Reconciliation of research on forest carbon sequestration and water conservation

Carbon sequestration and water conservation are two of the key ecosystem services that forests provide for societal need to address environmental issues.Optimization of the dual services is the ultimate goal in forest management for mitigating global climate change and safeguarding terrestrial water balance.However,there are some tradeoff s between gain in forest productivity and ecosystem water balance.We conducted literature review based on published articles for learned knowledge on forest carbon fi xation and hydrological regulations.Some knowledge gaps and research needs are identifi ed by examining the inter-connections between forest carbon sequestration and water conservation.Past researches have helped gain basic understanding of the mechanisms and controls of forest carbon fi xation and hydrological regulations as two separate issues.Tools and approaches are well established for quantifying and monitoring forest carbon and hydrological issues,operating at diff erent spatial and temporal scales.There are knowledge gaps on how to design aff orestation schemes facilitating enhanced ecosystem services in forest carbon sequestration and water conservation.For the top-down planning of aff orestation in regions where water availability is anticipated to be problematic,the questions of how much and where to plant for given land availability,known environmental implications,and sustained regional development and livelihood need to be addressed.For local management considerations,the questions of what and how to plant prevail.Eff orts are needed in joint studies of forest carbon sequestration and water conservation functionalities,specifi cally in relation to establishment and management of planted forests aiming for delivering regulatory ecosystem services in carbon sequestration,water conservation and other social values.We propose an integrated framework with dual consideration of carbon sequestration and water conservation in forest management for future research pursue.

Altitudinal variations of hydraulic traits in Faxon fir(Abies fargesii var.faxoniana):Mechanistic controls and environmental adaptability

Global climate change has been seen to result in marked impacts on forest ecosystems such as accelerated tree mortality worldwide due to incidental hydraulic failure caused by intensified and more frequent occurrence of extreme drought and heat-waves.However,it is well understood how the tree hydrological strategies would adjust to environmental variability brough about by climate changes.Here we investigated the hydraulic adjustment as a mechanism of acclimation to different climate conditions along an altitudinal gradient in Faxon fir(Abies fargesii var.faxoniana)–a tree species that plays a key role in conservation of wildlife and maintenance of ecosystem services in subalpine forests.The hydraulic traits and selective morphological and physiological variables were measured seasonally along an altitudinal gradient from 2,800 to 3,600 m a.s.l.We found that the native percentage loss of conductivity(PLC)increased with altitude across the seasonal measurements.Both the native sapwood-specific hydraulic conductivity(Ks)and native leaf-specific hydraulic conductivity(Kl)significantly decreased with altitude for measurements in July and October,coinciding with the timing for peak growth and pre-dormancy,respectively.The morphological traits varied toward more conservative tree hydrological strategies with increases in altitude,exhibiting trade-offs with hydraulic traits.The total non-structural carbohydrates in both needle(NSCNeedle)and branch(NSCBranch)as well as photosynthetic capacity of current-year leaves played variable roles in maintaining the integrity of the hydraulic functioning and shaping the hydraulic adjustment under prevailing environmental conditions.Our findings indicate that Faxon fir possesses some degree of hydraulic adaptability to water limitation imposed by climate fluctuations in subalpine region through morphological and physiological modifications.