Modelling the management of forest ecosystems: importance of wood decomposition
Date
2018Author
Version
Acceso abierto / Sarbide irekia
Type
Artículo / Artikulua
Version
Versión aceptada / Onetsi den bertsioa
Impact
|
10.1111/nrm.12173
Abstract
Scarce and uncertain data on woody debris decomposition rates are available for calibrating forest ecosystem models, owing to the difficulty of their empirical estimations. Using field data from three experimental sites which are part of the North American Long-Term Soil Productivity (LTSP) Study in south-eastern British Columbia (Canada), we developed probability distributions of standard wood
sta ...
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Scarce and uncertain data on woody debris decomposition rates are available for calibrating forest ecosystem models, owing to the difficulty of their empirical estimations. Using field data from three experimental sites which are part of the North American Long-Term Soil Productivity (LTSP) Study in south-eastern British Columbia (Canada), we developed probability distributions of standard wood
stake mass loss of Populus tremuloides and Pinus contorta. Using a Monte Carlo approach, 50 synthetic decomposition rate values per debris type were used to calibrate the ecosystem-level forest model FORECAST. Significant effects of uncertainty of pine stake mass loss rates on estimated tree growth were found, especially in moderately managed forests, as estimations of available nitrogen were
affected. Consequently, our work has shown that projections of tree growth under management conditions depend on accurate estimations of woody debris decomposition rates, and special effort should be done in create reliable databases of decomposition rates for their use in tree growth
and yield modelling. [--]
Subject
Ecosystem-level model,
FORECAST model,
Forest ecosystem,
Forest management,
Sensitivity analysis,
Uncertainty analysis
Publisher
Wiley
Published in
Natural Resource Modeling, e12173
Departament
Universidad Pública de Navarra. Departamento de Ciencias del Medio Natural /
Nafarroako Unibertsitate Publikoa. Natura Ingurunearen Zientziak Saila