Stocks Of Carbon And Nitrogen And Partitioning Between Above-and Belowground Pools In The Brazilian Coastal Atlantic Forest Elevation Range

We estimated carbon and nitrogen stocks in aboveground biomass (AGB) and belowground biomass (BGB) along an elevation range in forest sites located on the steep slopes of the Serra do Mar on the north coast of the State of São Paulo, southeast Brazil. In elevations of 100 m (lowland), 400 m (submontane), and 1000 m (montane) four 1-ha plots were established, and above- (live and dead) and belowground (live and dead) biomass were determined. Carbon and nitrogen concentrations in each compartment were determined and used to convert biomass into carbon and nitrogen stocks. The carbon aboveground stock (CAGB) varied along the elevation range from approximately 110 to 150 Mg·ha-1, and nitrogen aboveground stock (NAGB), varied from approximately 1.0 to 1.9 Mg·ha-1. The carbon belowground stock (CBGB) and the nitrogen belowground stock (NBGB) were significantly higher than the AGB and varied along the elevation range from approximately 200-300 Mg·ha-1, and from 14 to 20 Mg·ha-1, respectively. Finally, the total carbon stock (CTOTAL) varied from approximately 320 to 460 Mg·ha-1, and the nitrogen total stock (NTOTAL) from approximately 15 to 22 Mg·ha-1. Most of the carbon and nitrogen stocks were found belowground and not aboveground as normally found in lowland tropical forests. The above- and belowground stocks, and consequently, the total stocks of carbon and nitrogen increased significantly with elevation. As the soil and air temperature also decreased significantly with elevation, we found a significantly inverse relationship between carbon and nitrogen stocks and temperature. Using this inverse relationship, we made a first approach estimate that an increase of 1°C in soil temperature would decrease the carbon and nitrogen stocks in approximately 17 Mg·ha-1 and 1 Mg·ha-1 of carbon and nitrogen, respectively.13421434Alves, L.F., Vieira, S.A., Scaranello, M.A., Camargo, P.B., Santos, F.A.M., Joly, C.A., Martinelli, L.A., Forest structure and live aboveground biomass variation along an elevational gradient of tropical Atlantic moist forest (Brazil) (2010) For. Ecol. Manage., 260, pp. 679-691Amundson, R., The carbon budget in soils (2001) Ann. Rev. Earth Planet. Sci., 29, pp. 535-562Aragão, L.E.O.C., Malhi, Y., Metcalfe, D.B., Silva-Espejo, J.E., Navarrete, J.D., Almeida, S., Costa, A.C.L., Anderson, L.O., Above- and below-ground net primary productivity across ten Amazonian forests on contrasting soils (2009) Biogeosciences, 6, pp. 2759-2778Asner, G.P., Palace, M., Keller, M., Pereira Jr., R., Silva, J.N.M., Zweede, J.C., Estimating canopy structure in an Amazon forest from laser range finder and IKONOS satellite observations (2002) Biotropica, 34, pp. 483-492Biasi, C., Meyer, H., Rusalimova, O., Hämmerle, R., Kaiser, C., Baranyi, C., Daims, H., Richter, A., Initial effects of experimental warming on carbon exchange rates, plant growth and microbial dynamics of a lichen-rich dwarf shrub tundra in Siberia (2008) Plant and Soil, 307, pp. 191-205Bonan, G.B., Forests and climate change: forcings, feedbacks, and the climate benefits of forests (2008) Science, 320, pp. 1444-1449Brown, I.F., Martinelli, L.A., Thomas, W.W., Moreira, M.Z., Ferreira, C.A., Victoria, R.L., Uncertainty in the biomass of Amazonian forests: an example from Rondonia (1995) Brazil. For. Ecol. Manage., 75, pp. 175-189Brown, S., Lugo, A.E., Biomass of tropical forests: a new estimate based on forest volumes (1984) Science, 223, pp. 1290-1293Cairns, M.A., Brown, S., Helmer, E.H., Baumgardner, G.A., Root biomass allocation in the world's upland forests (1997) Oecologia, 111, pp. 