TITLE:
Net primary production and carbon cycling in coast redwood forests of central California
AUTHORS:
Christopher Potter
KEYWORDS:
Carbon; Forest Ecosystems; Remote Sensing; MODIS
JOURNAL NAME:
Open Journal of Ecology,
Vol.2 No.3,
August
10,
2012
ABSTRACT: A simulation model to estimate net primary productivity (NPP) has been combined with in situ measurements of soil carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions and leaf litter pools in three coast redwood forest stands on the central California coast. Monthly NPP was predicted from the CASA model using 250-meter resolution vegetation index (VI) inputs. Annual NPP was predicted to vary from 380 g·C·m-2·yr-1 to 648 g·C·m-2·yr-1 at central coast redwood sites over the years 2007 to 2010. Measured soil respiration rates at between 0.5 to 2.2 g·C·m-2·d-1 were slightly below the range of measurements previously reported for a second-growth mixed (redwood and Douglas-fir) conifer forests. Although warm monthly temperatures at the southern-most redwood forest sites evidently results in elevated stress levels to sustained redwood growth into the dry summer months of June and July, these redwood stands appear to sequester CO2 from that atmosphere into forest biomass for a net positive ecosystem carbon balance each year.