title: Above-ground woody carbon sequestration measured from tree rings is coherent with net ecosystem productivity at five eddy-covariance sites.
abstract: • Attempts to combine biometric and eddy-covariance (EC) quantifications of carbon allocation to different storage pools in forests have been inconsistent and variably successful in the past. • We assessed above-ground biomass changes at five long-term EC forest stations based on tree-ring width and wood density measurements, together with multiple allometric models. Measurements were validated with site-specific biomass estimates and compared with the sum of monthly CO₂ fluxes between 1997 and 2009. • Biometric measurements and seasonal net ecosystem productivity (NEP) proved largely compatible and suggested that carbon sequestered between January and July is mainly used for volume increase, whereas that taken up between August and September supports a combination of cell wall thickening and storage. The inter-annual variability in above-ground woody carbon uptake was significantly linked with wood production at the sites, ranging between 110 and 370 g C m(-2) yr(-1) , thereby accounting for 10-25% of gross primary productivity (GPP), 15-32% of terrestrial ecosystem respiration (TER) and 25-80% of NEP. • The observed seasonal partitioning of carbon used to support different wood formation processes refines our knowledge on the dynamics and magnitude of carbon allocation in forests across the major European climatic zones. It may thus contribute, for example, to improved vegetation model parameterization and provides an enhanced framework to link tree-ring parameters with EC measurements.
authors.affiliation: Swiss Federal Research Institute WSL, Zürcherstrasse 111, 8903, Birmensdorf, Switzerland.|Laboratory of Tree-Ring Research, University of Arizona, 1215 E Lowell St., Tucson, AZ, 85721, USA.
authors.forename: Flurin
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Babst
authors.affiliation: Forest Research and Management Institute ICAS, Sos. Stefanesti 128, O77190, Voluntari, Romania.
authors.forename: Olivier
authors.initials: O
authors.lastname: Bouriaud
authors.affiliation: Department for Innovation in Biological, Agro-Food and Forest Systems, University of Tuscia, Via S. Camillo de Lellis, 01100, Viterbo, Italy.
authors.forename: Dario
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Papale
authors.affiliation: University of Antwerp, Universiteitsplein 1, 2610, Wilrijk, Belgium.
authors.forename: Bert
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Gielen
authors.affiliation: University of Antwerp, Universiteitsplein 1, 2610, Wilrijk, Belgium.
authors.forename: Ivan A
authors.initials: IA
authors.lastname: Janssens
authors.affiliation: Department of Physics, University of Helsinki, PO Box 9, FIN-00014, Helsinki, Finland.
authors.forename: Eero
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Nikinmaa
authors.affiliation: Department of Chemical and Biochemical Engineering, Technical University of Denmark (DTU), Frederiksborgvej 399, Roskilde, Denmark.
authors.forename: Andreas
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Ibrom
authors.affiliation: Department of Chemical and Biochemical Engineering, Technical University of Denmark (DTU), Frederiksborgvej 399, Roskilde, Denmark.
authors.forename: Jian
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Wu
authors.affiliation: Technical University of Dresden, Pienner Strasse 23, 01737, Tharandt, Germany.
authors.forename: Christian
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Bernhofer
authors.affiliation: Technical University of Dresden, Pienner Strasse 23, 01737, Tharandt, Germany.
authors.forename: Barbara
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Köstner
authors.affiliation: Technical University of Dresden, Pienner Strasse 23, 01737, Tharandt, Germany.
authors.forename: Thomas
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Grünwald
authors.affiliation: EC-JRC, Institute for Environment and Sustainability, Via Fermi 2749, 21027, Ispra, Italy.
authors.forename: Günther
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Seufert
authors.affiliation: Laboratoire des Sciences du Climat et de L'Environnement, CEA-CNRS-UVSQ, F-91191, Gif-sur-Yvette, France.
authors.forename: Philippe
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Ciais
authors.affiliation: Swiss Federal Research Institute WSL, Zürcherstrasse 111, 8903, Birmensdorf, Switzerland.|Oeschger Center for Climate Change, Zähringerstr. 25, 3012, Bern, Switzerland.
authors.forename: David
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Frank
mesh_terms: D018533:Biomass; D002244:Carbon / Q000378:metabolism; D057965:Carbon Sequestration; D017753:Ecosystem; D005060:Europe; D005843:Geography; D012621:Seasons; D014197:Trees / Q000254:growth & development*; D014934:Wood / Q000378:metabolism*
chemical_list: D002244:Carbon
keywords: biomass; biometry; carbon allocation; carbon cycle; carbon sink; flux tower; forest productivity; wood density