TY - JOUR

T1 - Climate and large-sized trees, but not diversity, drive above-ground biomass in subtropical forests

AU - Bordin, Kauane Maiara

AU - Esquivel-Muelbert, Adriane

AU - Bergamin, Rodrigo Scarton

AU - Klipel, Joice

AU - Picolotto, Rayana Caroline

AU - Frangipani, Marcelo Araújo

AU - Zanini, Katia Janaina

AU - Cianciaruso, Marcus Vinicius

AU - Jarenkow, Joao André

AU - Follmann Jurinitz, Cristiane

AU - Molz, Martin

AU - Higuchi, Pedro

AU - da Silva, Ana Carolina

AU - Müller, Sandra Cristina

PY - 2022/3/25

Y1 - 2022/3/25

N2 - Subtropical forests certainly contribute to terrestrial global carbon storage, but we have limited understanding about the relative amounts and of the drivers of above-ground biomass (AGB) variation in their region. Here we assess the spatial distribution and drivers of AGB in 119 sites across the South American subtropical forests. We applied a structural equation modelling approach to test the causal relationships between AGB and environmental (climate and soil), structural (proportion of large-sized trees) and community (functional and species diversity and composition) variables. The AGB on subtropical forests is on average 246 Mg ha􀀀 1. Biomass stocks were driven directly by temperature annual range and the proportion of large-sized trees, whilst soil texture, community mean leaf nitrogen content and functional diversity had no predictive power. Temperature annual range had a negative effect on AGB, indicating that communities under strong thermal amplitude across the year tend to accumulate less AGB. The positive effect of large-sized trees indicates that mature forests are playing akey role in the long-term persistence of carbon storage, as these large trees account for 64% of total biomass stored in these forests. Our study reinforces the importance of structurally complex subtropical forest remnants for maximising carbon storage, especially facing future climatic changes predicted for the region.

AB - Subtropical forests certainly contribute to terrestrial global carbon storage, but we have limited understanding about the relative amounts and of the drivers of above-ground biomass (AGB) variation in their region. Here we assess the spatial distribution and drivers of AGB in 119 sites across the South American subtropical forests. We applied a structural equation modelling approach to test the causal relationships between AGB and environmental (climate and soil), structural (proportion of large-sized trees) and community (functional and species diversity and composition) variables. The AGB on subtropical forests is on average 246 Mg ha􀀀 1. Biomass stocks were driven directly by temperature annual range and the proportion of large-sized trees, whilst soil texture, community mean leaf nitrogen content and functional diversity had no predictive power. Temperature annual range had a negative effect on AGB, indicating that communities under strong thermal amplitude across the year tend to accumulate less AGB. The positive effect of large-sized trees indicates that mature forests are playing akey role in the long-term persistence of carbon storage, as these large trees account for 64% of total biomass stored in these forests. Our study reinforces the importance of structurally complex subtropical forest remnants for maximising carbon storage, especially facing future climatic changes predicted for the region.

KW - Ecosystems Research

KW - Brazilian Atlantic Forest

KW - carbon stocks

KW - climate change

KW - functional diversity

KW - functional traits

KW - soil texture

KW - structural equation model

KW - temperature annual range

U2 - 10.1016/j.foreco.2021.119126

DO - 10.1016/j.foreco.2021.119126

M3 - Journal articles

VL - 2021

JO - Forest Ecology and Management

JF - Forest Ecology and Management

SN - 0378-1127

IS - 490

M1 - 119126

ER -