Growth and Allocation of Woody Biomass in Forest Trees Based on Environmental Conditions

Preface to "Growth and Allocation of Woody Biomassin Forest Trees Based on Environmental Conditions"Terrestrial ecosystems and forests in particular, are important components because of their keyrole in reducing atmospheric greenhouse gas concentrations by storing a large amount of carbon inbiomass and soils. Increasing attention is being paid to forestland area, which accounts for 30% of thetotal land surface and acts as the main C store in the land system. In their life cycle, plants uptake,process, allocate, and remobilize resources from the environment, including basic materials, such asCO2, water, and nutrients, and other materials, such as sugars, proteins, and defensive chemicals.The relative amount of above- and belowground biomass allocated among leaves, branches, stems,roots, and reproductive tissues is a functional indicator of the forest stand and reflects the materialflow, the wood quality, a plant's survival strategy, and the primary production processes. The wayin which plants share their labile products across their compartments is influenced by plant size andis not fixed but likely varies over time, across growth environments, and among species. It followsthat the whole allocation process would be modulated under strong natural selection. Obtaininga qualitative/quantitative understanding of the influence that these factors have on growth andbiomass allocation is of fundamental importance for both understanding plant ecology and evolutionand developing environmental policies and forest management practices, such as:- sequestration to increase stocks in more recalcitrant woody carbon pools, characterized by aslow build-up of carbon with a potentially slower release of carbon to the atmosphere;- conservation to prevent emissions from existing forest carbon pools in regions with high Cstocks and where natural disturbances are less frequent to cause large immediate reductions in Cstocks;- substitution of energy-intensive products with products derived from renewable resources; and- the improvement of practices that aim to increase wood quality for social purposes.