1-11Chambers, J.Q., Higuchi, N., Schimel, J.P., Ferreira, L.V., Melack, J.M., Decomposition and carbon cycling of dead trees in tropical forests of the central Amazon (2000) Oecologia, 122, pp. 380-388Clark, D.B., Clark, D.A., Landscape-scale variation in forest structure and biomass in a tropical rain forest (2000) For. Ecol. Manage., 137, pp. 185-198Coutinho, R.P., Urquiaga, S., Boddey, R.M., Alves, B.J.R., Torres, A.Q.A., Jantalia, C.P., Estoque de carbono e nitroĝenio e emissão de N2O em diferentes usos do solo na Mata Atlântica (2010) Pesqui. Agropecu. Bras., 45, pp. 195-203Cox, P.M., Betts, R.A., Jones, C.D., Spall, S.A., Totterdell, I.A., Acceleration of global warming due to carbon-cycle feedbacks in a coupled climate model (2000) Nature, 408, pp. 134-139Cunha, G.M., Gama-Rodrigues, A.C., Gama-Rodrigues, E.F., Velloso, A.C.X., Biomassa e estoque de carbono e nutrientes em Florestas Montanas da Mata Atlantica da região norte do Rio de Janeiro (2009) Rev. Bras. Cîenc. Solo, 33, pp. 1175-1185Cusack, D.F., Torn, M.S., McDowell, W.H., Silver, W.L., The response of heterotrophic activity and carbon cycling to nitrogen additions and warming in two tropical soils (2010) Global Change Biol, pp. 2555-2572Davidson, E.A., Janssens, I.A., Temperature sensitivity of soil carbon decomposition and feedbacks to climate change (2006) Nature, 440, pp. 165-173Davis, S.D., Heywood, V.H., Herrera-MacBryde, O., Villa-Lobos, J., Hamilton, A.C., Centres of plant diversity (1997) A guide and strategy for their conservation, 3. , The Americas. WWF, IUCN, New York. (Eds)Dean, W., Broadax and firebrand: the destruction of the Brazilian Atlantic Forest (1997), Univ. of California Press, BerkeleyDelaney, M., Brown, S., Lugo, A.E., Torres-Lezama, A., Bello Quintero, N., The distribution of organic carbon in major components of forests located in five life zones in Venezuela (1997) J. Trop. Ecol., 13, pp. 697-708DeWalt, S.J., Chave, J., Structure and biomass of four lowland neotropical forests (2004) Biotropica, 36, pp. 7-19Dixon, R.K., Brown, S., Houghton, R.A., Solomon, M.C., Trexler, A.M., Wisniewski, J., Carbon pools and flux of global forest ecosystems (1994) Science, 263, pp. 185-190Domingos, M., Klumpp, A., Klumpp, G., Air pollution impact on the Atlantic forest the Cubatão region, SP, Brazil (1998) Cîencia e Cultura, 50, pp. 230-236Dorrepaal, E., Toet, S., Van Logtestijn, R.S.P., Swart, E., Van DeWeg, M.J., Callaghan, T.V., Aerts, R., Carbon respiration from subsurface peat accelerated by climate warming in the subarctic (2009) Nature, 460, pp. 616-619Drummond, J., Brazil (2004) Encyclopedia of world environmental history, pp. 161-169. , S. Krech III, J. R. McNeill, C. Merchant, eds. Routledge, New YorkGirardin, C.A.J., Malhi, Y., Aragão, L.E.O.C., Mamani, M., Huaraca Huasco, W., Durand, L., Feeley, K.J., Silman, M., Net primary productivity allocation and cycling of carbon along a tropical forest elevational transect in the Peruvian Andes (2010) Global Change Biol., 16, pp. 3176-3192Grubb, P.J., Control of forest growth and distribution on wet tropical mountains: with special reference to mineral nutrition (1977) Annu. Rev. Ecol. Syst., 8, pp. 83-107Harris, P.P., Huntingford, C., Cox, P.M., Amazon Basin climate under global warming: the role of the sea surface temperature (2008) Philos. Trans. R. Soc. B, 363, pp. 1753-1759Homann, P.S., Kapchinske, J.S., Boyce, A., Relations of mineral-soil C and N to climate and texture: regional differences within the conterminous USA (2007) Biogeochemistry, 85, pp. 303-316Houghton, R.A., Hall, F., Goetz, S.J., Importance of biomass in the global carbon cycle (2009) J. Geophys. Res., 114, p. G00E03Houghton, R.A., Aboveground forest biomass and the global carbon balance (2005) Global Change Biol., 11, pp. 