title: Carbon storages in plantation ecosystems in sand source areas of north Beijing, China.
abstract: Afforestation is a mitigation option to reduce the increased atmospheric carbon dioxide levels as well as the predicted high possibility of climate change. In this paper, vegetation survey data, statistical database, National Forest Resource Inventory database, and allometric equations were used to estimate carbon density (carbon mass per hectare) and carbon storage, and identify the size and spatial distribution of forest carbon sinks in plantation ecosystems in sand source areas of north Beijing, China. From 2001 to the end of 2010, the forest areas increased more than 2.3 million ha, and total carbon storage in forest ecosystems was 173.02 Tg C, of which 82.80 percent was contained in soil in the top 0-100 cm layer. Younger forests have a large potential for enhancing carbon sequestration in terrestrial ecosystems than older ones. Regarding future afforestation efforts, it will be more effective to increase forest area and vegetation carbon density through selection of appropriate tree species and stand structure according to local climate and soil conditions, and application of proper forest management including land-shaping, artificial tending and fencing plantations. It would be also important to protect the organic carbon in surface soils during forest management.
authors.affiliation: Key Laboratory of Agricultural Water Resources, Hebei Key Laboratory of Agricultural Water-Saving, Center for Agricultural Resources Research, Institute of Genetics and Developmental Biology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Shijiazhuang, China.
authors.forename: Xiuping
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Liu
authors.affiliation: Key Laboratory of Agricultural Water Resources, Hebei Key Laboratory of Agricultural Water-Saving, Center for Agricultural Resources Research, Institute of Genetics and Developmental Biology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Shijiazhuang, China.
authors.forename: Wanjun
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Zhang
authors.affiliation: Key Laboratory of Agricultural Water Resources, Hebei Key Laboratory of Agricultural Water-Saving, Center for Agricultural Resources Research, Institute of Genetics and Developmental Biology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Shijiazhuang, China.
authors.forename: Jiansheng
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Cao
authors.affiliation: Key Laboratory of Agricultural Water Resources, Hebei Key Laboratory of Agricultural Water-Saving, Center for Agricultural Resources Research, Institute of Genetics and Developmental Biology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Shijiazhuang, China.
authors.forename: Huitao
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Shen
authors.affiliation: Key Laboratory of Agricultural Water Resources, Hebei Key Laboratory of Agricultural Water-Saving, Center for Agricultural Resources Research, Institute of Genetics and Developmental Biology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Shijiazhuang, China.
authors.forename: Xinhua
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Zeng
authors.affiliation: Center for BioEnergetics, Biodesign Institute, Arizona State University, Tempe, Arizona, United States of America.
authors.forename: Zhiqiang
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Yu
authors.affiliation: Key Laboratory of Agricultural Water Resources, Hebei Key Laboratory of Agricultural Water-Saving, Center for Agricultural Resources Research, Institute of Genetics and Developmental Biology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Shijiazhuang, China.
authors.forename: Xin
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Zhao
mesh_terms: D018533:Biomass; D002244:Carbon / Q000378:metabolism*; D002681:China; D017753:Ecosystem; D005843:Geography; D010944:Plants / Q000378:metabolism*; D012822:Silicon Dioxide; D013045:Species Specificity; D014197:Trees / Q000378:metabolism
chemical_list: D002244:Carbon; D012822:Silicon Dioxide