Carbon pools and storage along a temperate to boreal transect in Northern Scots pine (Pinus sylvestris) forests

A significant portion of global terrestrial carbon is stored in forested ecosystems, particularly in systems north of 50°N latitude. Carbon fluxes to and from these systems have the potential to greatly influence global terrestrial C storage, and provide feedback loops in the global carbon cycle. This study examines total ecosystem C storage, and its allocation among ecosystem components, in nine study sites located in Scots pine (Pinus sylvestris) forests located from 50°N (southern Poland) to 70°N (northern Finland). Results indicate a remarkable similarity in total ecosystem C, despite great differences in physical appearance of the overstory. In the long-run, these results do not indicate a great deal of change in total C storage in these systems. The two component C pools that differ the most are the overstory biomass and the organic soil horizons; this raises the concern that these sites could be short-term sources of atmospheric C due to more rapid decomposition in the face of changing climate, but the overstory biomass could be a longer-term, possibly offsetting sink of atmospheric C.