945-958Hättenschwiler, S., Jørgensen, H.B., Carbon quality rather than stoichiometry controls litter decomposition in a tropical rain forest (2010) J. Ecol., 98, pp. 754-763Diagń ostico da situaçãoo atual dos recursos hídricos da Unidade de Gerenciamento dos Recursos Hídricos do Litoral Norte-UGRHI-3: Relatório 46.172 (2000), Governo do Estado de São Paulo, São PauloJobbágy, E.G., Jackson, R.B., The vertical distribution of soil organic carbon and its relation to climate and vegetation (2000) Ecol. Appl., 10, pp. 423-436Keller, M., Palace, M., Asner, G.P., Pereira, R., Silva, J.N.M., Coarse woody debris in undisturbed and logged forests in the eastern Brazilian Amazon (2004) Global Change Biol., 10, pp. 784-795Kitayma, K., Aiba, S., Ecosystem structure and productivity of tropical rain forests along altitudinal gradients with contrasting soil phosphorus pools on Mount Kinabalu, Borneo (2002) J. Ecol., 90, pp. 37-51Laurance, W.F., Conserving the hottest of the hotspots (2009) Biol. Conserv., 142, p. 1137Leuschner, C., Moser, G., Bertsch, C., Roderstein, M., Hertel, D., Large altitudinal increase in tree root/shoot ratio in tropical mountain forests of Ecuador (2007) Basic Appl. Ecol., 8, pp. 219-230Malhi, Y., Aragão, L.E.O.C., Metcalfe, D.B., Paiva, R., Quesada, C.A., Almeida, S., Anderson, L., da Costa, A.C.L., Comprehensive assessment of carbon productivity, allocation and storage in three Amazonian forests (2009) Global Change Biol., 15, pp. 1255-1274Malhi, Y., Silman, M., Salinas, N., Bush, M., Meir, P., Saatchi, S., Introduction: elevation gradients in the tropics: laboratories for ecosystem ecology and global change research (2010) Global Change Biol., 16, pp. 3171-3175Manzoni, S., Trofymow, J.A., Jackson, R.B., Porporato, A., Stoichiometric controls on carbon, nitrogen, and phosphorus dynamics in decomposing litter (2010) Ecol. Monogr., 80, pp. 89-106Marengo, J.A., Alves, M., Valverde, L., Rocha, R., Laborbe, R., Eventos Extremos em Cenários Regionalizados de Clima no Brasil e América do Sul para o Século XXI: Projeções de Clima Futuro Usando três Modelos Regionais (2009), Relatório 5, Ministério do Meio Ambiente - MMA, Secretaria de Biodiversidade e Florestas - SBF, Diretoria de Conservação da Biodiversidade - DCBioMudanças Climáticas Globais e Efeitos sobre a Biodiversidade - Sub projeto: Caracterização do clima atual e definição das alterações climáticas para o território brasileiro ao longo do Século XXI. Brasília, Fevereiro, 2007Martinelli, L.A., Almeida, S., Brown, I.F., Moreira, M.Z., Victoria, R.L., Filoso, S., Ferreira, C.A.C., Thomas, W.W., Variation in Nutrient Distribution and Potential Nutrient Losses by Selective Logging in a Humid Tropical Forest of Rondonia, Brazil (2000) Biotropica, 32, pp. 597-613Caracterização dos solos e serapilheira ao longo do gradiente altitudinal da Mata Atlantica, Estado de São Paulo (2010), p. 152. , Martins, PhD Thesis, University of São Paulo - Centro de Energia Nuclear na AgriculturaMcGroddy, M., Silver, W.L., Variations in belowground carbon storage and soil CO2 flux rates along a wet tropical climate gradient (2000) Biotropica, 32, pp. 614-624Meier, I.C., Leuschner, C., Variation of soil and biomass carbon pools in beech forests across a precipitation gradient (2010) Global Change Biol., 16, pp. 1035-1045Melillo, J.M., McGuire, A.D., Kicklighter, D.W., Moore, B., Vorosmarty, C.J., Schloss, A.L., Global climate-change and terrestrial net primary production (1993) Nature, 363, pp. 234-240Metzger, J.P., Martensen, A.C., Dixo, M., Bernacci, L.C., Ribeiro, M.C., Teixeira, A.M.G., Pardini, R., Time-lag in biological responses to landscape changes in a highly dynamic Atlantic forest region (2009) Biol. Conserv., 142, pp. 1166-1177(2005) Ecosystems and