An assessment of the most important carbon pools in the mixed forests of the Moscow region

The carbon reserves in main components of Moscow region coniferous-broadleaf forest were studied: various fractions of the tree stand, dead wood, mortmass, litter, living ground cover and mineral profile of the soil. To assess the potential intensity of organic matter decomposition, a number of indicators of the functioning of the microbial biomass were determined. An assessment is given of the carbon reserves and their shares in the ecosystem components that differ in the rate of renewal and potential capacity for carbon sequestration, as well as the degree of their spatial variation. The total carbon pool of the studied forest ecosystem is 18.7+0.8 kg·m–2, with almost 90% of the total stock concentrated in the perennial parts of the tree stand, dead wood, mortmass and mineral profile of the soil. These most stable pools are characterized by the least spatial variation within the biogeocenosis. The carbon reserves of the assimilating part of the grass layer and tree leaves are only 0.02 and 0.08 kg·m–2, respectively. The carbon reserves of litter are quite low - 0.21 ± 0.04 kg·m–2, which does not exceed 2% of the total carbon reserves of the ecosystem. The data obtained indicate that even secondary subclimax forest ecosystems are a significant absorber of atmospheric carbon, mainly due to the mass of the tree stand and soil organic matter.