Carbon density and sequestration in the temperate forests of northern Patagonia, Argentina

Forests are a crucial part of the global carbon cycle and their proper management is of high relevance for mitigating climate change. There is an urgent need to compile for each region reference data on the carbon (C) stock density and C sequestration rate of its principal forest types to support evidence-based conservation and management decisions in terms of climate change mitigation and adaptation. In the Andean Mountains of northern Patagonia, extensive areas of temperate forest have developed after massive anthropogenic fires since the beginning of the last century.We used a plot design along belt transects to determine reference values of carbon storage and annual C sequestration in total live (above- and belowground biomass) and deadwood mass, as well as in the soil organic layer and mineral soil (to 20 cm depth) in different forest types dominated by Nothofagus spp. and Austrocedrus chilensis.Average total carbon stock densities and C sequestration rates range from a minimum of 187 Mg.ha−1 and 0.7 Mg.ha−1.year−1 in pure and mixed N. antarctica shrublands through pure and mixed A. chilensis forests taller than 7 m and pure N. pumilio forests to a maximum in pure N. dombeyi forests with 339 Mg.ha−1 and 2.2 Mg.ha−1.year−1, respectively. Deadwood C represents between 20 and 33% of total wood mass C and is related to the amount of live biomass, especially for the coarse woody debris component. The topsoil contains between 33 and 57% of the total estimated ecosystem carbon in the tall forests and more than 65% in the shrublands, equaling C stocks of around 100–130 Mg.ha−1 in the different forest types.We conclude that the northern Patagonian temperate forests actually store fairly high carbon stocks, which must be interpreted in relation to their natural post-fire development and relatively low management intensity. However, the current high stand densities of these forests may well affect their future carbon storage capacity in a warming climate, and they represent a growing threat of high-intensity fires with the risk of a further extension of burned areas in the future.

[1]  C. Bigler,et al.  Long-term biomass dynamics of temperate forests in Europe after cessation of management , 2024, Forest Ecology and Management.

[2]  S. Heinrichs,et al.  The interior climate and its microclimatic variation of temperate forests in Northern Patagonia, Argentina , 2024, International journal of biometeorology.

[3]  P. Villagra,et al.  Soil organic carbon stocks in native forest of Argentina: a useful surrogate for mitigation and conservation planning under climate variability , 2024, Ecological Processes.

[4]  C. Leuschner,et al.  Regeneration of Nothofagus dombeyi (Mirb.) Ørst. in little to moderately disturbed southern beech forests in the Andes of Patagonia (Argentina) , 2023, Forest Ecosystems.

[5]  J. Pérez-Quezada,et al.  How much carbon is stored in the terrestrial ecosystems of the Chilean Patagonia? , 2023, Austral Ecology.

[6]  Thomas Kitzberger,et al.  Modelos de cambio en cobertura forestal de la cuenca del río Manso inferior ¿Una herramienta para definir estrategias de manejo? , 2023, Bosque (Valdivia).

[7]  Mauro E González,et al.  Carbon stocks across different environments, disturbance regimes, and stand age in Fitzroya cupressoides forests, the longest-lived species of the southern hemisphere , 2022, Frontiers in Forests and Global Change.

[8]  T. Kitzberger,et al.  Projections of fire probability and ecosystem vulnerability under 21st century climate across a trans-Andean productivity gradient in Patagonia. , 2022, Science of the Total Environment.

[9]  L. Augusto,et al.  Tree functional traits, forest biomass, and tree species diversity interact with site properties to drive forest soil carbon , 2022, Nature communications.

[10]  R. B. Jackson,et al.  Fire effects on the persistence of soil organic matter and long-term carbon storage , 2021, Nature Geoscience.

[11]  A. Weiskittel,et al.  Relative density of United States forests has shifted to higher levels over last two decades with important implications for future dynamics , 2021, Scientific Reports.

[12]  Marina Caselli,et al.  Stand level volume increment in relation to leaf area index of Austrocedrus chilensis and Nothofagus dombeyi mixed forests of Patagonia, Argentina , 2021 .

[13]  Lilli Kaarakka,et al.  Author response for "Improved forest management as a natural climate solution: A review" , 2021 .

[14]  James Smith,et al.  Current aboveground live tree carbon stocks and annual net change in forests of conterminous United States , 2021, Carbon Balance and Management.

[15]  L. Spalletti.  Suelos y vulcanismo: Argentina. Perla Imbellone & Osvaldo Andrés Barbosa (Editores) 1a ed.- Ciudad Autónoma de Buenos Aires: Asociación Argentina de la Ciencia del Suelo -AACS, 2020. Libro digital, PDF - ISBN 978-987-46870-2-9 , 2020, Revista del Museo de La Plata.

