Importance of disturbance history on net primary productivity in the world's most productive forests and implications for the global carbon cycle

Abstract

Analysis of growth and biomass turnover in natural forests of Eucalyptus regnans, the world's tallest angiosperm, reveals it is also the world's most productive forest type, with fire disturbance an important mediator of net primary productivity (NPP). A comprehensive empirical database was used to calculate the averaged temporal pattern of NPP from regeneration to 250 years age. NPP peaks at 23.1 ± 3.8 (95% interquantile range) Mg C ha−1 year−1 at age 14 years, and declines gradually to about 9.2 ± 0.8 Mg C ha−1 year−1 at 130 years, with an average NPP over 250 years of 11.4 ± 1.1 Mg C ha−1 year−1, a value similar to the most productive temperate and tropical forests around the world. We th..