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Forests
Special Issues
Forest Silviculture and Carbon Sequestration in a Changing Climate
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Forest Silviculture and Carbon Sequestration in a Changing Climate

A special issue of Forests (ISSN 1999-4907). This special issue belongs to the section "Forest Ecology and Management".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (20 February 2021) | Viewed by 8819

Special Issue Editor

Dr. Chris A. Maier

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Southern Research Station, USDA Forest Service, Research Triangle Park, NC 27541, USA
Interests: forest ecophysiology; gas exchange; water relations; carbon cycling; nutrient cycling; silviculture; climate change

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Increased carbon sequestration by forests is an important element of a comprehensive strategy to reduce net CO2 emissions that contribute to climate change. The capacity of forests to store carbon varies by region, species composition, soil type, minerology, climate, disturbance frequency, and management objectives (e.g., biomass production, biodiversity, water yield, wildlife conservation). Silvicultural practices such as site preparation, species and genotype selection, nutrient and residue management, vegetation control, prescribed fire, and thinning have long been used to increase stand productivity and wood biomass, but effects on carbon allocation and storage in understory, forest floor, and mineral soil storage are often neutral or negative. Because of this, it is unclear if there is a trade-off between increased productivity and long-term carbon storage in detritus and mineral soil. A better understanding of the interaction between silviculture practices, species selection, and soil biogeochemical processes will aid in the development management strategies that maximize carbon sequestration while also maintaining productive capacity and provisioning of other ecosystem services (e.g., water quality and yield, biodiversity, nutrient cycling).

This Special Issue explores our current understanding of the relationship between silviculture, forest development, and carbon dynamics in managed forests. We invite manuscripts that address a broad range of questions, including: What carbon pools and fluxes are the most promising for enhanced carbon sequestration? What physiological, biogeochemical, and developmental processes are most sensitive to management, and how do they change with stand age? How does a carbon stabilization and residence time vary as a function of soil type (minerology), depth, physiochemical properties, and plant residue composition? Can proactive management utilizing onsite residues or amendments (e.g., biochar) promote forest growth, soil carbon, and retention? How do different species, genotypes, or species assemblages effect belowground carbon inputs and stabilization (e.g., altered root morphology, distribution, recalcitrance to decomposition)? Where does increased carbon sequestration enhance, and where is it detrimental to pre-existing processes and ecosystem services? Suitable manuscripts may include stand scale experimental studies, regional or landscape modeling analyses, meta-analyses, or reviews.

Dr. Chris A. Maier
Guest Editor

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Forests is an international peer-reviewed open access monthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2600 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

  • Silviculture
  • Carbon storage
  • Carbon allocation
  • Climate change
  • Soil CO2
  • Ecophysiology
  • Adaptive forest management
  • Ecosystem services

Published Papers (3 papers)

