Correction: aboveground tree growth varies with belowground carbon allocation in a tropical rainforest environment.
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PROVIDER: S-EPMC4323239 | biostudies-other | 2015
REPOSITORIES: biostudies-other
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Correction: aboveground tree growth varies with belowground carbon allocation in a tropical rainforest environment.
PloS one 20150210 2
[This corrects the article DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0100275.]. ...[more]
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Project description:Young secondary forests and plantations in the moist tropics often have rapid rates of biomass accumulation and thus sequester large amounts of carbon. Here, we compare results from mature forest and nearby 15-20 year old tree plantations in lowland Costa Rica to evaluate differences in allocation of carbon to aboveground production and root systems. We found that the tree plantations, which had fully developed, closed canopies, allocated more carbon belowground - to their root systems - than did mature forest. This increase in belowground carbon allocation correlated significantly with aboveground tree growth but not with canopy production (i.e., leaf fall or fine litter production). In contrast, there were no correlations between canopy production and either tree growth or belowground carbon allocation. Enhanced allocation of carbon to root systems can enhance plant nutrient uptake, providing nutrients beyond those required for the production of short-lived tissues such as leaves and fine roots, and thus enabling biomass accumulation. Our analyses support this deduction at our site, showing that enhanced allocation of carbon to root systems can be an important mechanism promoting biomass accumulation during forest growth in the moist tropics. Identifying factors that control when, where and for how long this occurs would help us to improve models of forest growth and nutrient cycling, and to ascertain the role that young forests play in mitigating increased atmospheric carbon dioxide.
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Project description:[This corrects the article DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0143209.].
| S-EPMC4769354 | biostudies-other
Project description:African tropical rainforests are one of the most important hotspots to look for changes in the upcoming decades when it comes to C storage and release. The focus of studying C dynamics in these systems lies traditionally on living aboveground biomass. Belowground soil organic carbon stocks have received little attention and estimates of the size, controls and distribution of soil organic carbon stocks are highly uncertain. In our study on lowland rainforest in the central Congo basin, we combine both an assessment of the aboveground C stock with an assessment of the belowground C stock and analyze the latter in terms of functional pools and controlling factors.Our study shows that despite similar vegetation, soil and climatic conditions, soil organic carbon stocks in an area with greater tree height (= larger aboveground carbon stock) were only half compared to an area with lower tree height (= smaller aboveground carbon stock). This suggests that substantial variability in the aboveground vs. belowground C allocation strategy and/or C turnover in two similar tropical forest systems can lead to significant differences in total soil organic C content and C fractions with important consequences for the assessment of the total C stock of the system.We suggest nutrient limitation, especially potassium, as the driver for aboveground versus belowground C allocation. However, other drivers such as C turnover, tree functional traits or demographic considerations cannot be excluded. We argue that large and unaccounted variability in C stocks is to be expected in African tropical rain-forests. Currently, these differences in aboveground and belowground C stocks are not adequately verified and implemented mechanistically into Earth System Models. This will, hence, introduce additional uncertainty to models and predictions of the response of C storage of the Congo basin forest to climate change and its contribution to the terrestrial C budget.
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Project description:Tropical montane forests (TMFs) play an important role as a carbon reservoir at a global scale. However, there is a lack of a comprehensive understanding on the variation in carbon storage across TMF compartments [namely aboveground biomass (AGB), belowground biomass (BGB), and soil organic matter] along altitudinal and environmental gradients and their potential trade-offs. This study aims to: 1) understand how carbon stocks vary along altitudinal gradients in Andean TMFs, and; 2) determine the influence of climate, particularly precipitation seasonality, on the distribution of carbon stocks across different forest compartments. The study was conducted in sixty 0.1 ha plots along two altitudinal gradients at the Podocarpus National Park (Ecuador) and Río Abiseo National Park (Peru). At each plot, we calculated the amount of carbon in AGB (i.e. aboveground carbon stock, AGC), BGB (i.e. belowground carbon stock, BGC), and soil organic matter (i.e. soil organic carbon stock, SOC). The mean total carbon stock was 244.76 ± 80.38 Mg ha-1 and 211.51 ± 46.95 Mg ha-1 in the Ecuadorian and Peruvian plots, respectively. Although AGC, BGC, and SOC showed different partitioning patterns along the altitudinal gradient both in Ecuador and Peru, total carbon stock did not change with altitude in either site. The combination of annual mean temperature and precipitation seasonality explained differences in the observed patterns of carbon stocks across forest compartments between the two sites. This study suggests that the greater precipitation seasonality of colder, higher altitudes may promote faster turnover rates of organic matter and nutrients and, consequently, less accumulation of SOC but greater AGC and BGC, compared to those sites with lesser precipitation seasonality. Our results demonstrate the capacity of TMFs to store substantial amounts of carbon and suggest the existence of a trade-off in carbon stocks among forest compartments, which could be partly driven by differences in precipitation seasonality, especially under the colder temperatures of high altitudes.
