Articles | Volume 12, issue 5
https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-12-1615-2015
https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-12-1615-2015
Research article
 | 
12 Mar 2015
Research article |  | 12 Mar 2015

Continuous and discontinuous variation in ecosystem carbon stocks with elevation across a treeline ecotone

J. D. M. Speed, V. Martinsen, A. J. Hester, Ø. Holand, J. Mulder, A. Mysterud, and G. Austrheim

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Cited articles

Bardgett, R. D. and Wardle, D. A.: Aboveground-Belowground Linkages: Biotic Interactions, Ecosystem Processes and Global Change, OUP Oxford, 2010.
Bollandsås, O. M., Rekstad, I., Næsset, E., and Røsberg, I.: Models for predicting above-ground biomass of Betula pubescens spp. czerepanovii in mountain areas of southern Norway, Scand. J. Forest Res., 24, 318–332, https://doi.org/10.1080/02827580903117412, 2009.
Bremmer, J. M. and Mulvaney, C. S.: Nitrogen-total, in: Methods of soil analysis Part 2 Agronomy 9, edited by: Page, A. L., Miller, R. H., and Keeney, D. R., American Society of Agronomy, Madison, Wisconsin, USA, 595–624, 1982.
Cairns, D. M. and Moen, J.: Herbivory influences tree lines, J. Ecol., 92, 1019–1024, 2004.
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Here we investigate how ecosystem carbon stocks vary with elevation shifting from the closed forest to open alpine tundra, in the mountains of southern Norway. Above-ground carbon stocks decreased with elevation, with a clear breakpoint at the forest line, while the organic horizon soil carbon stocks increased linearly with elevation. Overall, ecosystem carbon stocks increased with elevation above the treeline and decreased with elevation below, demonstrating the importance of the treeline.
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