Evidence that emergent <i>Nothofagus dombeyi</i> do not depress carbon sequestration rates of canopy species in an old-growth Chilean temperate forest

The influence of functional diversity on ecosystem productivity has practical implications for the carbon sequestration potential of forest ecosystems. Vertical stratification may be one key aspect of functional diversity that influences stand productivity through differential resource use. Although additive basal area of canopy and emergent species has been reported in some forests, it is unclear whether this represents significant additive productivity, or mainly a reflection of the great longevity of the emergent trees. We asked if the presence of emergent &lt;i&gt;Nothofagus dombeyi&lt;/i&gt; influences carbon sequestration in wood of the associated canopy species in an old-growth temperate forest in south-central Chile, the canopy species all being more shade-tolerant than &lt;i&gt;N. dombeyi&lt;/i&gt;. We estimated wood volume increment of all trees on four pairs of plots in old-growth stands in Parque Nacional Puyehue, each pair consisting of one 25×25 m plot with emergent tr...