| S-EPMC7062916 | biostudies-literature
Project description:Tropical forests play a disproportionately important role in the global carbon (C) cycle, but it remains unclear how local environments and functional diversity regulate tree aboveground C storage. We examined how three components (environments, functional dominance and diversity) affected C storage in Dinghushan 20-ha plot in China. There was large fine-scale variation in C storage. The three components significantly contributed to regulate C storage, but dominance and diversity of traits were associated with C storage in different directions. Structural equation models (SEMs) of dominance and diversity explained 34% and 32% of variation in C storage. Environments explained 26-44% of variation in dominance and diversity. Similar proportions of variation in C storage were explained by dominance and diversity in regression models, they were improved after adding environments. Diversity of maximum diameter was the best predictor of C storage. Complementarity and selection effects contributed to C storage simultaneously, and had similar importance. The SEMs disengaged the complex relationships among the three components and C storage, and established a framework to show the direct and indirect effects (via dominance and diversity) of local environments on C storage. We concluded that local environments are important for regulating functional diversity and C storage.
| S-EPMC4899748 | biostudies-literature
Project description:IntroductionTrees interact with fungi in mutualistic, saprotrophic, and pathogenic relationships. With their extensive aboveground and belowground structures, trees provide diverse habitats for fungi. Thus, tree species identity is an important driver of fungal community composition in forests.MethodsHere we investigate how forest habitat (bark surface vs. soil) and tree species identity (deciduous vs. coniferous) affect fungal communities in two Central European forests. We assess differences and interactions between fungal communities associated with bark surfaces and soil, in forest plots dominated either by Fagus sylvatica, Picea abies, or Pinus sylvestris in two study regions in southwestern and northeastern Germany.ResultsITS metabarcoding yielded 3,357 fungal amplicon sequence variants (ASVs) in the northern and 6,088 in the southern region. Overall, soil communities were 4.7 times more diverse than bark communities. Habitat type explained 48-69% of the variation in alpha diversity, while tree species identity explained >1-3%. NMDS ordinations showed that habitat type and host tree species structured the fungal communities. Overall, few fungal taxa were shared between habitats, or between tree species, but the shared taxa were highly abundant. Network analyses, based on co-occurrence patterns, indicate that aboveground and belowground communities form distinct subnetworks.DiscussionOur study suggests that habitat (bark versus soil) and tree species identity are important factors structuring fungal communities in temperate European forests. The aboveground (bark-associated) fungal community is currently poorly known, including a high proportion of reads assigned to "unknown Ascomycota" or "unknown Dothideomycetes." The role of bark as a habitat and reservoir of unique fungal diversity in forests has been underestimated.
| S-EPMC10025312 | biostudies-literature
Project description:BackgroundThe occurrence of climate change at an unprecedented scale has resulted in alterations of ecosystems around the world. Numerous studies have reported on the potential to slow down climate change through the sequestration of carbon in soil and trees. Freshwater wetlands hold significant potential for climate change mitigation owing to their large capacity to sequester atmospheric carbon dioxide (CO2). Wetlands among all terrestrial ecosystems have the highest carbon density and are found to store up to three to five times more carbon than terrestrial forests. The current study was undertaken to quantify carbon stocks of two carbon pools: aboveground biomass (AGB) and belowground biomass (BGB). Chosen study sites; Kolonnawa wetland and Thalawathugoda wetland park are distributed within the Colombo wetland complex. Colombo was recognized as one of the 18 global Ramsar wetland cities in 2018. A combination of field measurements and allometric tree biomass regression models was used in the study. Stratification of the project area was performed using the normalized difference vegetation index (NDVI).ResultsThe AGB carbon stock, across strata, is estimated to be in the range of 13.79?±?3.65-66.49?±?6.70 tC/ha and 8.13?±?2.42-52.63?±?10.00 tC/ha at Kolonnawa wetland and Thalawathugoda wetland park, respectively. The BGB carbon stock is estimated to be in the range of 2.47?±?0.61-10.12?±?0.89 tC/ha and 1.56?±?0.41-8.17?±?1.39 tC/ha at Kolonnawa wetland and Thalawathugoda wetland park, respectively. The total AGB carbon stock of Kolonnawa wetland was estimated at 19,803?±?1566 tCO2eq and that of Thalawathugoda wetland park was estimated at 4180?±?729 tCO2eq.ConclusionsIn conclusion, the study reveals that tropical freshwater wetlands contain considerable potential as carbon reservoirs. The study suggests the use of tropical freshwater wetlands in carbon sequestration enhancement plans in the tropics. The study also shows that Annona glabra, an invasive alien species (IAS), has the potential to enhance the net sink of AGB carbon in these non-mangrove wetlands. However, further studies are essential to confirm if enhanced carbon sequestration by Annona glabra is among the unexplored and unreported benefits of the species.
