Carbon concentrations of tree components, forest floor and understorey in young Pinus sylvestris stands in north-western Turkey


Tolunay D.

SCANDINAVIAN JOURNAL OF FOREST RESEARCH, cilt.24, sa.5, ss.394-402, 2009 (SCI-Expanded) identifier identifier

  • Yayın Türü: Makale / Tam Makale
  • Cilt numarası: 24 Sayı: 5
  • Basım Tarihi: 2009
  • Doi Numarası: 10.1080/02827580903164471
  • Dergi Adı: SCANDINAVIAN JOURNAL OF FOREST RESEARCH
  • Derginin Tarandığı İndeksler: Science Citation Index Expanded (SCI-EXPANDED), Scopus
  • Sayfa Sayıları: ss.394-402
  • İstanbul Üniversitesi Adresli: Evet

Özet

This study examines the carbon concentrations of various above-ground biomass components (stem, bark, living branch, dead branch, needle and above-ground biomass), the forest floor and understorey. The research was carried out on Scots pine (Pinus sylvestris L.) stands in north-western Turkey. Sample trees were cut, and forest floor and understorey samples were collected from the 13 sampling areas in the 31-year-old Scots pine stands. Carbon contents of these samples were determined. Carbon concentrations of all tree components were found to be higher than 50%. This value is referred to as the general carbon conversion factor (CF). The weighted mean carbon concentration was found to be 51.96%. Consequently, if the CF for a single tree is taken to be 50%, carbon storage in the above-ground parts of the tree would have been underestimated by 3.77%. Carbon concentration, which was 53.02% in needles, was reduced to 50.08% in the litter plus fermentation layer of the forest floor and to 40.08% in the humus layer owing to decomposition. In the understorey, carbon concentration was determined to be 47.64%. There was a significant difference between the carbon concentrations of the tree components, forest floor and understorey.