Carbon storage and flux for alpine tundra ecosystems in Changbai Mountains, Northeast China

Abstract

This paper examined the carbon storage and flux of vegetation-litter-soil in alpine tundra ecosystems in Changbai Mountains. Approximately 17251 t·a⁻¹ of carbon was yearly stored in the vegetation and 15043.1 t·a⁻¹ of carbon flew into soil by litters. The vegetation-litter-soil ecosystem stored 452624 t·a⁻¹ of carbon, which was the important CO₂ sink. The net carbon storage was currently 3146 t·a⁻¹ in vegetation-litter-soil ecosystem.

Keywords

Carbon Storage / Carbon flux / Alpine tundra

References

[1] Barnola J.M. et al. Vostok ice core provides 160000-year record of atmospheric CO₂ Nature, 1987, 329: 408-414.

[2] Bond G., Broecker W., Johnsen S. et al. Correlations between climate records for North Atlantic sediments and Greenland ice Nature, 1993, 365: 143-147.

[3] Dai L., Wu G., Zhao J. et al. Carbon cycling of alpine tundra ecosystems on Changbai Mountains and its comparison with arctic tundra Science in China, 2002, 45(10): 903-910.

[4] Fang J., Wei M. The relation between carbon cycling of the Arctic and global changes Journal of Environmental Science, 1998, 18(2): 113-121.

[5] Friedli H., Lötscher H., Oeschger H. et al. Ice core record of the ¹³C/¹²C ratio of atmospheric CO₂ in the past two centuries Nature, 1986, 324: 237-238.

[6] Guo L.B., Gifford R.M. Soil carbon stocks and land use change: a case analysis Global Change Biol., 2002, 8(4): 345-360.

[7] Hagen J.Q., Jefferies R., Marchant H., Nelson F., Prowse T., Vaughan D.G. McCarthy J.J., Canziani O.F., Leary N.A., Dokken D.J., White K.S. Polar regions (11Arctic and Antarctic) Climate Change 2001: Impacts, Adaptation, and Vulnerability, 2001 Cambridge: Cambridge University Press 801-841.

[8] Jonasson S., Michelsen A., Schmidt I.K. Coupling of nutrient cycling and carbon dynamics in the Arctic, integration of soil microbial and plant processes Appl. Soil Ecol, 1999, 11(2): 135-146.

[9] Liu Qiang. 2003. Ecological experimental study on the reciprocal decomposition of foliar litter in tropical and subtropical forests o southern China. Guangzhou: South China Institute of Botany, Chinese academy of sciences, Ph.D dissertation: 1–13. (in Chinese)

[10] Maguire D.A. Branch mortality and potential litterfall from Douglas-fir trees in stands of varying density Forest Ecology and Management, 1994, 70: 41-53.

[11] Raynaud D., Jouzel J., Barnola M. et al. The ice record of greenhouse gases Science, 1993, 259: 926-934.

[12] Tutner B.L., Baxter R., Mahieu N., Sjögersten S., Whitton B.A. Phosphorus compounds in subarctic Fennoscandian soils at the mountain birch (Betula pubescens)-tundra ecotone Soil Biol. Biochem, 2004, 36(5): 815-823.

[13] Wei J., Wu G., Deng H. et al. Spatial pattern of soil carbon and nutrient storage at the alpine tundra ecosystem of Changbai Mountain Journal of Forestry Research, 2004, 15(4): 249-254.

[14] Wei J., Wu G., Deng H. Researches on nutrient return of litterfall in the alpine tundra ecosystem of Changbai Mountains Acta Ecologica Sinica, 2004, 24(10): 1421-1430.

[15] Wu G., Wei J., Deng H., Zhao J. Nutrient cycling in an alpine tundra ecosystems on Changbai Mountain, Northeast China Applied soil ecology, 2006, 32: 199-209.

[16] Yu G. A conceptual framework and the ecological basis for ecosystem management Chinese Journal of Applied Ecology, 2001, 12(5): 787-794.

[17] Zhang Y., Li C., Gao Z. Element Cycling of Composite Ecosystem, 1996 Beijing: China Environmental Science Press 30-59.