Publication
Title
Above- and below-ground biomass, surface and volume, and stored water in a mature Scots pine stand
Author
Abstract
This study describes the amount and the spatial distribution of the above- and below-ground tree skeletondefined as the woody structure of stem, branches and rootsin a mature Scots pine (Pinus sylvestris L.) stand in Belgium. Tree skeleton data were linked to the respective needle area, and as such, this work provides the background framework for modeling the tree hydraulic architecture and the carbon balance of the forest stand. Using validated allometric equations, we were able to calculate the amount of the volume, of the biomass and of the corresponding surface areas of individual trees in the stand. Total woody biomass of the 66-year-old forest stand was 155 Mg ha−1, i.e., 126 Mg ha−1 above ground and 29 Mg ha−1 below ground. The total bio-volume of the woody mass of the stand was 314 m3 ha−1. The highest fraction of this value was the stem bio-volume, i.e., 236 m3 ha−1 or 75 % of the total. The total volume of all roots was 57 m3 ha−1 (18 % of the total volume), and the volume of branches was 20 m3 ha−1 (7 % of the total volume). The surface area of the roots ranged from 38,000 m2 ha−1 in the winter to 68,000 m2 ha−1 in the spring. The surface area of the stems was 2,700 m2 ha−1, and the surface area of all branches reached 4,400 m2 ha−1. The total above-ground water storage in the xylem was 94 m3 ha−1 (or 9.4 mm), while the accessible stored water was 2 mm of that quantity. A comparative analysis of the biometric parameters showed the balance between the different functionally connected, operational surface areas of the trees. The needle surface area was similar to the root surface area and in the same order of magnitude as the surface area of woody cambium. The results allow to link water uptake with transpiration and assimilation with respiration.
Language
English
Source (journal)
European journal of forest research. - Berlin
Publication
Berlin : 2015
ISSN
1612-4669
DOI
10.1007/S10342-014-0833-3
Volume/pages
26 :1 (2015) , p. 61-74
ISI
000347282500005
Full text (Publisher's DOI)
Full text (publisher's version - intranet only)
UAntwerpen
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Research group
Project info
Publication type
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Affiliation
Publications with a UAntwerp address
External links
Web of Science
Record
Identifier
Creation 01.10.2014
Last edited 09.10.2023
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