ISSN: 0024-1148 Russian Journal of Forest Science. 2011, No. 1, pp. 3-12
| THE ANNUAL CARBON CYCLE IN GREEN-MOSS PINE FORESTS OF THE YENISEY PLAIN |
| Trefilova O.V., Vedrova E.F., Kuz'michev V.V. Forest Institute, Siberian Branch of the Russian Academy of Sciences (FI SB RAS):Academgorodok 50 bldg. 28, Krasnoyarsk, 660036 |
E-mail: institute@forest.akadem.ru |
Received: 21 september 2009
The main parameters of the annual carbon cycle were studied in 20-, 55-, 90-, and 250-year-old green moss pine forests of the Yenisey Plain (Zotinskii experimental polygon; 60°53' N, 89°38' E). The total carbon reserves in the stands studied amount to 131-200 t C ha-1. In the young forest, the C amounts in the phytomass, phytodetritus and soil humus were 46, 35, and 18%, in the stands of other ages - 66, 23, and 10%, respectively. The intensity of the phytomass increment (NPP) decreased with age of the forests and equaled 5.6 t C ha-1 in the young forest and 2.4 t C ha-1 in the overmature ones. Thus, the net ecosystem production (NEP) was mainly determined by age changes in the NPP intensity. The analysis of NEP showed that the young forest and the forest of medium age served as a "stock" for atmospheric carbon. In the ripening forest, the intensity of production and destruction processes were practically balanced, and the overmature pine forest functioned as a "source".