HumanWell-being: Biodiversity Synthesis, , World Resources Institute, Washington, DCMoraes, R.M., Delitti, W.B.C., Struffaldi-de-Vuono, Y., Litterfall and nutrient return in two Brazilian tropical forests (1999) Rev. Bras. Botânica, 22, pp. 9-16Morellato, L.P., Haddad, C.F.B., Introduction: the Brazilian Atlantic Forest (2000) Biotropica, 32, pp. 786-792Moser, G., Hertel, D., Leuschner, C., Altitudinal change in LAI and stand leaf biomass in tropical montane forests: a transect study in Ecuador and a pantropical meta-analysis (2007) Ecosystems, 10, pp. 924-935Moser, G., Roderstein, M., Soethe, N., Hertel, D., Leuschner, C., Altitudinal changes in stand structure and biomass allocation of Tropical Mountain forests in relation to microclimate and soil chemistry (2008) Gradients in a tropical mountain ecosystem of Ecuador, ecological studies, 198, pp. 229-242. , E. Beck, ed. Springer-Verlag, BerlinMyers, N., Mittermeier, R.A., Mittermeier, C.G., Fonseca, G.A.B., Kent, J., Biodiversity hotspots for conservation priorities (2000) Nature, 403, pp. 853-858Nogueira, E.M., Fearnside, P.M., Nelson, B.W., França, M.B., Oliveira, A.C.A., Tree height in Brazil's 'arc of deforestation': shorter trees in south and southwest Amazonia imply lower biomass (2008) Forest Ecol. Manag., 255, pp. 2963-2972Norby, R.J., Hanson, P.J., O'Neill, E.G., Tschaplinski, T.J., Weltzin, J.F., Hansen, R.A., Cheng, W., Edwardas, N.T., Net primary productivity of a CO2-enriched deciduous forest and the implications for carbon storage (2002) Ecol. Appl., 12, pp. 1261-1266Oliveira-Filho, A.T., Fontes, M.A.L., Patterns of floristic differentiation among Atlantic Forests in southeastern Brazil and the influence of climate (2000) Biotropica, 32, pp. 793-810Ometto, J.P.H.B., Ehleringer, J.R., Domingues, T.F., Berry, J.A., Ishida, F.Y., Mazzi, E., Higuchi, N., Martinelli, L.A., The stable carbon and nitrogen isotopic composition of vegetation in tropical forests of the Amazon Basin, Brazil (2006) Biogeochemistry, 79, pp. 251-274Palace, M., Keller, M., Asner, G.P., Silva, J.N.M., Passos, C., Necromass in undisturbed and logged forests in the Brazilian Amazon (2007) For. Ecol. Manage., 238, pp. 309-318Phillips, O.L., Malhi, Y., Higuchi, N., Laurance, W.F., Nuñez, P.V., Vásquez, R.M., Laurance, S.G., Brown, S., Changes in the carbon balance of tropical forests: evidence from long-term plots (1998) Science, 282, pp. 439-442Por, F.D., Sooretama the Atlantic rain forest of Brazil (1992), SPB Academic Publishing bv, The HaguePyle, E.H., Santoni, G.W., Nascimento, H.E.M., Hutyra, L.R., Vieira, S., Curran, D.J., van Haren, J., Camargo, P.B., Dynamics of carbon, biomass, and structure in two Amazonian forests (2008) J. Geophys. Res., 113, p. G00B08Raich, J.W., Russell, A.E., Kitayama, K., Parton, W.J., Vitousek, P.M., Temperature influences carbon accumulation in moist tropical forests (2006) Ecology, 87, pp. 76-87Raich, J.W., Potter, C.S., Bhagawati, D., Interannual variability in global soil respiration, 1980-1994 (2002) Global Change Biol., 8, pp. 800-812Ranta, P., Blom, T., Niemela, J., Joensuu, E., Siitonen, M., The fragmentation Atlantic rain forest of Brazil: size, shape and distribution of forest fragments (1998) Biodivers. Conserv., 7, pp. 385-403Resende, M., Lani, J.L., Rezende, S.B., Pedossistemas da Mata Atlântica: consideraç ões pertinentes sobre a sustentabilidade (2002) Rev. Árvore, 26, pp. 261-269Ribeiro, M.C., Metzger, J.P., Martensen, A.C., Ponzoni, F.J., Hirota, M.M., The Brazilian Atlantic Forest: how much is left, and how is the remaining forest distributed? Implications for conservation (2009) Biol. Conserv., 142, pp. 1141-1153Rice, A.H., Pyle, E.H., Saleska, S.R., Hutyra, L.R., Palace, M., Keller, M., Carmargo, P.B., Wofsy, S.C., Carbon