Above- and belowground phytomass and carbon storage in a Belgian Scots pine stand

We investigated the storage of carbon (C) in the soil, litter and various phytomass compartments in a 69-year-old Scots pine (Pinus sylvestris L.) stand in the Belgian Campine region, Brasschaat, Belgium. The total amount of C stored in the stand was 248.9 t.ha(-1), 47 % of which was in soil organic matter, 11 % in surface litter and 42 % in phytomass. More than 60 % of total C was stored belowground. Total phytomass C in the stand was 104 t.ha(-1); most phytomass C was found in the stems (70 %). The root system was very shallow and contained only 14 % of the phytomass C, most of it in the coarse roots. Although total live fine root (< 1 mm) length was high (3.3 km.m(-2)), fine roots contributed only 2 % to total phytomass. ((C) Inra/Elsevier, Paris.).