Accounting for Barriers in the Quantification of CO2, CH4, N2O and C-Stocks in a Central Missouri Forest.

Emissions of greenhouse gases from soil can be restricted by obstacles such as soil rocks, dead, fallen or live standing trees. In fact soil surface rocks and rocks content in deeper horizons occupy soil areas which contribute minimally to the gas emission process. In addition, in forest environment, while roots contribute to greenhouse gas emissions from soil through biological processes, each standing tree (basal area) occupies an area not participating in greenhouse gases emissions from soil. However, when extrapolating gases emissions from point measurements to the entire plot, these barriers to emissions are not always taken into account. Therefore, ignoring the presence of non-emitting entities when scaling up a relatively small number of soil chamber flux measurements to a larger area is clearly a bias that would cause overestimation of the large scale flux estimate. The objective of this work is to develop correction factors for improving the quantification of greenhouse gases fluxes and C-stocks in a rocky forest soil of central Missouri. The study  is being conducted at Lincoln University’s Busby Forest approximately 15 minutes drive from the main campus. Its geographic coordinates are 38^o34’53”N and 92^o08’07”W. The site is occupied by a secondary forest with Eastern Red Cedar, Shag Bark Hickory , Slippery Elm, Northern Red Oak , White Ash, China Oak  and Green Ash  having the highest number of trees. The soil of the experimental site a Waldron Silty Clay (Aeric Fluvaquent). We are measuring CO₂, CH₄ and N₂O fluxes from soil, mapping surface rocks content and  measuring trees diameter (dbh) and basal area. Data collected is being processed with ARCGIS and Multispec to determine areas occupied by non-emitting entities which will enable to develop correction factors for improving the quantification CO₂, CH₄ and N₂O fluxes.