Carbon fractions in the world’s dead wood

Adam R. Martin (), Grant M. Domke, Mahendra Doraisami and Sean C. Thomas
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Adam R. Martin: University of Toronto Scarborough
Grant M. Domke: Northern Research Station
Mahendra Doraisami: University of Toronto Scarborough
Sean C. Thomas: University of Toronto

Nature Communications, 2021, vol. 12, issue 1, 1-9

Abstract: Abstract A key uncertainty in quantifying dead wood carbon (C) stocks—which comprise ~8% of total forest C pools globally—is a lack of accurate dead wood C fractions (CFs) that are employed to convert dead woody biomass into C. Most C estimation protocols utilize a default dead wood CF of 50%, but live tree studies suggest this value is an over-estimate. Here, we compile and analyze a global database of dead wood CFs in trees, showing that dead wood CFs average 48.5% across forests, deviating significantly from 50%, and varying systematically among biomes, taxonomic divisions, tissue types, and decay classes. Utilizing data-driven dead wood CFs in tropical forests alone may correct systematic overestimates in dead wood C stocks of ~3.0 Pg C: an estimate approaching nearly the entire dead wood C pool in the temperate forest biome. We provide for the first time, robust empirical dead wood CFs to inform global forest C estimation.

Date: 2021
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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:nat:natcom:v:12:y:2021:i:1:d:10.1038_s41467-021-21149-9

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DOI: 10.1038/s41467-021-21149-9

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