. Self-thinning reduced the stand density from 122,000 trees ha−1 (stand age of 10 years) to 10,000 trees ha−1 (25–30 years), while the leafless above-ground biomass increased from 17 Mg ha−1 up to 79–116 Mg ha−1. The total leafless biomass (including stumps and roots) varied from 46 to 151 Mg ha−1. The mean annual increment (MAI) of the above-ground biomass increased up to the stand age of 15 years, after which the MAI was on the average 3.2 Mg ha−1a−1. With below-ground biomass, the MAI of the stands older than 15 years was 4.7 Mg ha−1. The organic matter accumulated in the O-layer on the top of the residual peat increased linearly with the stand age, reaching 29.3 Mg ha−1 in the oldest stand. The O-layer contributed significantly to the C sink, and the afforestation with downy birch converted most of sites into C sinks.Read More
Publication Year: 2018
Publication Date: 2018-07-25
Language: en
Type: article
Indexed In: ['crossref']
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Cited By Count: 9
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