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Biometric-based estimation of net ecosystem production in a mature Japanese cedar (Cryptomeria japonica) plantation beneath a flux tower

  • JPR Symposium
  • Carbon cycle process in East Asia
  • Published:
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Abstract

Quantification of carbon budgets and cycling in Japanese cedar (Cryptomeria japonica D. Don) plantations is essential for understanding forest functions in Japan because these plantations occupy about 20% of the total forested area. We conducted a biometric estimate of net ecosystem production (NEP) in a mature Japanese cedar plantation beneath a flux tower over a 4-year period. Net primary production (NPP) was 7.9 Mg C ha−1 year−1 and consisted mainly of tree biomass increment and aboveground litter production. Respiration was calculated as 6.8 (soil) and 3.3 (root) Mg C ha−1 year−1. Thus, NEP in the plantation was 4.3 Mg C ha−1 year−1. In agreement with the tower-based flux findings, this result suggests that the Japanese cedar plantation was a strong carbon sink. The biometric-based NEP was higher among most other types of Japanese forests studied. Carbon sequestration in the mature plantation was characterized by a larger increment in tree biomass and lower mortality than in natural forests. Land-use change from natural forest to Japanese cedar plantation might, therefore, stimulate carbon sequestration and change the carbon allocation of NPP from an increment in coarse woody debris to an increase in tree biomass.

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Abbreviations

GPP:

Gross primary production

NEP:

Net ecosystem production

NEE:

Net ecosystem exchange (NEP = −NEE)

NPP:

Net primary production

B :

Biomass

CWD:

Coarse woody debris

SOM:

Soil organic matter

TBCF:

Total belowground carbon flux

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Acknowledgments

We thank Mr. Kenji Kurumado and Mr. Yasunori Miyamoto of Gifu University for their assistance in the field. We also thank Drs. Ichiro Tamagawa, Hiroyuki Muraoka, and Shin Nagai of Gifu University for their kind cooperation in the field survey and in providing meteorological data. This study was supported financially by the Twenty-first Century Centers of Excellence (COE) program “Satellite Ecology” of Gifu University and by the Japan Society for Promotion of Science (JSPS) A3 Foresight Program.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. River Basin Research Center, Gifu University, 1-1 Yanagido, Gifu, 501-1193, Japan

    Yuichiro Yashiro, Toshiyuki Ohtsuka, Yoko Shizu & Taku M. Saitoh

  2. Department of Environmental Science and Ecological Engineering, Korea University, Anam-Dong, SeongBuk-Gu, Seoul, 136-701, Korea

    Na-Yeon M. Lee

  3. Department of Biology, Faculty of Education and Integrated Arts and Sciences, Waseda University, 2-2 Wakamatsu, Shinjuku, Tokyo, 162-8480, Japan

    Hiroshi Koizumi

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  1. Yuichiro Yashiro
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  2. Na-Yeon M. Lee
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  3. Toshiyuki Ohtsuka
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  4. Yoko Shizu
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  5. Taku M. Saitoh
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  6. Hiroshi Koizumi
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Correspondence to Yuichiro Yashiro.

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Yashiro, Y., Lee, NY.M., Ohtsuka, T. et al. Biometric-based estimation of net ecosystem production in a mature Japanese cedar (Cryptomeria japonica) plantation beneath a flux tower. J Plant Res 123, 463–472 (2010). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10265-010-0323-8

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10265-010-0323-8

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