title: Forest biomass carbon stocks and variation in Tibet's carbon-dense forests from 2001 to 2050.
abstract: Tibet's forests, in contrast to China's other forests, are characterized by primary forests, high carbon (C) density and less anthropogenic disturbance, and they function as an important carbon pool in China. Using the biomass C density data from 413 forest inventory sites and a spatial forest age map, we developed an allometric equation for the forest biomass C density and forest age to assess the spatial biomass C stocks and variation in Tibet's forests from 2001 to 2050. The results indicated that the forest biomass C stock would increase from 831.1 Tg C in 2001 to 969.4 Tg C in 2050, with a net C gain of 3.6 Tg C yr-1between 2001 and 2010 and a decrease of 1.9 Tg C yr-1between 2040 and 2050. Carbon tends to allocate more in the roots of fir forests and less in the roots of spruce and pine forests with increasing stand age. The increase of the biomass carbon pool does not promote significant augmentation of the soil carbon pool. Our findings suggest that Tibet's mature forests will remain a persistent C sink until 2050. However, afforestation or reforestation, especially with the larger carbon sink potential forest types, such as fir and spruce, should be carried out to maintain the high C sink capacity.
authors.affiliation: Institute of Mountain Hazards and Environment, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Chengdu Sichuan 610041, China.
authors.forename: Xiangyang
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Sun
authors.affiliation: Institute of Mountain Hazards and Environment, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Chengdu Sichuan 610041, China.
authors.forename: Genxu
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.affiliation: Institute of Geographic Sciences and Natural Resources Research, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100101, China.
authors.forename: Mei
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Huang
authors.affiliation: Institute of Mountain Hazards and Environment, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Chengdu Sichuan 610041, China.
authors.forename: Ruiying
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Chang
authors.affiliation: Institute of Mountain Hazards and Environment, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Chengdu Sichuan 610041, China.
authors.forename: Fei
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Ran
mesh_terms: D018533:Biomass; D002244:Carbon / Q000032:analysis*; D057965:Carbon Sequestration; D065928:Forests; D012987:Soil / Q000737:chemistry*; D018609:Tibet; D014197:Trees / Q000737:chemistry*
chemical_list: D012987:Soil; D002244:Carbon