Aboveground vs. Belowground Carbon Stocks in African Tropical Lowland Rainforest: Drivers and Implications.

ABSTRACT:

Background

African tropical rainforests are one of the most important hotspots to look for changes in the upcoming decades when it comes to C storage and release. The focus of studying C dynamics in these systems lies traditionally on living aboveground biomass. Belowground soil organic carbon stocks have received little attention and estimates of the size, controls and distribution of soil organic carbon stocks are highly uncertain. In our study on lowland rainforest in the central Congo basin, we combine both an assessment of the aboveground C stock with an assessment of the belowground C stock and analyze the latter in terms of functional pools and controlling factors.

Principal findings

Our study shows that despite similar vegetation, soil and climatic conditions, soil o

SUBMITTER: Doetterl S 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC4657968 | biostudies-literature | 2015

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature