In order to understand how carbon storage and allocation patterns vary among
plantation types, we estimated carbon allocation between above- and below-ground
compartments in four subtropical plantations and a naturally recovered shrubland (as a
control). Results indicated that the carbon storage and allocation pattern varied greatly
among forest types and was highly dependent on specific traits of trees and understory
vegetation. The fast-growing species, such as Eucalyptus urophylla, accumulated more
carbon in plant biomass. The biomass carbon was about 1.9- and 2.2-times greater than the
10-species mixed plantation and Castanopsis hystrix plantations, respectively. Meanwhile,
the plantations sequestered 1.5- to 3-times more carbon in biomass than naturally recovered
shrubland. The carbon allocation pattern between above- and below-ground compartments
also varied with plantation type and stand age. The ratio of tree root carbon to tree
aboveground carbon decreased with stand age for Eucalyptus urophylla and the
10-species mixed plantation. In contrast, the ratio increased for Acacia crassicarpa. Our
data suggested that planting the fast-growing species in the degraded land of subtropical
China was an effective choice in terms of carbon sequestration. The information about