Aboveground carbon in Quebec forests: stock quantification at the provincial scale and assessment of temperature, precipitation and edaphic properties effects on the potential stand-level stocking
Biological carbon sequestration by forest ecosystems plays an important role in the net balance of greenhouse gases, acting as a carbon sink for anthropogenic CO2 emissions. Nevertheless, relatively little is known about the abiotic environmental factors (including climate) that control carbon stora...
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| Format: | Article |
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PeerJ Inc.
2016-03-01
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| Online Access: | https://peerj.com/articles/1767.pdf |
| _version_ | 1827606521972785152 |
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| author | Louis Duchesne Daniel Houle Rock Ouimet Marie-Claude Lambert Travis Logan |
| author_facet | Louis Duchesne Daniel Houle Rock Ouimet Marie-Claude Lambert Travis Logan |
| author_sort | Louis Duchesne |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Biological carbon sequestration by forest ecosystems plays an important role in the net balance of greenhouse gases, acting as a carbon sink for anthropogenic CO2 emissions. Nevertheless, relatively little is known about the abiotic environmental factors (including climate) that control carbon storage in temperate and boreal forests and consequently, about their potential response to climate changes. From a set of more than 94,000 forest inventory plots and a large set of spatial data on forest attributes interpreted from aerial photographs, we constructed a fine-resolution map (∼375 m) of the current carbon stock in aboveground live biomass in the 435,000 km2 of managed forests in Quebec, Canada. Our analysis resulted in an area-weighted average aboveground carbon stock for productive forestland of 37.6 Mg ha−1, which is lower than commonly reported values for similar environment. Models capable of predicting the influence of mean annual temperature, annual precipitation, and soil physical environment on maximum stand-level aboveground carbon stock (MSAC) were developed. These models were then used to project the future MSAC in response to climate change. Our results indicate that the MSAC was significantly related to both mean annual temperature and precipitation, or to the interaction of these variables, and suggest that Quebec’s managed forests MSAC may increase by 20% by 2041–2070 in response to climate change. Along with changes in climate, the natural disturbance regime and forest management practices will nevertheless largely drive future carbon stock at the landscape scale. Overall, our results allow accurate accounting of carbon stock in aboveground live tree biomass of Quebec’s forests, and provide a better understanding of possible feedbacks between climate change and carbon storage in temperate and boreal forests. |
| first_indexed | 2024-03-09T06:38:27Z |
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| id | doaj.art-a5948c6e235e44cb9da6a7f14789835b |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2167-8359 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-03-09T06:38:27Z |
| publishDate | 2016-03-01 |
| publisher | PeerJ Inc. |
| record_format | Article |
| series | PeerJ |
| spelling | doaj.art-a5948c6e235e44cb9da6a7f14789835b2023-12-03T10:54:16ZengPeerJ Inc.PeerJ2167-83592016-03-014e176710.7717/peerj.1767Aboveground carbon in Quebec forests: stock quantification at the provincial scale and assessment of temperature, precipitation and edaphic properties effects on the potential stand-level stockingLouis Duchesne0Daniel Houle1Rock Ouimet2Marie-Claude Lambert3Travis Logan4Direction de la recherche forestière, Ministère des Forêts, de la Faune et des Parcs, Québec, CanadaDirection de la recherche forestière, Ministère des Forêts, de la Faune et des Parcs, Québec, CanadaDirection de la recherche forestière, Ministère des Forêts, de la Faune et des Parcs, Québec, CanadaDirection de la recherche forestière, Ministère des Forêts, de la Faune et des Parcs, Québec, CanadaConsortium sur la climatologie régionale et l’adaptation aux changements climatiques (Ouranos), Montréal, CanadaBiological carbon sequestration by forest ecosystems plays an important role in the net balance of greenhouse gases, acting as a carbon sink for anthropogenic CO2 emissions. Nevertheless, relatively little is known about the abiotic environmental factors (including climate) that control carbon storage in temperate and boreal forests and consequently, about their potential response to climate changes. From a set of more than 94,000 forest inventory plots and a large set of spatial data on forest attributes interpreted from aerial photographs, we constructed a fine-resolution map (∼375 m) of the current carbon stock in aboveground live biomass in the 435,000 km2 of managed forests in Quebec, Canada. Our analysis resulted in an area-weighted average aboveground carbon stock for productive forestland of 37.6 Mg ha−1, which is lower than commonly reported values for similar environment. Models capable of predicting the influence of mean annual temperature, annual precipitation, and soil physical environment on maximum stand-level aboveground carbon stock (MSAC) were developed. These models were then used to project the future MSAC in response to climate change. Our results indicate that the MSAC was significantly related to both mean annual temperature and precipitation, or to the interaction of these variables, and suggest that Quebec’s managed forests MSAC may increase by 20% by 2041–2070 in response to climate change. Along with changes in climate, the natural disturbance regime and forest management practices will nevertheless largely drive future carbon stock at the landscape scale. Overall, our results allow accurate accounting of carbon stock in aboveground live tree biomass of Quebec’s forests, and provide a better understanding of possible feedbacks between climate change and carbon storage in temperate and boreal forests.https://peerj.com/articles/1767.pdfBoreal forestBiomassClimate changeCarbon stock |
| spellingShingle | Louis Duchesne Daniel Houle Rock Ouimet Marie-Claude Lambert Travis Logan Aboveground carbon in Quebec forests: stock quantification at the provincial scale and assessment of temperature, precipitation and edaphic properties effects on the potential stand-level stocking PeerJ Boreal forest Biomass Climate change Carbon stock |
| title | Aboveground carbon in Quebec forests: stock quantification at the provincial scale and assessment of temperature, precipitation and edaphic properties effects on the potential stand-level stocking |
| title_full | Aboveground carbon in Quebec forests: stock quantification at the provincial scale and assessment of temperature, precipitation and edaphic properties effects on the potential stand-level stocking |
| title_fullStr | Aboveground carbon in Quebec forests: stock quantification at the provincial scale and assessment of temperature, precipitation and edaphic properties effects on the potential stand-level stocking |
| title_full_unstemmed | Aboveground carbon in Quebec forests: stock quantification at the provincial scale and assessment of temperature, precipitation and edaphic properties effects on the potential stand-level stocking |
| title_short | Aboveground carbon in Quebec forests: stock quantification at the provincial scale and assessment of temperature, precipitation and edaphic properties effects on the potential stand-level stocking |
| title_sort | aboveground carbon in quebec forests stock quantification at the provincial scale and assessment of temperature precipitation and edaphic properties effects on the potential stand level stocking |
| topic | Boreal forest Biomass Climate change Carbon stock |
| url | https://peerj.com/articles/1767.pdf |
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