Expo 2010, Shanghai & INBAR Forum

Recent Researches on Bamboo Forest as Carbon Capture

Prof. ZHOU Guomo
Zhejiang A & F University

May 22, 2010

The

importance of bamboo forest carbon sequestration study

One of important forest types: Total area--approximate 8 million ha, among which Moso bamboo (phyllostachys pubescens) forest area occupies 6 million ha. Characteristics of growth Uneven-aged forest, extremely fast growth rate: only need 50 days from bamboo shoots to adult bamboo, no more growth in height and diameter Strong carbon sequestration capability Play an important role in balancing CO2 in atmosphere

Main contents
I. Characteristics of bamboo resource distribution and utilization

II.

Research results of bamboo forest carbon sequestration

III. Research directions of bamboo forest carbon sequestration in the next

1. Characteristics of bamboo resource distribution and utilization

Situation of world bamboo resources

150 genus and 1,225 species worldwide the bamboo forests cover 14 million ha. Asian and Atlantic area: takes approximately 80% of the total world bamboo area.

Spatial distribution map of moso bamboo forests area in each province of China

(Data from 95 forest resource census) Moso bamboo dominates 75% of the Bamboo forest in China and covers more than 6 million ha, accounting for 40% of the worlds bamboo forest area.

Spatial distribution map of Moso bamboo resources in Zhejiang Province

Moso bamboo forest area in Zhejiang: 620,600 ha, accounting for 17% of total bamboo area in China, but the output value of Moso bamboo accounts for 38% of total output in China

Usage of moso bamboo

Bamboo can be widely used for: plywood, flooring, furniture, arts and crafts, charcoal, etc.

Wood-bamboo laminated veneer lumber

Bamboo curtain plywood

Wood-bamboo laminated veneer flooring for vehicle use

Rolling-bearing bamboo plank

Bamboo board

Bamboo desk and furniture

Raw bamboo charcoal

Bamboo charcoal pieces

Bamboo charcoal powder

Bamboo craft

Outputs of bamboos and timbers of China from 1953 to 2006

000 000 m 000 000 000 000 000 00 000 00 000 00 000 00 0 11 11 00 00 11 11 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00
0

00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 0 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00

Bamboo

Timber

The bamboo output has rapidly increased since the 1990s due to restricting logging of natural forest. Bamboo output has been 6 times more than that in1990 by 2006, and still has great potential for further increase.

 Research results of bamboo forest carbon sequestration

1 The carbon sequestration capability of Moso bamboo forest ecosystem 2 The effects of intensive management on soil respiration of bamboo forest soil 3 Usage of NMR technique to study the carbon forms in the tissue of young bamboo 4 Carbon Stock Estimation for Moso Bamboo Forest using Remote sensing techniques

1 The carbon sequestration capability of

Moso bamboo forest ecosystem

This study lasted six years from 2002 to 2008, including field work, experiments carried out in different positions, Moso bamboo tree samples (253)collection and Moso bamboo fields (240)investigation. For individual moso bamboo tree, the carbon content in Trunk, branch, leave, root ect. were investigated For moso bamboo forest ecosystem, which is divided into different layers such arbor, shrub, grass, litter and soil, the carbon content proportion, carbon storage, spatial distribution of carbon and dynamic variation of soil active organic carbon under different managements were studied.

1.1

Spatial distribution characteristics of carbon in a moso bamboo

Biomass /t.hm-2(%) 3.1820.358 (5.25) 4.0340.468 (6.65) 30.5393.290 (50.35) 3.4260.297 (5.65) 7.8470.699 (12.94) 11.6191.034 (19.16) 60.647 (100) Carbon storage/t.hm-2(%) 1.4900.127 (4.87) 2.0010.160 (6.54) 15.5871.357 (50.97) 1.7170.153 (5.62) 3.7320.339 (12.21) 6.0530.520 (19.79) 30.580 (100)

Organ Leaf Branch Trunk Underground trunk Underground stem Root Total

Carbon storage distribution in different organs of moso bamboo

Carbon ratio The carbon ratio of moso bamboo tree organs range from 0.4683 to 0.5210 , and the average carbon ratio is 0.5042. Carbon storage: The carbon storage in trunk of moso bamboo is the largest of all tree organs, and accounts for 50.97% of total

1.2 Carbon accumulation during growth process of moso bamboo

The growth rate is very rapid. It only takes 56 days to reach maximum height. The average height is 13.8 m based on 140 moso bamboo or shoot measured everyday from March to May in 2009.

00 . 000 B boo H ght ( ) am ei cm 00 . 000 00 . 000 000 0. 000 0. 000 0. 000 0. 00 . 0 0 0 Ti m e(day) 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0

Bamboo growth

The average carbon storage of moso bamboo shoot increases from 0.04kg to 1.823kg for less than one month. The ability of moso bamboo to store carbon becomes strong in a short time. The carbon storage variation of moso bamboo with different ground diameter

1.3 Carbon accumulation of moso bamboo stands under different management in one year
Different Management New-born bamboo Total amount of carbon storage per year/ thm-2 Adult bamboo 0.648 1 0.421 1 Vegetation cover 0.000 0 0.545 9

Litter
1.172 5 2.155 8

Decomposed litter

Total 12.7496 8.1443

IM CM

11.3890 6.0563

0.469 0 1.034 8

Intensive management, carbon accumulation of moso bamboo is 12.75 thm-2a.

