Forest stand biomass and NPP models sensitive to winter temperature and
annual precipitation for Betula spp. in Eurasia
Abstract
Forest ecosystems, as sinks of atmospheric carbon, play an important
role in reducing CO2 emissions and preventing annual temperatures from
rising. On the other hand, climate change entails changes in the
structure and functions of all the biota, including forest cover.
Therefore, we attempted to model Betula spp. ecosystem biomass and
annual net primary production (NPP) (t ha-1) using the data from 650
forest stands for biomass, 245 for NPP and biomass, as well as climate
data on the Trans-Eurasian hydrothermal gradients. The model involves
regional peculiarities of age and morphology of the forests. It is found
that the reaction of birch biomass and NPP structure on temperature and
precipitation corresponds to the principle of limiting factors by
Liebig-Shelford but in different proportions for different species.
Since the minimum values of biomass and NPP occur in regions with
minimum precipitation and minimum temperature, these two factors are
limiting in terms of biomass and NPP of birches. The same phenomenon is
typical for firs, partly typical for spruces and very differ for larches
and pines. The development of such models for basic forest-forming
species grown in Eurasia will give possibility to predict any changes in
the biological productivity of forest cover of Eurasia in relation to
climate change.