Carbon storage in larch ecosystems in continuous permafrost region of Siberia

Deciduous coniferous taiga, larch (genus Larix) ecosystem is one of unique biomes in northeastern Eurasian Continent, where vast area of forest exists on continuous permafrost. We selected three representative sites for ecosystem research: 1) a forest near Yakutsk in Yakutian Basin, eastern Siberia (62N-129E), 2) a forest near Tura in central Siberian Plataeu (64N-100E), and 3) a forest tundra transition near Chersky in Kolyma lowland (69N-160E). We estimated C storage in both aboveground and belowground biomass, in forest floor, and in active layer as soil organic C and as carbonate-carbon. Soil organic C in active layer was the largest component in each site. Soils in Yakutsk and Tura showed carbonate-C accumulation in active layer, which might result from extreme continental climate with low annual precipitation. C storage in aboveground and belowground biomass varied among sites, however, ratios of above/belowground biomass C had a relatively narrow range from 1.1 to 1.5. High allocation rate of C to belowground part resulted from a kind of adaptation to effective nutrient acquisition under nutrient limited environment due to low soil temperature.