The distinction between below- and aboveground biomass was based on the arbitrary position of the ground surface. In some ecosystems, a considerable proportion of the roots occur above the ground surface and likewise, part of the stem biomass sometimes occurs below the soil surface (Mokany et al., 2006). There might be some disagreement about considering the 15 cm of Stu aboveground

as a belowground component, but the Stu only represented Epacadostat datasheet 5–6% of the total tree biomass. The root:shoot ratio does not represent the total C allocation to the tree compartments, since it does not incorporate the considerable loss of C resulting from respiration and senescence (turnover). So, the root:shoot ratio only represents the net effects of carbon allocation. Although root:shoot ratios may only be rough indicators of physiological processes affecting C allocation, they are

very valuable for providing estimates of belowground plant biomass from aboveground biomass. For example, multiplying the biomass of the tree organs by its turnover and decomposition rates indicates that C allocation in trees strongly influences forest C cycling. Consequently a proper understanding of C allocation is an important issue in the context of best management practices for biomass production and C sequestration in the soil. The coppice of the aboveground biomass resulted in a large Fr mortality

and a tremendous input of C to the soil. The results obtained after coppice EPZ5676 chemical structure could be confounded with the tree ontogeny, and a control without coppicing at year 3 and 4 would have been useful. However, that experimental design was not possible as the plantation was treated as a commercial plantation with homogenous management in the whole area. Demeclocycline Larger trees stored significant amount of C belowground with bigger root system, but bigger trees did not necessarily produce more fine roots. Both poplar genotypes only rooted in the upper 30 cm, and they showed relatively shallow, but widespread root systems. These results have implications for the design of C sequestration strategies. This work was supported by the European Research Council under the European Commission’s Seventh Framework Programme (FP7/2007-2013) as ERC Advanced Grant agreement # 233366 (POPFULL), as well as by the Flemish Hercules Foundation as Infrastructure contract ZW09-06. Further funding was provided by the Flemish Methusalem Programme and by the Research Council of the University of Antwerp. GB was supported by the Erasmus-Mundus External Cooperation, Consortium EADIC – Window Lot 16 financed by the European Union Mobility Programme # 2009-1655/001-001.