Conventional management , carbon accumulation of moso bamboo is 8.14 thm-2a.

1.4 Spatial distribution of carbon storage of moso bamboo forest ecosystem

Layers Carbon storage/t hm-2 percent/% arbor 30.580 shrub 3.170 grass 0.481 litter 0.656 soil 71.475

28.75

2.98

0.45

0.62

67.20

The carbon storage of moso bamboo forest ecosystem is 106.362 thm-2 under the CM

1.5 The difference of soil active organic carbon of

moso bamboo forest under intensive management
Management type TOC/ (g kg 1) 24.15 a 21.59 b 17.18 c 15.77 d 15.75 d WSOC/ (mg kg 1) 60.75 a 36.75 b 34.98 b 37.49 b 36.11 b MBC/ (mg kg 1) 540.96 a 439.02 b 403.64 b 273.99 c 280.39 c MC/ (mg kg 1 d 1) 22.94 a 12.75 b 10.14 b 10.03 b 9.45 b

0-year IM* 5-year IM 10-year IM 20-year IM 40-year IM

The total organic carbon, water-soluble organic carbon, microbial biomass carbon, and mineralizable carbon in soil significantly (P<0.05) decrease after intensive management, especially after 5 years.

The total organic carbon(TOC) in soil had decreased till to 20 years. The total organic carbon in soil decreases by 34.70%, and the microbial biomass carbon(MBC) in soil decreases by 49.35%.

1.6 Estimation model of aboveground carbon of moso bamboo in Zhejiang province

Weibull distribution model for moso bamboo DBH Biomass model for moso bamboo 240 Plots data

M, biomass D, Diameter A, Age

The total estimated biomass of moso bamboo forest in Zhejiang

province is 15.3 million tons, and the total carbon is 7.7 million tons.

2 The effects of intensive management on soil respiration of bamboo forest soil

To evaluate the effects of intensive management practices, on soil respiration of bamboo forest , field experiments were conducted from June, 2008 to May, 2009 at Qingshan, located in Linan, Zhejiang province.

Method: Static chamber and gas chromatography technique

IM (intensive management

CM conventional management Site description and experiment design

BL Broad leaved forests

Soil respiration rate of IM CM and BL during one year (06-2008 to 05-2009)

Soil CO2 fluxes from IM, CM and BL revealed similar seasonal fluctuations, with the tendency that maximum values occurred in summer, minimum in winter. The average soil CO2 emission rate from IM, CM and BL during June-2008 to May-2009 is 0.67, 0.47and 0.52 g CO2 m-2.h1 ,respectively.

Cumulative CO2 emission from IM, CM and BL during one year (06-2008 to 05-2009)
Forest type IM CM BL CO2 t ha-1 yr-1 56.812.57 a 39.25 1.63b 42.29 1.69b

The cumulative CO2 emission were estimated as 56.81, 39.25 and 42.29 t ha-1 yr-1 from IM, CM and BL soils, respectively. Significant differences were found among IM , CM and BL. Intensive management practice increased significantly soil CO2 emission from bamboo forest.

Effect of different fertilizer treatments on the CO2 efflux from the soil of Mao bamboo stands
(1) no fertilization
1500 1200 CO2 CO2 efflux (mg m h )
-1

a b

2008-06-28 b bc

(2) conventional fertilization amount (3) Twice the conventional fertilization amount (4) half of conventional fertilization amount (5) only nitrogen fertilizer (6) P fertilizer and potash

900 600 300 0 300 250 200 150 100 50 0 0

-2

a b bc e

2008-11-28 cd d

The conventional fertilization amount for moso bamboo is as follows: 450 kg urea hm-2, 450 kg SSP hm-2 and 150 kg KCl hm-2

Number of treatments

3 Usage of NMR technique to study the carbon forms in the tissue of young bamboo
Objective To study the carbon forms and its dynamics in the tissue of young bamboo

Method Usage of the NMR technique to determine the carbon forms.

NMR
Nuclear Magnetic Resonance

O-alkyl C Aromatic C

4-13

Carboxyl C

Alkyl C NMR spectra of carbon forms in bamboo tissue during four different growth periods

4-22
Four significant resonance areas 0-50 mm Alkyl C 50-110 mm O-alkyl C

5-2

110-160 mm Aromatic C 160-220 mm Carboxyl C

5-10

Conclusions from NMR research

1. Four significant resonance areas indicated that carbon in the bamboo tissue were composed of alkyl carbon, O-alkyl carbon, aromatic carbon, and carboxyl carbon. 2. O-alkyl carbon was the main carbon form for the carbon in the bamboo tissue, accounting for 70%. 3. The relative ratios of different carbon forms did not significantly change with the growth of young bamboo. This suggests different carbon forms were stable with the carbon accumulation in the growth period of young bamboo.

