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Gundale MJ, Axelsson EP, Buness V, Callebaut T, DeLuca TH, Hupperts SF, Ibáñez TS, Metcalfe DB, Nilsson MC, Peichl M, Spitzer CM, Stangl ZR, Strengbom J, Sundqvist MK, Wardle DA, Lindahl BD. The biological controls of soil carbon accumulation following wildfire and harvest in boreal forests: A review. GLOBAL CHANGE BIOLOGY 2024; 30:e17276. [PMID: 38683126 DOI: 10.1111/gcb.17276] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/09/2024] [Revised: 03/29/2024] [Accepted: 03/30/2024] [Indexed: 05/01/2024]
Abstract
Boreal forests are frequently subjected to disturbances, including wildfire and clear-cutting. While these disturbances can cause soil carbon (C) losses, the long-term accumulation dynamics of soil C stocks during subsequent stand development is controlled by biological processes related to the balance of net primary production (NPP) and outputs via heterotrophic respiration and leaching, many of which remain poorly understood. We review the biological processes suggested to influence soil C accumulation in boreal forests. Our review indicates that median C accumulation rates following wildfire and clear-cutting are similar (0.15 and 0.20 Mg ha-1 year-1, respectively), however, variation between studies is extremely high. Further, while many individual studies show linear increases in soil C stocks through time after disturbance, there are indications that C stock recovery is fastest early to mid-succession (e.g. 15-80 years) and then slows as forests mature (e.g. >100 years). We indicate that the rapid build-up of soil C in younger stands appears not only driven by higher plant production, but also by a high rate of mycorrhizal hyphal production, and mycorrhizal suppression of saprotrophs. As stands mature, the balance between reductions in plant and mycorrhizal production, increasing plant litter recalcitrance, and ectomycorrhizal decomposers and saprotrophs have been highlighted as key controls on soil C accumulation rates. While some of these controls appear well understood (e.g. temporal patterns in NPP, changes in aboveground litter quality), many others remain research frontiers. Notably, very little data exists describing and comparing successional patterns of root production, mycorrhizal functional traits, mycorrhizal-saprotroph interactions, or C outputs via heterotrophic respiration and dissolved organic C following different disturbances. We argue that these less frequently described controls require attention, as they will be key not only for understanding ecosystem C balances, but also for representing these dynamics more accurately in soil organic C and Earth system models.
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Affiliation(s)
- Michael J Gundale
- Department of Forest Ecology and Management, Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences, Umeå, Sweden
| | - E Petter Axelsson
- Department of Wildlife, Fish and Environmental Studies, Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences, Umeå, Sweden
| | - Vincent Buness
- Department of Forest Ecology and Management, Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences, Umeå, Sweden
| | - Timon Callebaut
- Department of Environmental Science and Ecology, Umeå University, Umeå, Sweden
| | - Thomas H DeLuca
- College of Forestry, Oregon State University, Corvallis, Oregon, USA
| | - Stefan F Hupperts
- Department of Forest Ecology and Management, Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences, Umeå, Sweden
| | - Theresa S Ibáñez
- Department of Wildlife, Fish and Environmental Studies, Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences, Umeå, Sweden
| | - Daniel B Metcalfe
- Department of Environmental Science and Ecology, Umeå University, Umeå, Sweden
| | - Marie-Charlotte Nilsson
- Department of Forest Ecology and Management, Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences, Umeå, Sweden
| | - Matthias Peichl
- Department of Forest Ecology and Management, Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences, Umeå, Sweden
| | - Clydecia M Spitzer
- Department of Forest Ecology and Management, Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences, Umeå, Sweden
| | - Zsofia R Stangl
- Department of Forest Ecology and Management, Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences, Umeå, Sweden
| | - Joachim Strengbom
- Department of Ecology, Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences, Uppsala, Sweden
| | - Maja K Sundqvist
- Department of Forest Ecology and Management, Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences, Umeå, Sweden
| | - David A Wardle
- Department of Environmental Science and Ecology, Umeå University, Umeå, Sweden
| | - Björn D Lindahl
- Department of Soil Science, Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences, Uppsala, Sweden
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Kondratova AV, Abramova ER, Bryanin SV. Decomposition of Main Litter Types and Nitrogen Release in Post-fire Larch Forests of the Russian Far East. CONTEMP PROBL ECOL+ 2021. [DOI: 10.1134/s1995425521020050] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/23/2022]
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3
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高 宏. Research Progress on the Effects of Logging and Burning on Forest Soil Microorganisms. INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF ECOLOGY 2021. [DOI: 10.12677/ije.2021.104053] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/09/2022]
