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Recovery of ponderosa pine ecosystem carbon and water fluxes from thinning and stand-replacing fire

Publication ,  Journal Article
Dore, S; Montes-Helu, M; Hart, SC; Hungate, BA; Koch, GW; Moon, JB; Finkral, AJ; Kolb, TE
Published in: Global Change Biology
October 1, 2012

Carbon uptake by forests is a major sink in the global carbon cycle, helping buffer the rising concentration of CO 2 in the atmosphere, yet the potential for future carbon uptake by forests is uncertain. Climate warming and drought can reduce forest carbon uptake by reducing photosynthesis, increasing respiration, and by increasing the frequency and intensity of wildfires, leading to large releases of stored carbon. Five years of eddy covariance measurements in a ponderosa pine (Pinus ponderosa)-dominated ecosystem in northern Arizona showed that an intense wildfire that converted forest into sparse grassland shifted site carbon balance from sink to source for at least 15 years after burning. In contrast, recovery of carbon sink strength after thinning, a management practice used to reduce the likelihood of intense wildfires, was rapid. Comparisons between an undisturbed-control site and an experimentally thinned site showed that thinning reduced carbon sink strength only for the first two posttreatment years. In the third and fourth posttreatment years, annual carbon sink strength of the thinned site was higher than the undisturbed site because thinning reduced aridity and drought limitation to carbon uptake. As a result, annual maximum gross primary production occurred when temperature was 3 °C higher at the thinned site compared with the undisturbed site. The severe fire consistently reduced annual evapotranspiration (range of 12-30%), whereas effects of thinning were smaller and transient, and could not be detected in the fourth year after thinning. Our results show large and persistent effects of intense fire and minor and short-lived effects of thinning on southwestern ponderosa pine ecosystem carbon and water exchanges. © 2012 Blackwell Publishing Ltd.

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Published In

Global Change Biology

DOI

EISSN

1365-2486

ISSN

1354-1013

Publication Date

October 1, 2012

Volume

18

Issue

10

Start / End Page

3171 / 3185

Related Subject Headings

  • Ecology
  • 41 Environmental sciences
  • 37 Earth sciences
  • 31 Biological sciences
  • 06 Biological Sciences
  • 05 Environmental Sciences
 

Citation

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Dore, S., Montes-Helu, M., Hart, S. C., Hungate, B. A., Koch, G. W., Moon, J. B., … Kolb, T. E. (2012). Recovery of ponderosa pine ecosystem carbon and water fluxes from thinning and stand-replacing fire. Global Change Biology, 18(10), 3171–3185. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1365-2486.2012.02775.x
Dore, S., M. Montes-Helu, S. C. Hart, B. A. Hungate, G. W. Koch, J. B. Moon, A. J. Finkral, and T. E. Kolb. “Recovery of ponderosa pine ecosystem carbon and water fluxes from thinning and stand-replacing fire.” Global Change Biology 18, no. 10 (October 1, 2012): 3171–85. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1365-2486.2012.02775.x.
Dore S, Montes-Helu M, Hart SC, Hungate BA, Koch GW, Moon JB, et al. Recovery of ponderosa pine ecosystem carbon and water fluxes from thinning and stand-replacing fire. Global Change Biology. 2012 Oct 1;18(10):3171–85.
Dore, S., et al. “Recovery of ponderosa pine ecosystem carbon and water fluxes from thinning and stand-replacing fire.” Global Change Biology, vol. 18, no. 10, Oct. 2012, pp. 3171–85. Scopus, doi:10.1111/j.1365-2486.2012.02775.x.
Dore S, Montes-Helu M, Hart SC, Hungate BA, Koch GW, Moon JB, Finkral AJ, Kolb TE. Recovery of ponderosa pine ecosystem carbon and water fluxes from thinning and stand-replacing fire. Global Change Biology. 2012 Oct 1;18(10):3171–3185.
Journal cover image

Published In

Global Change Biology

DOI

EISSN

1365-2486

ISSN

1354-1013

Publication Date

October 1, 2012

Volume

18

Issue

10

Start / End Page

3171 / 3185

Related Subject Headings

  • Ecology
  • 41 Environmental sciences
  • 37 Earth sciences
  • 31 Biological sciences
  • 06 Biological Sciences
  • 05 Environmental Sciences