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The effect of tree mortality on CO2 fluxes in an old-growth spruce forest

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Abstract

Long-term (2009–2019) field studies of the CO2 fluxes over the Valday upland in north-western European Russia were performed in an old-growth spruce-dominated forest subject to the combined effects of climate change, bark beetle attacks and windfall events. The annual carbon uptake within the study area decreased from − 300 g C m−2 yr−1 in 2010–2011 to − 95 g C m−2 yr−1 in 2018 as a result of progressive tree mortality. However, mortality did not cause a significant reduction in specific ecosystem respiration. The respiration of the damaged forest was formed by efflux from soil (64.8%), living vegetation (15.5%), hotspots under dry standing trees (12.1%) and decomposition of woody debris (7.6%). High correlations between net ecosystem exchange and dry standing spruce stocks and average soil CO2 efflux were found. The decrease in the carbon sink was followed by a decline in evapotranspiration from 0.0142 ± 0.0003 g H2O m−2 s−1 for May–October 2010 to 0.0116 ± 0.0002 g H2O m−2 s−1 in 2018. We assumed that the decrease in carbon uptake was due to both the reduction in primary tree production and the decrease in the area of the unaffected stands. Our estimates show that an increase in tree mortality up to 27% of a stand area could turn an old-growth spruce forest into a net source of CO2. This should be taken into account when considering human-induced and climate-related effects on boreal forests.

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Notes

  1. The climatic normalwas calculated from the weather data fromthe Valday branch of the State Hydrological Institute.

  2. The Selyaninov's hydro-thermal coefficient (HTC) is calculated as: HTC = ΣP/0.1ΣH, where ΣP is the total precipitation (mm) for the period with temperatures above + 10 °C, and ΣH is the sum of the diurnal temperatures above + 10 °C for the same timeframe (Selyaninov 1928). The HTC informs the water availability determination.

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Acknowledgements

The authors are grateful to Dr. Victor A. Mukhin for valuable advice and assistance in describing fungal damage of spruce stand and to the students of the chair of Ecology and Nature Management of the Biology Department, Lomonosov Moscow State University, for their contribution to forest inventories and vegetation mapping.

Funding

This research was funded by the Russian Science Foundation (grant 18-17-00178), the State Assignment AAAA-A18-118052400130-7 for the Center for Forest Ecology and Productivity of Russian Academy of Sciences (RAS), the State Assignment 0148-2019-0006 for the Institute of Geography RAS and the State Assignment AAAA-A17-117072710019-8 for “Tayphoon” Research Association of the Roshydromet (Russia).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Institute of Geography of the Russian Academy of Sciences (RAS), 29 Staromonetniy lane, Moscow, Russia, 119017

    D. V. Karelin & N. O. Tel’nova

  2. Center for Forest Ecology and Productivity RAS, 84/32 Profsoyuznaya Str., Moscow, Russia, 117234

    D. G. Zamolodchikov & A. S. Kumanyaev

  3. Tayphoon” Research Association of the Roshydromet, 4 Pobeda Str., Obninsk, Kaluga Region, Russia, 249038

    A. V. Shilkin

  4. Biology Department, Lomonosov State University, 1–12 Leninskie Gory, Moscow, Russia, 119991

    S. Yu. Popov

  5. Institute for Physical, Chemical and Biological Problems of Soil Science RAS, Puschino-na-Oke, Moscow Region, Russia, 142290

    V. O. Lopes de Gerenyu

  6. Dubna State University, Ugresha Branch, 24 Academician Zhukov Str., Dzerzhinskiy, Moscow Region, Russia, 140090

    Michael L. Gitarskiy

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  1. D. V. Karelin
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  2. D. G. Zamolodchikov
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  3. A. V. Shilkin
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  4. S. Yu. Popov
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  8. Michael L. Gitarskiy
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Contributions

All authors contributed to the study conception and design. Material preparation, data collection and analysis were performed by Dmitry V. Karelin, Dmitry G. Zamolodchikov, Arseny V. Shilkin, Sergey Yu. Popov, Anton S. Kumanyaev, Valentin O. Lopes de Gerenyu, Natalia O. Tel’nova and Michael L. Gitarskiy. The manuscript was written by Dmitry V. Karelin and Michael L. Gitarskiy, and all authors commented on it. The final version was edited and translated by Michael L. Gitarskiy. All authors red and approved the final manuscript.

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Correspondence to Michael L. Gitarskiy.

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Karelin, D.V., Zamolodchikov, D.G., Shilkin, A.V. et al. The effect of tree mortality on CO2 fluxes in an old-growth spruce forest. Eur J Forest Res 140, 287–305 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10342-020-01330-3

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