[16]  C. Soliani,et al.  Genetic diversity and population structure in Nothofagus pumilio, a foundation species of Patagonian forests: defining priority conservation areas and management , 2020, Scientific Reports.

[17]  Xiangping Wang,et al.  The Relative Importance of Succession, Stand Age and Stand Factors on Carbon Allocation of Korean Pine Forests in the Northern Mt. Xiaoxing’anling, China , 2020, Forests.

[18]  T. Kitzberger,et al.  Non-additive effects of alternative stable states on landscape flammability in NW Patagonia: fire history and simulation modelling evidence , 2019, International Journal of Wildland Fire.

[19]  C. Leuschner,et al.  Biomass Stock and Productivity of Primeval and Production Beech Forests: Greater Canopy Structural Diversity Promotes Productivity , 2018, Ecosystems.

[20]  T. Kitzberger,et al.  Changes in vegetation structure and fuel characteristics along post‐fire succession promote alternative stable states and positive fire–vegetation feedbacks , 2018 .

[21]  J. Morales,et al.  The importance of fire refugia in the recolonization of a fire-sensitive conifer in northern Patagonia , 2018, Plant Ecology.

[22]  Miroslav Svoboda,et al.  Forest disturbances under climate change. , 2017, Nature climate change.

[23]  T. Kitzberger,et al.  Temporal shifts in the interaction between woody resprouters and an obligate seeder tree during a post‐fire succession in Patagonia , 2016 .

[24]  Olaf Conrad,et al.  Climatologies at high resolution for the earth’s land surface areas , 2016, Scientific Data.

[25]  J. Bauhus,et al.  A Review of Processes Behind Diversity—Productivity Relationships in Forests , 2016, Current Forestry Reports.

[26]  Jingyun Fang,et al.  Forest biomass is strongly shaped by forest height across boreal to tropical forests in China , 2015 .

[27]  Z. Ouyang,et al.  [Regional and global estimates of carbon stocks and carbon sequestration capacity in forest ecosystems: A review]. , 2015, Ying yong sheng tai xue bao = The journal of applied ecology.

[28]  X. Morin.  Species richness promotes canopy packing: a promising step towards a better understanding of the mechanisms driving the diversity effects on forest functioning , 2015 .

[29]  Piermaria Corona,et al.  European Mixed Forests: definition and research perspectives , 2014 .

[30]  Roland Hiederer,et al.  Global soil carbon: understanding and managing the largest terrestrial carbon pool , 2014 .

[31]  R. B. Jackson,et al.  The Structure, Distribution, and Biomass of the World's Forests , 2013 .

[32]  G. Domke,et al.  Biomass and carbon attributes of downed woody materials in forests of the United States , 2013 .

[33]  Sandra Díaz,et al.  Plant functional diversity and carbon storage – an empirical test in semi‐arid forest ecosystems , 2013 .

[34]  T. Kitzberger,et al.  Landscape responses to a century of land use along the northern Patagonian forest-steppe transition , 2012, Plant Ecology.

[35]  M. G. Ryan,et al.  A synthesis of current knowledge on forests and carbon storage in the United States. , 2011, Ecological applications : a publication of the Ecological Society of America.

[36]  D. Barthélémy,et al.  An architectural approach to the growth forms of Nothofagus pumilio (Nothofagaceae) along an altitudinal gradient , 2010 .

[37]  María Vanessa Lencinas,et al.  Carbon accumulation along a stand development sequence of Nothofagus antarctica forests across a gradient in site quality in Southern Patagonia , 2010 .

[38]  María Vanessa Lencinas,et al.  Descripción de posibles híbridos naturales entre Nothofagus pumilio y N. antarctica en Patagonia Sur (Argentina) , 2010 .

[39]  David B. Lindenmayer,et al.  Re-evaluation of forest biomass carbon stocks and lessons from the world's most carbon-dense forests , 2009, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

[40]  H. Caron,et al.  Primer Note: A New Set of Highly Polymorphic Nuclear Microsatellite Markers for Nothofagus nervosa and Related South American Species , 2008 .

[41]  Brett A. Morrissette,et al.  Intense forest wildfire sharply reduces mineral soil C and N: the first direct evidence , 2008 .

[42]  Linda S. Heath,et al.  National inventories of down and dead woody material forest carbon stocks in the United States: Challenges and opportunities , 2008 .

[43]  G. Bonan.  Forests and Climate Change: Forcings, Feedbacks, and the Climate Benefits of Forests , 2008, Science.

[44]  Pablo J. Donoso,et al.  Effects of forest type and stand structure on coarse woody debris in old-growth rainforests in the Valdivian Andes, south-central Chile , 2008 .