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Dieleman CM, Rogers BM, Potter S, Veraverbeke S, Johnstone JF, Laflamme J, Solvik K, Walker XJ, Mack MC, Turetsky MR. Wildfire combustion and carbon stocks in the southern Canadian boreal forest: Implications for a warming world. GLOBAL CHANGE BIOLOGY 2020; 26:6062-6079. [PMID: 32529727 DOI: 10.1111/gcb.15158] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/12/2020] [Accepted: 04/28/2020] [Indexed: 06/11/2023]
Abstract
Boreal wildfires are increasing in intensity, extent, and frequency, potentially intensifying carbon emissions and transitioning the region from a globally significant carbon sink to a source. The productive southern boreal forests of central Canada already experience relatively high frequencies of fire, and as such may serve as an analog of future carbon dynamics for more northern forests. Fire-carbon dynamics in southern boreal systems are relatively understudied, with limited investigation into the drivers of pre-fire carbon stocks or subsequent combustion. As part of NASA's Arctic-Boreal Vulnerability Experiment, we sampled 79 stands (47 burned, 32 unburned) throughout central Saskatchewan to characterize above- and belowground carbon stocks and combustion rates in relation to historical land use, vegetation characteristics, and geophysical attributes. We found southern boreal forests emitted an average of 3.3 ± 1.1 kg C/m2 from field sites. The emissions from southern boreal stands varied as a function of stand age, fire weather conditions, ecozone, and soil moisture class. Sites affected by historical timber harvesting had greater combustion rates due to faster carbon stock recovery rates than sites recovering from wildfire events, indicating that different boreal forest land use practices can generate divergent carbon legacy effects. We estimate the 2015 fire season in Saskatchewan emitted a total of 36.3 ± 15.0 Tg C, emphasizing the importance of southern boreal fires for regional carbon budgets. Using the southern boreal as an analog, the northern boreal may undergo fundamental shifts in forest structure and carbon dynamics, becoming dominated by stands <70 years old that hold 2-7 kg C/m2 less than current mature northern boreal stands. Our latitudinal approach reinforces previous studies showing that northern boreal stands are at a high risk of holding less carbon under changing disturbance conditions.
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Affiliation(s)
| | | | | | - Sander Veraverbeke
- Faculty of Science, Earth and Climate, Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam, Amsterdam, The Netherlands
| | - Jill F Johnstone
- Department of Biology, University of Saskatchewan, Saskatoon, SK, Canada
- Institute of Arctic Biology, University of Alaska Fairbanks, Fairbanks, AK, USA
| | - Jocelyne Laflamme
- Department of Integrative Biology, University of Guelph, Guelph, ON, Canada
- Woods Hole Research Center, Falmouth, MA, USA
| | | | - Xanthe J Walker
- Center for Ecosystem Science and Society, Northern Arizona University, Flagstaff, AZ, USA
| | - Michelle C Mack
- Center for Ecosystem Science and Society, Northern Arizona University, Flagstaff, AZ, USA
| | - Merritt R Turetsky
- Department of Integrative Biology, University of Guelph, Guelph, ON, Canada
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Fire Alters Soil Properties and Vegetation in a Coniferous–Broadleaf Mixed Forest in Central China. FORESTS 2020. [DOI: 10.3390/f11020164] [Citation(s) in RCA: 6] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/22/2023]
Abstract
Fire is the predominant natural disturbance that influences the community structure as well as ecosystem function in forests. This study was conducted to examine the soil properties, loss of aboveground biomass, and understory plant community in response to an anthropogenic fire in a coniferous (Pinus massoniana Lamb.) and broadleaf (Quercus acutissima Carruth.) mixed forest in a subtropical–temperate climatic transition zone in Central China. The results showed that soil pH, NO3−-N concentration, and microbial biomass carbon (C) increased three months after the fire; however, there were no significant differences in soil organic C, total nitrogen (N), NH4+-N concentration, or microbial biomass N between the burned and unburned observed plots. The total aboveground biomass was 39.0% lower in the burned than unburned plots four weeks after fire. Direct biomass combustion (19.15 t ha−1, including understory shrubs and litters) was lower than dead wood biomass loss (23.69 t ha−1) caused by the fire. The declining trends of tree mortality with increasing diameter at breast height for both pine and oak trees suggest that small trees are more likely to die during and after fires due to the thinner bark of small trees and tree and branch fall. In addition, burning significantly stimulated the density of shrub (160.9%) and herb (88.0%), but it also affected the richness of shrub and herb compared with that in the unburned plots two months after the fire. The rapid recovery of understory plants after fires suggest that the diversity of understory species could benefit from low-severity fires. Our findings highlight that the decomposition of dead wood and understory community recovery should be considered for offsetting C emissions after fires for further research.
