The affect of a clearcut environment on woody debris respiration rate dynamics, Harvard Forest, Massachusetts
Abstract
At an ecosystem scale, the distribution of carbon is largely a function of stand development and disturbance processes. Clearcut logging remains a common practice both in the United States and globally and typically results in elevated storage of carbon in onsite woody debris and detritus. The residence time and decomposition rate of this woody debris and detritus will affect the rate of CO2 efflux to the atmosphere and thus affect the long term consequences of such disturbances on carbon flux and storage. The removal of a forest canopy also affects a site's microclimate including the albedo, air temperature, air humidity, as well as soil temperature and moisture, many of the same factors that affect the rate of woody debris decomposition. Thus it could be expected that differences in woody debris characteristics (e.g. size, abundance, state of decay), as well as differences in microclimate, between mature and recently clearcut forest sites, would result in differences in piece and site-level woody debris decomposition rates. Although woody debris stocks post-harvest have been well characterized, few studies have explored post-disturbance woody debris respiration rates, which directly measures carbon emissions from woody debris, distinguishing decomposition from mass loss due to fragmentation or leaching. This study addressed the question: does a clearcut environment in a temperate forest affect the rate of decomposition of coarse woody debris? The rate of respiration of downed spruce logs were repeatedly measured in-situ using an LI-6250 gas analyzer in Harvard Forest, Petersham, Massachusetts. Treatments included clear-cut, shaded clear-cut, mature spruce stand, and transfer (from clearcut to spruce stand). Gas analyzer measurements were accompanied by measurements of log temperature and percent water, soil temperature, moisture and pH, as well as light levels, air temperature and humidity to determine dominant drivers of respiration rates.
- Publication:
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AGU Fall Meeting Abstracts
- Pub Date:
- December 2011
- Bibcode:
- 2011AGUFM.B21J..05V
- Keywords:
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- 0428 BIOGEOSCIENCES / Carbon cycling