balance and vegetation dynamics in an old-growth Amazonian forest (2004) Ecol. Appl., 14, pp. S55-S71Rolim, S.G., Jesus, R.M., Nascimento, H.E.M., Couto, H.T.Z., Chambers, J.C., Biomass change in an Atlantic tropical moist forest: the ENSO effect in permanent sample plots over a 22-year period (2005) Oecologia, 142, pp. 238-246Ruiz-Jaen, M.C., Potvin, C., Can we predict carbon stocks in tropical ecosystems from tree diversity? Comparing species and functional diversity in a plantation and a natural forest (2010) The New phytol., 189, pp. 978-987Salemi, L.F., Balanço de água e de nitroĝenio em uma microbacia coberta por pastagem no litoral norte do Estado de São Paul (2009) Master Thesis., , University of São Paulo, BrazilSalinas, N., Malhi, Y., Meir, P., Silman, M., Roman Cuesta, R., Huaman, J., Salinas, D., Mamani, M., The sensitivity of tropical leaf litter decomposition to temperature: results from a large-scale leaf translocation experiment along an elevation gradient in Peruvian forests (2010) New Phytol., 189, pp. 967-977Schlesinger, W.H., Andrews, J.A., Soil respiration and the global carbon cycle (2000) Biogeochemistry, 48, pp. 7-20Silva, W.G., Metzger, J.P., Simões, S., Simonetti, C., Relief influence on the spatial distribution of the Atlantic Forest cover on the Ibi úna Plateau, SP (2007) Brazil. J. Biol., 67, pp. 631-637Sousa Neto, E., Carmo, J.B., Keller, M., Martins, S.C., Alves, L.F., Vieira, S.A., Piccolo, M.C., Joly, C.A., Soil-atmosphere exchange of nitrous oxide, methane and carbon dioxide in a gradient of elevation in the coastal Brazilian Atlantic Forest (2011) Biogeosciences, 8, pp. 733-742Tiepolo, G., Calmon, M., Feretti, A.R., Measuring and monitoring carbon stocks at the. In. International Symposium on Forest Carbon Sequestration and Monitoring (2002) Extension Serie Taiwan Forestry Research Institute, 153, pp. 98-115Trumbore, S.E., Chadwick, O.A., Amundson, R., Rapid exchange between soil carbon and atmospheric carbon dioxide driven by temperature change (1996) Science, 272, pp. 393-396Ushio, M., Kitayama, K., Balser, T.C., Tree species-mediated spatial patchiness of the composition of microbial community and physicochemical properties in the topsoils of a tropical montane forest (2010) Soil Biol. Biochem., 42, pp. 1588-1595VanWagner, C.E., The line intersect method in forest fuel sampling (1968) For. Sci., 14, pp. 20-26Veloso, H.P., Rangel Filho, A.L.R., Lima, J.C.A., Classificação da vegetação brasileira, adaptada a um sistema universal (1991) Instituto Brasileiro de Geografia e Estatística, , Rio de Janeiro, BrasilVieira, S., Camargo, P.B., Selhorsta, D., Silva, R., Hutyra, L., Chambers, J.Q., Brown, I.F., Martinelli, L.A., Forest structure and carbon dynamics in Amazonian tropical rain forests (2004) Oecologia, 140, pp. 468-479Villela, D.M., Nascimento, M.T., Aragão, L.E.O.C., Gama, D.M., Effect of selective logging on forest structure and nutrient cycling in a seasonally dry Brazilian Atlantic forest (2006) J. Biogeogr., 33, pp. 506-516Wagai, R., Mayer, L.M., Kitayama, K., Knicker, H., Climate and parent material controls on organic matter storage in surface soils: a three-pool, density-separation approach (2008) Geoderma, 147, pp. 23-33Wilson, E.O., (1992) The diversity of life, , Belknap Press, Cambridge, MAYurova, A.Y., Volodin, E.M., Agren, G.I., Chertov, O.G., Komarov, A.S., Effects of variations in simulated changes in soil carbon contents and dynamics on future climate projections (2010) Global Change Biol., 16, pp. 823-835Zimmermann, M., Meir, P., Bird, M.I., Malhi, Y., Cahuana, A.J.Q., Temporal variation and climate dependence of soil respiration and its components along a 3000 m altitudinal tropical forest gradient (2010) Global Biogeochem. Cycles, 24, pp. 1-1