Time since death and decay rate constants of Norway spruce and European larch deadwood in subalpine forests determined using dendrochronology and radiocarbon dating

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Abstract

Due to the large size (e.g. sections of tree trunks) and highly heterogeneous spatial distribution of deadwood, the timescales involved in the coarse woody debris (CWD) decay of Picea abies (L.) Karst. and Larix decidua Mill. in Alpine forests are largely unknown. We investigated the CWD decay dynamics in an Alpine valley in Italy using the chronosequence approach and the five-decay class system that is based on a macromorphological assessment. For the decay classes 1-3, most of the dendrochronological samples were cross-dated to assess the time that had elapsed since tree death, but for decay classes 4 and 5 (poorly preserved tree rings) radiocarbon dating was used. In addition, density, cellulose, and lignin data were measured for the dated CWD. The decay rate constants for spruce and larch were estimated on the basis of the density loss using a single negative exponential model, a regression approach, and the stage-based matrix model. In the decay classes 1-3, the ages of the CWD were similar and varied between 1 and 54 years for spruce and 3 and 40 years for larch, with no significant differences between the classes; classes 1-3 are therefore not indicative of deadwood age. This seems to be due to a time lag between the death of a standing tree and its contact with the soil. We found distinct tree-species-specific differences in decay classes 4 and 5, with larch CWD reaching an average age of 210 years in class 5 and spruce only 77 years. The mean CWD rate constants were estimated to be in the range 0.018 to 0.022 y-1 for spruce and to about 0.012 y-1 for larch. Snapshot sampling (chronosequences) may overestimate the age and mean residence time of CWD. No sampling bias was, however, detectable using the stage-based matrix model. Cellulose and lignin time trends could be derived on the basis of the ages of the CWD. The half-lives for cellulose were 21 years for spruce and 50 years for larch. The half-life of lignin is considerably higher and may be more than 100 years in larch CWD. Consequently, the decay of Picea abies and Larix decidua is very low. Several uncertainties, however, remain: 14C dating of CWD from decay classes 4 and 5 and having a pre-bomb age is often difficult (large age range due to methodological constraints) and fall rates of both European larch and Norway spruce are missing.

Figures

  • Figure 1. Location of the study area with the major vegetation units and investigation sites. Data source: Museo delle Scienze (Trento), CORINE Landcover (Joint Research Centre of the European Union), and scilands GmbH. The site label N indicates north-facing sites and S south-facing sites.
  • Table 2. The five decay-class system of log decomposition (according to Hunter, 1990).
  • Figure 2. Cross section of (a) spruce deadwood in the field (site N03) and (b) larch deadwood (site S07). Examples (c and d) of deadwood fragments classified as decay class 4 dated using radiocarbon (outermost part of the wood piece).
  • Figure 3. Master chronologies for spruce and larch to cross-date the deadwood (a) and the expressed population signal (EPS) for segments of constant periods (b). A noise-free chronology is achieved with an EPS > 0.85 (dashed line; Wigley et al., 1984)
  • Table 3. Typical properties and ages of Norway spruce and European larch CWD in classes 1–3. Ages were obtained mostly from dendrochronological measurements and a few (marked with asterisks) from 14C dating (for details of 14C dating see Appendix A).
  • Figure 4. Box plots of the larch and spruce deadwood age as a function of decay class.
  • Figure 6. Calculated decay rate constants (k) as a function of tree species and site exposure.
  • Figure 5. Relation between the age of spruce and larch CWD and density (a), cellulose % (b), and lignin % (c). The decay classes 1–3 were grouped together due to their similar age (Fig. 4).

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APA

Petrillo, M., Cherubini, P., Fravolini, G., Marchetti, M., Ascher-Jenull, J., Schärer, M., … Egli, M. (2016). Time since death and decay rate constants of Norway spruce and European larch deadwood in subalpine forests determined using dendrochronology and radiocarbon dating. Biogeosciences, 13(5), 1537–1552. https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-13-1537-2016

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