Summary
Studies of productivity in a 160 yr old beechwood growing on a basic soil did not reveal any marked, or inexplicable, differences from similar aged European beech forests growing on acid soils.
Total above-ground wood biomass was equivalent to 44,897 g d.wt. m-2 (live wood biomass accounting for 42,322 g). Bole biomass equalled 28,595 g m-2 (live tree contribution, 26,755 g). Branch and twig biomass was 16,302 g m-2 (live tree contribution, 15,567 g) while root biomass was estimated to be 8,676 g m-2 (live tree contribution, 8,209 g).
Wood production averaged 611 g d.wt. m-2 yr-1 between 1956 and 1975. Wood-litter fall at 178 g m-2 yr-1 contributed 36% of the total litter input of 500 g m-2 yr-1.
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Phillipson, J. Wood biomass, production and litter-fall in an English beechwood. Oecologia 57, 189–195 (1983). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00379580
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00379580