Open AccessForest carbon uptake recovers from modest tree losses
Author(s) -
Schultz Colin
Publication year - 2012
Publication title -
eos, transactions american geophysical union
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.316
H-Index - 86
eISSN - 2324-9250
pISSN - 0096-3941
DOI - 10.1029/2012eo030026
Subject(s) - disturbance (geology) , logging , temperate climate , carbon stock , temperate rainforest , carbon fibers , environmental science , cycling , ecology , geography , agroforestry , physical geography , forestry , climate change , biology , ecosystem , paleontology , materials science , composite number , composite material
By some accounts, forests are currently seeing the highest rates of disturbance since the recession of the Pleistocene glaciers more than 10,000 years ago. In recent decades the global extent of forest‐disrupting events has increased, yet their intensity has been on the decline. Significant tree losses upset carbon and nitrogen cycling, drastically extending recovery times. Throughout the northern temperate zone, forests that were established a century ago on clear‐cut or burned lands have been increasingly affected by subtle disturbances, like selective logging, pathogenic insects, or age‐related mortality. The higher proportion of trees surviving these modest disturbances likely mitigates the effects on carbon and nitrogen cycling, but evidence is limited.