A reassessment of carbon content in tropical trees.
Accurate knowledge of carbon (C) content in live wood is essential for quantifying tropical forest C stocks, yet generic assumptions (such as biomass consisting of 50% carbon on a weight/weight basis) remain widely used despite being supported by little chemical analysis. Empirical data from stem co...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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Public Library of Science (PLoS)
2011-01-01
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| Series: | PLoS ONE |
| Online Access: | http://europepmc.org/articles/PMC3157388?pdf=render |
| _version_ | 1818274553227378688 |
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| author | Adam R Martin Sean C Thomas |
| author_facet | Adam R Martin Sean C Thomas |
| author_sort | Adam R Martin |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Accurate knowledge of carbon (C) content in live wood is essential for quantifying tropical forest C stocks, yet generic assumptions (such as biomass consisting of 50% carbon on a weight/weight basis) remain widely used despite being supported by little chemical analysis. Empirical data from stem cores of 59 Panamanian rainforest tree species demonstrate that wood C content is highly variable among co-occurring species, with an average (47.4±2.51% S.D.) significantly lower than widely assumed values. Prior published values have neglected to account for volatile C content of tropical woods. By comparing freeze- and oven-dried wood samples, we show that volatile C is non-negligible, and excluding the volatile fraction underestimates wood C content by 2.48±1.28% (S.D.) on average. Wood C content varied substantially among species (from 41.9-51.6%), but was neither strongly phylogenetically conserved, nor correlated to ecological (i.e. wood density, maximum tree height) or demographic traits (i.e. relative growth rate, mortality rate). Overall, assuming generic C fractions in tropical wood overestimates forest C stocks by ∼3.3-5.3%, a non-trivial margin of error leading to overestimates of 4.1-6.8 Mg C ha(-1) in a 50-ha forest dynamics plot on Barro Colorado Island, Panama. In addition to addressing other sources of error in tropical forest C accounting, such as uncertainties in allometric models and belowground biomass, compilation and use of species-specific C fractions for tropical tree species would substantially improve both local and global estimates of terrestrial C stocks and fluxes. |
| first_indexed | 2024-12-12T22:15:41Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-7d6e2e5fde7442b99bb8f6cbcd4aaa4b |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 1932-6203 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-12-12T22:15:41Z |
| publishDate | 2011-01-01 |
| publisher | Public Library of Science (PLoS) |
| record_format | Article |
| series | PLoS ONE |
| spelling | doaj.art-7d6e2e5fde7442b99bb8f6cbcd4aaa4b2022-12-22T00:10:06ZengPublic Library of Science (PLoS)PLoS ONE1932-62032011-01-0168e2353310.1371/journal.pone.0023533A reassessment of carbon content in tropical trees.Adam R MartinSean C ThomasAccurate knowledge of carbon (C) content in live wood is essential for quantifying tropical forest C stocks, yet generic assumptions (such as biomass consisting of 50% carbon on a weight/weight basis) remain widely used despite being supported by little chemical analysis. Empirical data from stem cores of 59 Panamanian rainforest tree species demonstrate that wood C content is highly variable among co-occurring species, with an average (47.4±2.51% S.D.) significantly lower than widely assumed values. Prior published values have neglected to account for volatile C content of tropical woods. By comparing freeze- and oven-dried wood samples, we show that volatile C is non-negligible, and excluding the volatile fraction underestimates wood C content by 2.48±1.28% (S.D.) on average. Wood C content varied substantially among species (from 41.9-51.6%), but was neither strongly phylogenetically conserved, nor correlated to ecological (i.e. wood density, maximum tree height) or demographic traits (i.e. relative growth rate, mortality rate). Overall, assuming generic C fractions in tropical wood overestimates forest C stocks by ∼3.3-5.3%, a non-trivial margin of error leading to overestimates of 4.1-6.8 Mg C ha(-1) in a 50-ha forest dynamics plot on Barro Colorado Island, Panama. In addition to addressing other sources of error in tropical forest C accounting, such as uncertainties in allometric models and belowground biomass, compilation and use of species-specific C fractions for tropical tree species would substantially improve both local and global estimates of terrestrial C stocks and fluxes.http://europepmc.org/articles/PMC3157388?pdf=render |
| spellingShingle | Adam R Martin Sean C Thomas A reassessment of carbon content in tropical trees. PLoS ONE |
| title | A reassessment of carbon content in tropical trees. |
| title_full | A reassessment of carbon content in tropical trees. |
| title_fullStr | A reassessment of carbon content in tropical trees. |
| title_full_unstemmed | A reassessment of carbon content in tropical trees. |
| title_short | A reassessment of carbon content in tropical trees. |
| title_sort | reassessment of carbon content in tropical trees |
| url | http://europepmc.org/articles/PMC3157388?pdf=render |
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