Carbon stock of Moso bamboo (Phyllostachys pubescens) forests along a latitude gradient in the subtropical region of China

PLoS One. 2018 Feb 16;13(2):e0193024. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0193024. eCollection 2018.

Abstract

Latitude is an important factor that influences the carbon stock of Moso bamboo (Phyllostachys pubescens) forests. Accurate estimation of the carbon stock of Moso bamboo forest can contribute to sufficient evaluation of forests in carbon sequestration worldwide. Nevertheless, the effect of latitude on the carbon stock of Moso bamboo remains unclear. In this study, a field survey with 36 plots of Moso bamboo forests along a latitude gradient was conducted to investigate carbon stock. Results showed that the diameter at breast height (DBH) of Moso bamboo culms increased from 8.37 cm to 10.12 cm that well fitted by Weibull model, whereas the bamboo culm density decreased from 4722 culm ha-1 to 3400 culm ha-1 with increasing latitude. The bamboo biomass carbon decreased from 60.58 Mg C ha-1 to 48.31 Mg C ha-1 from north to south. The total carbon stock of Moso bamboo forests, which comprises soil and biomass carbon, ranged from 87.83 Mg C ha-1 to 119.5 Mg C ha-1 and linearly increased with latitude. As a fast-growing plant, Moso bamboo could be harvested amounts of 6.0 Mg C ha-1 to 7.6 Mg C ha-1 annually, which indicates a high potential of this species for carbon sequestration. Parameters obtained in this study can be used to accurately estimate the carbon stock of Moso bamboo forest to establish models of the global carbon balance.

Publication types

  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

  • Biomass
  • Carbon / metabolism*
  • Carbon Sequestration
  • China
  • Ecosystem
  • Forests
  • Models, Biological
  • Poaceae / growth & development
  • Poaceae / metabolism*
  • Tropical Climate

Substances

  • Carbon

Grants and funding

The authors would like to thank the National Forestry Public Welfare Industry Research Project (201504407) and National Natural Science Foundation of China (41671296) for the financial support. The funders had no role in study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish, or preparation of the manuscript.