Biogeochemistry of Carbon at Hubbard Brook

The biogeochemical behavior of carbon in the forested watersheds of the Hubbard Brook Experimental Forest (HBEF) was analyzed in long-term studies. The largest pools of C in the reference watershed (W6) reside in mineral soil organic matter (43% of total ecosystem C) and living biomass (40.5%), with...

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Veröffentlicht in:Biogeochemistry 2005-08, Vol.75 (1), p.109-176
Hauptverfasser: Fahey, T.J, Siccama, T.G, Driscoll, C.T, Likens, G.E, Campbell, J, Johnson, C.E, Battles, J.J, Aber, J.D, Cole, J.J, Fisk, M.C
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Sprache:eng
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Zusammenfassung:The biogeochemical behavior of carbon in the forested watersheds of the Hubbard Brook Experimental Forest (HBEF) was analyzed in long-term studies. The largest pools of C in the reference watershed (W6) reside in mineral soil organic matter (43% of total ecosystem C) and living biomass (40.5%), with the remainder in surface detritus (14.5%). Repeated sampling indicated that none of these pools was changing significantly in the late-1990s, although high spatial variability precluded the detection of small changes in the soil organic matter pools, which are large; hence, net ecosystem productivity (NEP) in this 2nd growth forest was near zero (± about 20 g C/m⁲-yr) and probably similar in magnitude to fluvial export of organic C. Aboveground net primary productivity (ANPP) of the forest declined by 24% between the late-1950s (462 g C/m⁲-yr) and the late-1990s (354 g C/m⁲-yr), illustrating age-related decline in forest NPP, effects of multiple stresses and unusual tree mortality, or both. Application of the simulation model PnET-II predicted 14% higher ANPP than was observed for 1996-1997, probably reflecting some unknown stresses. Fine litterfall flux (171 g C/m⁲-yr) has not changed much since the late-1960s. Because of high annual variation, C flux in woody litterfall (including tree mortality) was not tightly constrained but averaged about 90 g C/m⁲-yr. Carbon flux to soil organic matter in root turnover (128 g C/m⁲-yr) was only about half as large as aboveground detritus. Balancing the soil C budget requires that large amounts of C (80 g C/m⁲-yr) were transported from roots to rhizosphere carbon flux. Total soil respiration (TSR) ranged from 540 to 800 g C/m⁲-yr across eight stands and decreased with increasing elevation within the northern hardwood forest near W6. The watershed-wide TSR was estimated as 660 g C/m⁲-yr. Empirical measurements indicated that 58% of TSR occurred in the surface organic horizons and that root respiration comprised about 40% of TSR, most of the rest being microbial. Carbon flux directly associated with other heterotrophs in the HBEF was minor; for example, we estimated respiration of soil microarthropods, rodents, birds and moose at about 3, 5, 1 and 0.8 g C/m⁲-yr, respectively, or in total less than 2% of NPP. Hence, the effects of other heterotrophs on C flux were primarily indirect, with the exception of occasional irruptions of folivorous insects. Hydrologic fluxes of C were significant in the watershed C budget, especially
ISSN:0168-2563
1573-515X
DOI:10.1007/s10533-004-6321-y