[45]  Markus Reichstein,et al.  CO2 balance of boreal, temperate, and tropical forests derived from a global database , 2007 .

[46]  Michael F. Allen,et al.  Biomass and carbon accumulation in a fire chronosequence of a seasonally dry tropical forest , 2007 .

[47]  John Perez-Garcia,et al.  An Assessment of Carbon Pools, Storage, and Wood Products Market Substitution Using Life-Cycle Analysis Results , 2007 .

[48]  R. Lal.  Forest soils and carbon sequestration , 2005 .

[49]  T. T. Veblen,et al.  LANDSCAPE INFLUENCES ON OCCURRENCE AND SPREAD OF WILDFIRES IN PATAGONIAN FORESTS AND SHRUBLANDS , 2005 .

[50]  J. Neff,et al.  Fire effects on soil organic matter content, composition, and nutrients in boreal interior Alaska , 2005 .

[51]  R. Houghton,et al.  Aboveground Forest Biomass and the Global Carbon Balance , 2005 .

[52]  Kurt S. Pregitzer,et al.  Carbon cycling and storage in world forests: biome patterns related to forest age , 2004 .

[53]  S. Gower.  Patterns and Mechanisms of the Forest Carbon Cycle1 , 2003 .

[54]  R. Villalba,et al.  Large-Scale Temperature Changes across the Southern Andes: 20th-Century Variations in the Context of the Past 400 Years , 2003 .

[55]  J. Armesto,et al.  Coarse woody debris biomass in successional and primary temperate forests in Chiloé Island, Chile , 2002 .

[56]  M. Harmon,et al.  Successional changes in live and dead wood carbon stores: implications for net ecosystem productivity. , 2002, Tree physiology.

[57]  P. Curtis,et al.  Effects of Forest Management on Soil C and N Storage: Meta Analysis , 2001 .

[58]  Michael Weber.  Kohlenstoffvorräte einesNothofagus-Primärwaldes auf Feuerland , 1999, Forstwissenschaftliches Centralblatt vereinigt mit Tharandter forstliches Jahrbuch.

[59]  T. Kitzberger,et al.  Fire-induced changes in northern Patagonian landscapes , 1999, Landscape Ecology.

[60]  R. Godoy,et al.  Subantarctic-Andean Nothofagus pumilio forests , 1990, Vegetatio.

[61]  W. Schlesinger.  Evidence from chronosequence studies for a low carbon-storage potential of soils , 1990, Nature.

[62]  T. T. Veblen,et al.  Post-fire stand development of Austrocedrus-Nothofagus forests in northern Patagonia , 1987, Vegetatio.

[63]  David L. R. Affleck,et al.  A national-scale tree volume, biomass, and carbon modeling system for the United States , 2023 .

[64]  Climate-Smart Forestry in Mountain Regions , 2022, Managing Forest Ecosystems.

[65]  R. B. Jackson,et al.  The long and short of it: A review of the timescales of how fire affects soils using the pulse-press framework , 2020, Advances in Ecological Research.

[66]  M. Galleguillos,et al.  Tree carbon stock in evergreen forests of Chiloé, Chile , 2015 .

[67]  T. T. Veblen,et al.  Positive fire feedbacks contribute to shifts from Nothofagus pumilio forests to fire‐prone shrublands in Patagonia , 2015 .

[68]  M. Amoroso,et al.  Nothofagus dombeyi regeneration in declining Austrocedrus chilensis forests: Effects of overstory mortality and climatic events , 2012 .

[69]  T. Kitzberger.  Ecotones as Complex Arenas of Disturbance, Climate, and Human Impacts: The Trans-Andean Forest-Steppe Ecotone of Northern Patagonia , 2012 .

[70]  R. Lal,et al.  Carbon Sequestration in Temperate Forests , 2012 .

[71]  M. Fernández,et al.  Ecuaciones para la estimación de biomasa aérea y volumen de fuste de algunas especies leñosas nativas en el valle del río Foyel, NO de la Patagonia argentina , 2009 .

[72]  Arthur H. Johnson,et al.  Vegetation composition, structure, and biomass of two unpolluted watersheds in the Cordillera de Piuchué, Chiloé Island, Chile , 2004, Plant Ecology.

[73]  T. T. Veblen,et al.  Fire History and Vegetation Changes in Northern Patagonia, Argentina , 2003 .

[74]  A. Larionova,et al.  Carbon budget in natural and anthropogenic forest-steppe ecosystems , 2002 .

[75]  L. Rustad,et al.  Soil carbon dioxide characteristics under different forest types and after harvest , 1993 .

[76]  E. Röhrig.  Biomass and productivity , 1991 .

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

[78]  B. E. Davies,et al.  Loss-on-Ignition as an Estimate of Soil Organic Matter1 , 1974 .