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Research

13 pages, 1379 KiB  
Article
Understory Species Identity Rather than Species Richness Influences Fine Root Decomposition in a Temperate Plantation
by Rim Khlifa, Denis A. Angers and Alison D. Munson
Forests 2020, 11(10), 1091; https://doi.org/10.3390/f11101091 - 14 Oct 2020
Cited by 1 | Viewed by 1933
Abstract
Different silvicultural treatments that are applied at plantation establishment may drive different vegetation succession pathways. These divergent vegetation types subsequently feed back to influence soil carbon and nitrogen cycles. One potential mechanism of feedback is through litter decomposition, and in particular fine root [...] Read more.
Different silvicultural treatments that are applied at plantation establishment may drive different vegetation succession pathways. These divergent vegetation types subsequently feed back to influence soil carbon and nitrogen cycles. One potential mechanism of feedback is through litter decomposition, and in particular fine root decomposition (FRD; <2 mm roots). In the present study we investigated how blade scarification, fertilization, and vegetation control influenced over- and understory vegetation 27 years after plantation, and whether these different vegetation communities affected FRD. In a design using factorial combinations of the three treatments at the Petawawa Research Forest (Laurentian Hills, ON, Canada), we conducted an in situ FRD experiment, with fine roots from the entire vegetation community (both over- and understory) of each plot. The different silvicultural treatments affected overstory basal area, understory species richness and FRD. No correlation was noted between understory species richness and FRD. Instead, we found that understory vegetation (especially fern and herb) cover best explained FRD. We conclude that silvicultural treatments affect FRD through subsequent vegetation succession and that this effect is more likely due to species-specific effects inducing a favorable soil environment than to a higher species richness per se. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Forest Silviculture and Carbon Sequestration in a Changing Climate)
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28 pages, 3523 KiB  
Article
Baseline of Carbon Stocks in Pinus radiata and Eucalyptus spp. Plantations of Chile
by Guillermo F. Olmedo, Mario Guevara, Horacio Gilabert, Cristián R. Montes, Eduardo C. Arellano, Beatriz Barría-Knopf, Francisco Gárate, Pablo Mena-Quijada, Eduardo Acuña, Horacio E. Bown and Michael G. Ryan
Forests 2020, 11(10), 1063; https://doi.org/10.3390/f11101063 - 30 Sep 2020
Cited by 12 | Viewed by 4461
Abstract
Forest plantations have a large potential for carbon sequestration, playing an important role in the global carbon cycle. However, despite the large amount of research carried out worldwide, the absolute contribution of forest plantations is still incomplete for some parts of the world. [...] Read more.
Forest plantations have a large potential for carbon sequestration, playing an important role in the global carbon cycle. However, despite the large amount of research carried out worldwide, the absolute contribution of forest plantations is still incomplete for some parts of the world. To help bridge this gap, we calculated the amount of C stock in three fast growing forest species in Chile. Carbon pools in above-ground and below-ground biomass, forest floor, and soil were considered for this analysis. Across the plantation forests of Chile, carbon accumulated in the above-ground biomass was 181–212 Mg · ha−1 for Pinus radiata, 147–180 Mg · ha−1 for Eucalyptus nitens, and 95–117 Mg · ha−1 for Eucalyptus globulus (age 20–24 years for P. radiata and 10–14 years for Eucalyptus). Total C stocks were for 343 Mg · ha−1 for P. radiata, 352 Mg · ha−1 for E. nitens, and 254 Mg · ha−1 for E. globulus, also at the end of a typical rotation. The carbon pool in the forest floor was found to be significantly lower (less than 4% of the total) when compared to the other pools and showed large spatial variability. Our results agree with other studies showing that 30–50% of the total C stock is stored in the soil. The baseline data will be valuable for modelling C storage changes under different management regimes (changes in species, rotation length and stocking) and for different future climates. Given the contribution of soils to total carbon stocks, special attention should be paid to forest management activities that affect the soil organic carbon pool. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Forest Silviculture and Carbon Sequestration in a Changing Climate)
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16 pages, 7439 KiB  
Article
Effect of Silviculture on Carbon Pools during Development of a Ponderosa Pine Plantation
by Jie Zhang, Jianwei Zhang, Kim Mattson and Kaelyn Finley
Forests 2020, 11(9), 997; https://doi.org/10.3390/f11090997 - 17 Sep 2020
Cited by 5 | Viewed by 1905
Abstract
Forest stands can be considered as dynamic carbon pools throughout their developmental stages. Silvicultural thinning and initial planting densities for reforestation not only manipulate the structure or composition of vegetation, but also disturb forest floor and soils, which, in turn, influences the dynamics [...] Read more.
Forest stands can be considered as dynamic carbon pools throughout their developmental stages. Silvicultural thinning and initial planting densities for reforestation not only manipulate the structure or composition of vegetation, but also disturb forest floor and soils, which, in turn, influences the dynamics of carbon pools. Understanding these carbon pools both spatially and temporally can provide useful information for land managers to achieve their management goals. Here, we estimated five major carbon pools in experimental ponderosa pine (Pinus ponderosa) plots that were planted to three levels of spacing and where competing vegetation was either controlled (VC) or not controlled (NVC). The objectives were to determine how an early competing vegetation control influences the long-term carbon dynamics and how stand density affects the maximum carbon (C) sequestration for these plantations. We found that planting density did not affect total ecosystem C at either sampling age 28 or 54. Because of competing vegetation ingrowth, the NVC (85 ± 14 Mg ha−1) accumulated greater C than the VC (61 ± 6 Mg ha−1) at age 28. By age 54, the differences between treatments narrow with the NVC (114 ± 11 Mg ha−1) and the VC (106 ± 11 Mg ha−1) as the pines continue to grow relatively faster in the VC when compared to NVC and C of ingrowth vegetation decreased in NVC, presumably due to shading by the overstory pines. The detritus was not significantly different among treatments in either years, although the mean forest floor and soil C was slightly greater in NVC. While NVC appears to sequester more C early on, the differences from the VC were rather subtle. Clearly, as the stands continue to grow, the C of the larger pines of the VC may overtake the total C of the NVC. We conclude that, to manage forests for carbon, we must pay more attention to promoting growth of overstory trees by controlling competing vegetation early, which will provide more opportunities for foresters to create resilient forests to disturbances and store C longer in a changing climate. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Forest Silviculture and Carbon Sequestration in a Changing Climate)
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