Stuies on the carbon- and mineral- cycling under changing enviromment Larix forests of Far East Asia

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The carbon-, water- and mineral cycling were investigated in the Larix forest watersheds, associated with growth, succession and carbon storage, of southern limit area of permafrost region of Far East Asia. The research sites were set in the Larix (Larix gmelinii) forests of a) Maoershan Experimental Forestry Center, north Northeast Forestry University, Harbin, China (seasonally frozen area), b) the Greater Khingan Range, China, c) Mo-he, northernmost of China and d) Blagobeshensk, Amur Region, Russia (discontinuous permafrost region). The site c) and d) were affected by the forest fires repeatedly. The Larix forests in continuous permafrost area also investigated in northern mountain range in Amur region.'The distribution of Larix forest was strongly related to the presence of Permafrost layers which were barely preserved by the existence of forests and wet lands. The permafrost in this region is likely to disappear easily if forest cover or wet land were destroyed by global warming or forest fires, which results in the release of CO2 together with methan from accumulated organic substances inside or above permafrost. The organic carbon storage in the Great Khingan Range showed uneven distribution especially in and /or under wet land, which indicated the importance of the preservation of wet land in this area from the aspect of global warming.In the naturally regenerated forests after forest fire of Amur region, they exhibited high diversity of tree species such as Larix, oak (Quercus mongolica), birch (Betula platyphylla, Betula davurica), pine (Pinus sylvestris), aspen (Populus tremula) etc. Larix was estimated to regenerate simultaneously and make spatially concentrated distribution after forest fire. Repeated forest fire was considered to be the driving force of this type of regeneration through burning off the saplings and/or the young stands on the forest floor in addition to the extensive destruction of seed trees by forest fires in this region.