Database on structure of phytomass of Russian forests

Review of the modern databases for phytomass structure of forests in Russia is provided. The database offered by the authors contains information about phytomass structure, forest-typological and inventory characteristics of the stands. All forest-forming species and regions of the former Soviet Union are presented

Estimation of Carbon Stock in Forest Soils of Sakhalin Region

Forests play a significant role in the uptake of atmospheric carbon dioxide and carbon sequestration for a long time. In forests, the long-term carbon depositing mainly takes place in two pools: in tree biomass and in soil organic matter that have different sensitivity to the natural and anthropogenic disturbances. Estimation of these pool sizes and ratio is the first step to the assessment of regional forest carbon budget and prognosis of its feedback to the climate change and disturbances. In this study, we estimated carbon stock in forest soils of Sakhalin region using the information system developed to assess a spatially distributed soil organic carbon with the high resolution (1 km2). It was found that soil organic matter of forest ecosystems in the region have accumulated about 1230.9 Mt C that is three folds higher than carbon stock in the tree biomass. Forest litter contributes not more than 10% in the northern forest ecosystems and up to 3–4% in the southern forests. Distribution of total carbon stock (live tree biomass + soil organic matter) between above- and belowground pools indicated that 80.0–82.5% of the carbon is allocated in the soil, and forest litter—the component the most vulnerable to disturbances, accounts not more than 5–6% of this stock

Aggregated estimation of the basic parameters of biological production and the carbon budget of Russian terrestrial ecosystems: 1. Stocks of plant organic mass

The data presented were obtained at the first stage (1993–1999) of studies on evaluating the basic parameters of biological production in Russian terrestrial ecosystems in order to provide information for assessing and modeling the carbon budget of the entire terrestrial biota of the country. Stocks of phytomass (by fractions), coarse woody debris, and dead roots (underground necromass) were calculated by two independent methods, which yielded close results. The total amount of phytomass in Russian terrestrial ecosystems was estimated at 81 800 Tg (=1012 g = million t) dry matter, or 39 989 Tg carbon. Forest ecosystems comprise a greater part (82.1%) of live plant organic matter (here and below, comparisons are made with respect to the carbon content); natural grasslands and brushwoods account for 8.8%; the phytomass of wetlands (bogs and swamps), for 6.6%; and the phytomass of farmlands, for only 2.5%. Aboveground wood contains approximately two-thirds of the plant carbon (63.8%), and green parts contain 9.9%. For all classes of ecosystems, the proportion of underground phytomass averages 26.7% of the total amount, varying from 22.0% in forests to 57.1% in grasslands and brushwoods. The average phytomass density on lands covered with vegetation (1629.9 million hectares in Russia) is 5.02 kg/m2 dry matter, or 2.45 kg C/m2. The total amount of carbon in coarse woody debris is 4955 Tg C, and 9180 Tg C are in the underground necromass. In total, the vegetation of Russian terrestrial ecosystems (without litter) contains 54 124 Tg carbon