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Project description:When exploring the impact of resource availability on perennial plants, artificial treatments often apply conditions homogeneously across space and time, even though this rarely reflects conditions in natural systems. To investigate the effects of spatially heterogeneous soil moisture on morphological and physiological responses, trembling aspen (Populus tremuloides) saplings were used in a split-pot experiment. Following the division of the root systems, saplings were established for a full year and then subjected to either heterogeneous (portion of the root system exposed to non-lethal drought) or homogeneous (whole root system exposed to non-lethal drought or well-watered) treatments. Above- and belowground growth and non-structural carbohydrate (NSC) reserves (soluble sugars and starch) were measured to determine how allocation of reserves and mass between and within organs changed in response to variation in soil moisture availability. In contrast to saplings in the homogeneous drought treatment, which experienced reduced shoot growth, leaf abscission and fine root loss, saplings exposed to the heterogeneous conditions maintained similar aboveground growth and increased root system allocation compared to well-watered saplings. Interestingly under heterogeneous soil moisture conditions, the portion of the root system that was resource limited had no root dieback and increased carbon reserve concentrations, while the portion of the root system that was not resource limited added new roots (30% increase). Overall, saplings subjected to the heterogeneous soil moisture regime over-compensated belowground, both in mass and NSC reserves. These results indicate that the differential allocation of mass or reserves between above- and belowground organs, but also within the root system can occur. While the mechanisms and processes involved in these patterns are not clear, these responses could be interpreted as adaptations and acclimations to preserve the integrity of the entire sapling and suggests that different portions of plant organs might respond autonomously to local conditions. This study provides further appreciation of the complexity of the mechanisms by which plants manage heterogeneous conditions and offers evidence that spatial and temporal variability of resource availability, particularly belowground, needs to be accounted for when extrapolating and modeling stress responses at larger temporal and spatial scales.
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Project description:Field measurements demonstrate a carbon sink in the Amazon and Congo basins, but the cause of this sink is uncertain. One possibility is that forest landscapes are experiencing transient recovery from previous disturbance. Attributing the carbon sink to transient recovery or other processes is challenging because we do not understand the sensitivity of conventional remote sensing methods to changes in aboveground carbon density (ACD) caused by disturbance events. Here we use ultra-high-density drone lidar to quantify the impact of a blowdown disturbance on ACD in a lowland rain forest in Costa Rica. We show that the blowdown decreased ACD by at least 17.6%, increased the number of canopy gaps, and altered the gap size-frequency distribution. Analyses of a canopy-height transition matrix indicate departure from steady-state conditions. This event will initiate a transient sink requiring an estimated 24-49 years to recover pre-disturbance ACD. Our results suggest that blowdowns of this magnitude and extent can remain undetected by conventional satellite optical imagery but are likely to alter ACD decades after they occur.
| S-EPMC8163810 | biostudies-literature
Project description:Carbon (C) allocation strongly influences plant and soil processes. Short-term C allocation dynamics in ecosystems and their responses to environmental changes are still poorly understood. Using in situ (13) CO(2) pulse labeling, we studied the effects of 1 wk of shading on the transfer of recent photoassimilates between sugars and starch of above- and belowground plant organs and to soil microbial communities of a mountain meadow. C allocation to roots and microbial communities was rapid. Shading strongly reduced sucrose and starch concentrations in shoots, but not roots, and affected tracer dynamics in sucrose and starch of shoots, but not roots: recent C was slowly incorporated into root starch irrespective of the shading treatment. Shading reduced leaf respiration more strongly than root respiration. It caused no reduction in the amount of (13) C incorporated into fungi and Gram-negative bacteria, but increased its residence time. These findings suggest that, under interrupted C supply, belowground C allocation (as reflected by the amount of tracer allocated to root starch, soil microbial communities and belowground respiration) was maintained at the expense of aboveground C status, and that C source strength may affect the turnover of recent plant-derived C in soil microbial communities.
| S-EPMC3592993 | biostudies-literature