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Leaf Area Index, Carbon Cycling Dynamics and Ecosystem Resilience in Mountain Pine Beetle Affected Areas of British Columbia from 1999 to 2008

The affect on leaf area index (LAI) and net ecosystem production (NEP) of the mountain pine beetle (Dendroctonus ponderosae) (MPB) outbreak in British Columbia affecting lodgepole pine (Pinus contorta var. latifolia) forests was examined from 1999 to 2008. The process-based carbon (C) cycle model – Boreal Ecosystem Productivity Simulator (BEPS) with remotely sensed LAI inputs was used to produce annual NEP maps, which were validated using field measurements. The annual NEP ranged from 2.43 to -8.03 MtC between 1999 and 2008, with sink to source conversion in 2000. The inter-annual variability for both LAI and NEP displayed initial decreases followed by a steadily increasing trend from 2006 to 2008 with NEP returning to near C neutrality in 2008 (-1.84 MtC). The resistance of LAI and NEP to MPB attack was attributed to ecosystem resilience in the form of secondary overstory growth and increased production of non-attacked host trees.

Identiferoai:union.ndltd.org:TORONTO/oai:tspace.library.utoronto.ca:1807/30143
Date30 November 2011
CreatorsCzurylowicz, Peter
ContributorsChen, Jing Ming
Source SetsUniversity of Toronto
Languageen_ca
Detected LanguageEnglish
TypeThesis

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