4 Carbon Stock Estimation for Moso Bamboo

Forest using remote sensing techniques

Moso bamboo

To extract moso bamboo forest for remote sensing based on these features by using computer and mathematic algorithm

Recognizing Moso bamboo from Remote sensing image

Model Development Field data Remote Information

GPS
Spatial registration

Moso bamboo carbon spatial distribution for Anji County, by using remote sensing information model

Statistic for Anji County

* 1 Mg=106g 1Tg=1012g

Estimation for the whole country Total Carbon of Moso bamboo is 91.4 Tg.c 914,000 tons

Recent Publications in Journals

1. Huaqiang Du, Guomo Zhou. Spatial Heterogeneity and Carbon Contribution of Aboveground Biomass of Moso Bamboo by Using Geostatistical Theory. Plant Ecology 2010 207 1 131-139 2. Du Hua-Qiang, Cui Rui-Rui, Zhou Guo-Mo, et al. The responses of Moso Bamboo (Phyllostachys heterocycla var. pubescens) forest aboveground biomass to Landsat TM spectral reflectance and NDVI. 2010, Acta Ecologica Sinica (International Journal), in press 3. Xiaojun Xu, Huaqiang Du, Guomo Zhou* et al . Estimation of Aboveground Carbon Stock of Moso Bamboo (Phyllostachys heterocycla var. pubescens) Forest with a Landsat Thematic Mapper Image. 2009,International Journal of Remote Sensing, 2010 inpress 1. Zhou Guo-mo, Jiang Pei-kun,MoLu-Feng. Bamboo a Possible Approach to the Control of Global Warming . International Journal of Nonlinear Sciences & Numerical Simulation , 2009,10 5 :547-550 1. Zhou Guo-mo, Wu Jia-sen, Jiang Pei-kun. Effects of different management models on carbon storage in Phyllostachys pubescens forests. Journal of Beijing Forestry University, 2006,28(6): 51-55.

6. Zhou Guomo, Xu Jian-Ming, jang Pei-Kun. Effect of Management Practices on Seasonal Dynamics of Organic Carbon in Soils Under Bamboo Plantations. Pedosphere, 2006, 16 14 :525-531 . 7. Zhou Guomo, Xu Jianming, Wu Jiasen. Changes in Soil Active Organic Carbon with History of Intensive Management of Phyllostachy pubescens Forest. Scientia Silvae Sinicae, 2006 42 6 124-128 8. Zhou Guomo, Jiang Peikun. Density, Storage and Spatial Distribution of Carbon in Phyllostachy pubescens Forest. Scientia Silvae Sinicae, 2004, 40(6): 20-24. 9. Wu Jia-sen, Zhou Guo-mo, Qian Xin-biao, et al. Distribution of nutrient elements in different organs of Phyllostachys pubescens under different managements. Journal of Zhejiang Forestry College, 2005,22(5):486~489. 10. Zhou Guo-Mo, Liu En-Bin, Liu An-Xing, et al. The algorithm update of Weibull Distribution parametric identification and its application on measuring the distribution of diameter and age of Moso bamboo forests in Zhejiang Province,China . Acta Ecologica Sinica, 2006 26(9) 2918-2926. 11. Liu En-Bin, Zhou Guo-Mo, Ge Hong-Li, et al. Constructing unite distribution model of multiple scaling' moso bamboo's diameter on maximum entropy and application. Acta Ecologica Sinica, 2009, 29(8): 4070-4077.

 Research directions of bamboo forest carbon in the next

Zhejiang Provincial Key Laboratory of Carbon Cycling in Forest Ecosystems and Carbon Sequestration

This lab was built in 2009 Total number of people in our team 45 Laboratory area 1200m2 Instrument worth 15 million yuan

Instrument

NMR spectrometer

PLFA Strain identification system

ASD Field Spectrometer

Li-6400 Photosynthetic apparatus

Unmanned remote control aircraft

MSI Imaging Spectroradiometer

SOKKIA SET1X Total Station

CORS GPS Base station

Future research directions for bamboo forest Carbon

1 Relevant research of Bamboo forest for climate change Study for spatial variation of bamboo distribution influenced by climate change Study for carbon dynamics of bamboo ecosystem caused by climate change 2 Research for carbon dynamics and balance of Moso bamboo forest ecosystem Study for carbon dynamics of moso bamboo forest ecosystem based on carbon flux observing tower (Anji and Linan counties) Study for carbon dynamics of moso bamboo ecosystem based on wireless sensor monitoring ( Tinmu Mountain)

3 Technical research for carbon sequestration promotion of Moso bamboo ecosystem Spatial structure controlling and optimizing techniques for moso bamboo forest Research for carbon pool variation caused by the usage of biomass coke 4 Research for Carbon transfer process of moso bamboo products Research for Carbon transfer characteristics of moso bamboo products Building the models of carbon transfer for moso bamboo products

Thank you

IM (intensive management

CM conventional management