CollectHomepage AdvertisementContact usMessage

Arid Land Geography ›› 2020, Vol. 43 ›› Issue (5): 1316-1326.doi: 10.12118/j.issn.1000-6060.2020.05.17

Previous Articles     Next Articles

Simulating the biomass carbon distribution of young-and-middle aged Picea crassifolia forests based on FAREAST model along altitude gradients

WANG Qing-tao1,2,3, ZHAO Chuan-yan2, WANG Xiao-ping3, HU Shan-shan4, LIU Mei-yan1, SHI Wen-yu1, WANG Xiao-yu1, SHAN Wen-rong1   

  1. 1 College of Landscape and Ecological Engineering, Hebei University of Engineering, Handan 056000, Hebei, China; 2 State Key Laboratory of Grassland Agro-ecosystems, Lanzhou University, Lanzhou 730000, Gansu, China; 3 Institute of Arid Meteorological Lanzhou, CMA, Key Laboratory of Arid Climate Change and Reducing Disaster of Gansu Province, Lanzhou 730020, Gansu, China, 4 Academy of Disaster Reduction and Emergency Management, Beijing Normal University, Beijing 100875, China
  • Received:2019-06-06 Revised:2019-09-25 Online:2020-09-25 Published:2020-09-25

Abstract: Picea crassifolia is a dominant tree species of the forests in northwestern China’s Qilian Mountains, where it plays important roles in carbon cycling, carbon storage, and various ecosystem services such as water retention and sand fixation. However, the forest area of P. crassifolia continues to shrink because of irresponsible usage of forest resources, which is resulting in reduced ecological service function. Thus, it is necessary to restore the P. crassifolia forest area. Because of the loads of important information that can be provided by the distribution of biomass carbon of P. crassifolia seedlings and saplings along altitude gradients, it is crucial to understand the distribution of the region’s youngandmiddle- aged (0- 60 aged) P. crassifolia forests to successfully implement restoration and conservation programs. In this study, an updated forest gap model, FAREAST, is used to simulate the distribution of biomass carbon of youngand middle- aged P. crassifolia forests along altitude gradients in the western (Qifeng set), eastern (Wushaoling set), and central (Tianlaochi set) Qilian Mountains. The FAREAST model is validated for these sets against survey data. The results of the study are as follows. (1) The biomass carbon of P. crassifolia seedlings and saplings is greatest at medium altitude, i.e.,2 800 – 3 100 m a.s.l.; however, biomass carbon decreases beyond this range. (2) The average biomass carbon of P. crassifolia seedlings and saplings reaches 27.48 ± 5.51 t · C · hm- 2 in the Tianlaochi set, followed by 24.56 ± 3.50 t · C · hm- 2 in the Qifeng set and 23.80 ± 2.07 t · C · hm- 2 in the Wshaoling set. (3) The highest altitude for distribution of biomass carbon of P. crassifolia seedlings and saplings across the Qilian Mountains is 3 400 m a.s.l. and the lowest is2,500 m a.s.l.. The biomass carbon of P. crassifolia seedlings and saplings is higher in the central Qilian Mountains than in the eastern and western parts, which suggests that the central part is optimal for regeneration of P. crassifolia. The results from the study show that the FAREAST forest gap model can be used to inform forest management and ecosystem services function in this region.

Key words: the Qilian Mountains, Pciea crassifolia seeding-saplings, FAREAST model, biomass carbon, altitude distribution characteristics.