Post-fire recovery of ecosystem carbon pools in a tropical mixed pine-hardwood forest

Abstract

Aim of the study: To analyze the recovery pattern of carbon pools in terms of size and the relative contribution of each pool to total ecosystem C along a fire chronosequence of tropical mixed pine-hardwood forest. Area of study: Las Joyas Research Station (LJRS), core zone of Sierra de Manantlán Biosphere Reserve (SMBR) in the state of Jalisco, central western Mexico. Materials and methods: Carbon stored in aboveground plant biomass, standing dead trees, downed woody debris, forest floor, fine roots and mineral soil, was compared with a nested analysis of variance (ANOVA) in post-fire stands of eight-year-old, 28-and 60-year-old stands of mixed Pinus douglasiana-hardwood forest. Main results: The total ecosystem carbon in eight-year-old stands was 50% lower than that of 60-year-old stands. Carbon content in the biomass and mineral soil increased with stand age. The carbon in the biomass recovered to the undisturbed forest in the 28 years of suc-cession. The main C storage in the eight-year-old stands were the mineral soil (64%) and downed woody debris (18%), while in the 28-and 60-year-old stands, live tree biomass and mineral soil were the two largest components of the total C pool (43% and 46%, respectively). Research highlights: We found a significant effect of high-severity fire events on ecosystem C storage and a shift in carbon distribution. The relatively fast recovery of C in ecosystem biomass suggests that mixed Pinus douglasiana hardwood forest possess functional traits that confer resilience to severe fire events.