Decomposition of stump and root systems of Norway spruce in Sweden—A modelling approach

Abstract The demand for quantifying the biomass of stumps and roots and the carbon stored therein is related to aspects of biodiversity, site productivity, atmospheric carbon cycling issues, and the demand for bioenergy. This, in turn, creates a need to develop high-quality tools for estimating biomass and carbon-equivalents in the ground. The objective of this study was to develop decomposition functions for quantifying the remaining dry weight of the biomass of individual stumps and their associated roots in Norway spruce (Picea abies (L.) Karst.). The negative exponential model was chosen for this purpose, combined with a chronosequence approach, involving 99 stumps and their roots from three sites in Sweden. The results showed a relative decay rate of 4.6% annually for stump and root systems. Based on this rate, the time required for the loss of 50% (t0.5) and 95% (t0.95) of the wood is 15 and 64 years, respectively. Although there are many variables that affect decomposition, residual studies indicated that the remaining biomass could be predicted fairly accurately on the basis of the independent variables stump diameter and time.

[1]  P. MacMillan.  Decomposition of coarse woody debris in an old-growth Indiana forest , 1988 .

[2]  L. Condron,et al.  Decomposition and nutrient release from radiata pine (Pinus radiata) coarse woody debris , 2004 .

[3]  H. Hytteborn,et al.  DECAY RATE OF PICEA ABIES LOGS AND THE STORM GAP THEORY: A RE-EXAMINATION OF SERNANDER PLOT III, FIBY URSKOG, CENTRAL SWEDEN , 1987 .

[4]  Bengt Gunnar Jonsson,et al.  Ecology of Species Living on Dead Wood - Lessons for Dead Wood Management , 2005 .

[5]  Erik Næsset,et al.  Decomposition rate constants of Picea abies logs in southeastern Norway , 1999 .

[6]  J. Bauhus,et al.  Density loss and respiration rates in coarse woody debris of Pinus radiata, Eucalyptus regnans and Eucalyptus maculata , 2003 .

[7]  G. Ståhl,et al.  Functions for below-ground biomass of Pinus sylvestris, Picea abies, Betula pendula and Betula pubescens in Sweden , 2006 .

[8]  P. Hakkila.  Utilization of Residual Forest Biomass , 1989 .

[9]  X. Wei,et al.  Influence of wildfire and harvest on biomass, carbon pool, and decomposition of large woody debris in forested streams of southern interior British Columbia , 2005 .

[10]  J. Olson,et al.  Energy Storage and the Balance of Producers and Decomposers in Ecological Systems , 1963 .

[11]  M. Harmon,et al.  Ecology of Coarse Woody Debris in Temperate Ecosystems , 1986 .

[12]  Jörgen Rudolphi.  Bryophytes, lichens and dead wood in young managed boreal forests , 2007 .

[13]  M. Harmon,et al.  Dynamics of the dead wood carbon pool in northwestern Russian boreal forests , 1995 .

[14]  Mark E. Harmon,et al.  Coarse woody debris in mixed-conifer forests, Sequoia National Park, California , 1987 .

[15]  M. Harmon,et al.  Decomposition vectors: a new approach to estimating woody detritus decomposition dynamics , 2000 .

[16]  H. Alexandersson,et al.  Temperaturen och nederbörden i Sverige 1961-1990 : Referensnormaler - utgåva 2 , 2001 .

[17]  M. Harmon,et al.  A chronosequence of wood decomposition in the boreal forests of Russia , 2003 .

[18]  J. Bauhus,et al.  Decomposition rates of coarse woody debris—A review with particular emphasis on Australian tree species , 2003 .

[19]  T. Fahey,et al.  Root Decomposition and Nutrient Flux Following Whole-Tree Harvest of Northern Hardwood Forest , 1988, Forest Science.

[20]  M. Harmon,et al.  Decomposition of coarse woody debris originating by clearcutting of an old-growth conifer forest , 2005 .

[21]  A. Hofgaard.  50 years of change in a Swedish boreal old‐growth Picea abies forest , 1993 .

[22]  I. Vanha-Majamaa,et al.  Decomposition of stumps in a chronosequence after clear-felling vs. clear-felling with prescribed burning in a southern boreal forest in Finland , 2008 .

[23]  A. Caruso.  Lichen diversity on stems, slash and stumps in managed boreal forests , 2008 .

[24]  David T. Bell,et al.  Decomposition of woody debris in Western Australian forests , 1996 .

[25]  H. Mäkinen,et al.  Predicting the decomposition of Scots pine, Norway spruce, and birch stems in Finland. , 2006, Ecological applications : a publication of the Ecological Society of America.

[26]  M. Harmon,et al.  Decomposition and nitrogen release from decomposing woody roots in coniferous forests of the Pacific Northwest: a chronosequence approach , 2001 .