 |
| Titel |
Soil carbon stocks and their variability across the forests, shrublands and grasslands of peninsular Spain |
| VerfasserIn |
E. Doblas-Miranda, P. Rovira, L. Brotons, J. Martínez-Vilalta, J. Retana, M. Pla, J. Vayreda |
| Medientyp |
Artikel
|
| Sprache |
Englisch
|
| ISSN |
1726-4170
|
| Digitales Dokument |
URL |
| Erschienen |
In: Biogeosciences ; 10, no. 12 ; Nr. 10, no. 12 (2013-12-18), S.8353-8361 |
| Datensatznummer |
250085484
|
| Publikation (Nr.) |
 copernicus.org/bg-10-8353-2013.pdf |
|
|
|
|
|
| Zusammenfassung |
| Accurate estimates of C stocks and fluxes of soil organic carbon (SOC) are
needed to assess the impact of climate and land use change on soil C uptake
and soil C emissions to the atmosphere. Here, we present an assessment of SOC
stocks in forests, shrublands and grasslands of peninsular Spain based on
field measurements in more than 900 soil profiles. SOC to a depth of 1 m was
modelled as a function of vegetation cover, mean annual temperature, total
annual precipitation, elevation and the interaction between temperature and
elevation, while latitude and longitude were used to model the correlation
structure of the errors. The resulting statistical model was used to
estimate SOC in the ∼8 million pixels of the Spanish Forest
Map (29.3 × 106 ha). We present what we believe is the most
reliable estimation of current SOC in forests, shrublands and grasslands of
peninsular Spain thus far, based on the use of spatial modelling, the high
number of profiles and the validity and refinement of the data layers
employed. Mean concentration of SOC was 8.7 kg m−2, ranging from 2.3 kg m−2
in dry Mediterranean areas to 20.4 kg m−2 in wetter northern
locations. This value corresponds to a total stock of 2.544 Tg SOC, which is
four times the amount of C estimated to be stored in the biomass of Spanish
forests. Climate and vegetation cover were the main variables influencing
SOC, with important ecological implications for peninsular Spanish
ecosystems in the face of global change. The fact that SOC was positively
related to annual precipitation and negatively related to mean annual
temperature suggests that future climate change predictions of increased
temperature and reduced precipitation may strongly reduce the potential of
Spanish soils as C sinks. However, this may be mediated by changes in
vegetation cover (e.g. by favouring the development of forests associated
to higher SOC values) and exacerbated by perturbations such as fire. The
estimations presented here provide a baseline to estimate future changes in
soil C stocks and to assess their vulnerability to key global change
drivers, and should inform future actions aimed at the conservation and
management of C stocks. |
| |
|
| Teil von |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|