Assessment of the Most Important Carbon Pools in Moscow Oblast Mixed Forests

Abstract We have studied carbon stocks in the main components of coniferous–broadleaf forests in Moscow oblast: in various fractions of the tree stand, dead wood, mortmass, litter, living ground cover, and mineral soil profile. Several indicators microbial biomass functioning have been determined to assess the potential intensity of organic matter decomposition. We have determined the carbon stocks and their shares in the ecosystem components, differing in the renewal rate and in the potential capacity for carbon sequestration, as well as by the rate 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 being concentrated in the perennial parts of the tree stand, dead wood, mortmass, and mineral soil profile. These most stable pools are characterized by the smallest spatial variation within the biogeocenosis. The carbon stocks of the assimilating part of the grass layer and of tree leaves are only 0.02 and 0.08 kg m –2 , respectively. The carbon stocks of litter are rather low: 0.21 ± 0.04 kg m –2 , which does not exceed 2% of the total carbon stocks 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.