%0 Journal Article
%T White Spruce Plantations on Abandoned Agricultural Land: Are They More Effective as C Sinks than Natural Succession?
%A Sylvie Tremblay
%A Rock Ouimet
%J Forests
%D 2013
%I MDPI AG
%R 10.3390/f4041141
%X The objective of this study was to compare organic carbon (C) accumulation in plantations (PL) and natural succession (NS) established on fallow lands along a 50-year chronosequence in the eastern mixed forest subzone of Quebec (Canada). Above- and below-ground woody biomass were estimated from vegetation measurement surveys, and litter and soil (0¨C50 cm depth) C from samplings. At the year of abandonment, total C content of both PL and NS sites averaged 100 ¡À 13 Mg C ha £¿1. Over 50 years, total C content doubled on NS sites and tripled on PL sites (217.9 ¡À 28.7 vs. 285.7 ¡À 31.0 Mg ha £¿1) with respect to fallow land. On NS sites, the new C stocks accumulated entirely in the vegetation. On PL sites, C accumulated mostly in the vegetation and to a lesser extent in the litter, whereas it decreased by a third in the soil. As a result, the net C accumulation rate was 1.7 ¡À 0.7 Mg ha £¿1 yr £¿1 greater on PL sites than on NS sites over 50 years. By the 23rd year, PL sites became greater net C sinks than NS sites in the fallow lands of the study area, even with the loss of soil C.
%K forest carbon sequestration
%K afforestation
%K white spruce
%K plantations
%K natural succession
%K abandoned agricultural land
%U http://www.mdpi.com/1999-4907/4/4/1141