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Belowground carbon stored in a tropical mountain cloud forest of east-central Mexico

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  25 September 2024

Yokebed Cruz de Jesús Open the ORCID record for Yokebed Cruz de Jesús [Opens in a new window] ,
Numa P. Pavón Open the ORCID record for Numa P. Pavón [Opens in a new window] ,
Oscar Briones ,
Arturo Sánchez-González Open the ORCID record for Arturo Sánchez-González [Opens in a new window]  and
Rodrigo Rodríguez-Laguna
Yokebed Cruz de Jesús
Affiliation:
Centro de Investigaciones Biológicas, Universidad Autonoma del Estado de Hidalgo, Pachuca, Mexico
Numa P. Pavón*
Affiliation:
Centro de Investigaciones Biológicas, Universidad Autonoma del Estado de Hidalgo, Pachuca, Mexico
Oscar Briones
Affiliation:
Red de biología evolutiva, Instituto de Ecología, AC, Xalapa, Mexico
Arturo Sánchez-González
Affiliation:
Centro de Investigaciones Biológicas, Universidad Autonoma del Estado de Hidalgo, Pachuca, Mexico
Rodrigo Rodríguez-Laguna
Affiliation:
Área Académica de Ciencias Agrícolas y Forestales, Universidad Autonoma del Estado de Hidalgo, Tulancingo, Mexico
*
Corresponding author: Numa P. Pavón; Email: npavon@uaeh.edu.mx
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Abstract

Carbon stocks in root biomass and soil organic carbon (SOC) were analysed in tropical mountain cloud forest (TMCF) of Mexico. Additionally, the hypothesis that the concentration of roots in the forest is not homogeneous but that they are concentrated near the trunks of the trees was evaluated. Root biomass was 707.68 ± 150.41 g·m−2, which stores ∼353.85 ± 75.21 g·C·m−2. Coarse roots contributed 36.8%, fine roots 35.5%, and very fine roots 27.7% of the total biomass. The results did not support the hypothesis that fine roots are concentrated near the trunks of the trees. On average, SOC was 108.23 ± 33.21 Mg·C·ha−1. Mean C stored in the soil (C in roots + SOC) was 111.77 ± 32.97 Mg·C·ha−1. The TMCF is an ecosystem with a high potential for soil carbon storage, with similar C values reported to those in other tropical forests.

Keywords

Climatic change mitigationroot biomassSierra Madre Orientalsoil organic carbontropical forest
Type
Short Communication
Information
Journal of Tropical Ecology , Volume 40 , 2024 , e20
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Copyright
© The Author(s), 2024. Published by Cambridge University Press

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