Decadal forest mensuration cycle significantly underestimates net primary production in dense young beech stands

Konôpka, B., Pajtík, J., Šebeň, V. and Lukac, M. ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-8535-6334 (2024) Decadal forest mensuration cycle significantly underestimates net primary production in dense young beech stands. Forest Ecology and Management, 555. 121711. ISSN 1872-7042 doi: 10.1016/j.foreco.2024.121711

Abstract/Summary

The early development of naturally regenerated forest stands is highly dynamic and includes rapid shifts in productivity and mortality. To characterise the growth dynamics in the initial decades, we assessed aboveground biomass stocks (Sab), aboveground biomass productivity (DPab), and aboveground biomass mortality (DMab) in five naturally regenerated European beech stands located in the Inner Western Carpathians. We developed allometric models for aboveground biomass compartments based on a sample of 262 trees. We also established five circular sampling plots within each stand and, for 15 years, carried out annual measurements of stem diameter at the base and height for all trees within the sampling plots. We then utilised the allometric models to calculate annual biomass accumulation in aboveground biomass compartments on an area basis. Our findings show that, despite the declining contribution of foliage to the total aboveground stock, about a quarter of annual net primary production in young beech stands enters the dead biomass pool due to leaf fall and tree mortality. The growth dynamics and biomass allocation patterns of young beech forests necessitate the development of specific allometric models to describe their growth and carbon capture processes.

Item Type	Article
URI	https://reading-clone.eprints-hosting.org/id/eprint/115118
Identification Number/DOI	10.1016/j.foreco.2024.121711
Refereed	Yes
Divisions	Life Sciences > School of Agriculture, Policy and Development > Department of Sustainable Land Management > Centre for Agri-environmental Research (CAER)
Publisher	Elsevier
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