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Abstract
Old-growth forests are widely recognised for the benefits they provide for biodiversity; however, a more comprehensive understanding of their role in climate change mitigation must still be established to find the optimal balance between different forest ecosystem services at a national or regional scale. Very few studies have assessed carbon pools in old-growth Scots pine (Pinus sylvestris L.)-dominated boreal forests, and none have been conducted in hemiboreal forests. Therefore, we assessed the carbon storage of the living tree biomass, deadwood, forest floor (soil organic horizon, including all litter and decomposed wood), and mineral soil in 25 hemiboreal old-growth (163–218 years) unmanaged Scots pine stands in Latvia. The studied stands were without known records of any major natural or human-made disturbance in the visible past. Our results show, that the total ecosystem carbon pool (excluding ground vegetation) was 291.2 ± 54.2 Mg C ha−1, which was primarily composed of living tree biomass (59%), followed by mineral soil (31%), deadwood (5%), and the forest floor (5%). Within the studied stand age group, the total carbon pool remained stable; however, interchanges among the carbon pools, i.e., living biomass and laying deadwood, did occur.
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Thom D, Golivets M, Edling L, Meigs GW, Gourevitch JD, Sonter LJ, Galford GL, Keeton WS. The climate sensitivity of carbon, timber, and species richness covaries with forest age in boreal-temperate North America. GLOBAL CHANGE BIOLOGY 2019; 25:2446-2458. [PMID: 30985960 DOI: 10.1111/gcb.14656] [Citation(s) in RCA: 10] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/25/2019] [Accepted: 03/11/2019] [Indexed: 06/09/2023]
Abstract
Climate change threatens the provisioning of forest ecosystem services and biodiversity (ESB). The climate sensitivity of ESB may vary with forest development from young to old-growth conditions as structure and composition shift over time and space. This study addresses knowledge gaps hindering implementation of adaptive forest management strategies to sustain ESB. We focused on a number of ESB indicators to (a) analyze associations among carbon storage, timber growth rate, and species richness along a forest development gradient; (b) test the sensitivity of these associations to climatic changes; and (c) identify hotspots of climate sensitivity across the boreal-temperate forests of eastern North America. From pre-existing databases and literature, we compiled a unique dataset of 18,507 forest plots. We used a full Bayesian framework to quantify responses of nine ESB indicators. The Bayesian models were used to assess the sensitivity of these indicators and their associations to projected increases in temperature and precipitation. We found the strongest association among the investigated ESB indicators in old forests (>170 years). These forests simultaneously support high levels of carbon storage, timber growth, and species richness. Older forests also exhibit low climate sensitivity of associations among ESB indicators as compared to younger forests. While regions with a currently low combined ESB performance benefitted from climate change, regions with a high ESB performance were particularly vulnerable to climate change. In particular, climate sensitivity was highest east and southeast of the Great Lakes, signaling potential priority areas for adaptive management. Our findings suggest that strategies aimed at enhancing the representation of older forest conditions at landscape scales will help sustain ESB in a changing world.
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Affiliation(s)
- Dominik Thom
- Rubenstein School of Environment and Natural Resources, University of Vermont, Burlington, Vermont
- Gund Institute for Environment, University of Vermont, Burlington, Vermont
| | - Marina Golivets
- Rubenstein School of Environment and Natural Resources, University of Vermont, Burlington, Vermont
| | - Laura Edling
- Rubenstein School of Environment and Natural Resources, University of Vermont, Burlington, Vermont
| | - Garrett W Meigs
- Department of Forest Ecosystems and Society, Oregon State University, Corvallis, Oregon
| | - Jesse D Gourevitch
- Rubenstein School of Environment and Natural Resources, University of Vermont, Burlington, Vermont
- Gund Institute for Environment, University of Vermont, Burlington, Vermont
| | - Laura J Sonter
- School of Earth and Environmental Sciences, The University of Queensland, Brisbane, Qld, Australia
| | - Gillian L Galford
- Rubenstein School of Environment and Natural Resources, University of Vermont, Burlington, Vermont
- Gund Institute for Environment, University of Vermont, Burlington, Vermont
| | - William S Keeton
- Rubenstein School of Environment and Natural Resources, University of Vermont, Burlington, Vermont
- Gund Institute for Environment, University of Vermont, Burlington, Vermont
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Satellite-Based Evaluation of the Post-Fire Recovery Process from the Worst Forest Fire Case in South Korea. REMOTE SENSING 2018. [DOI: 10.3390/rs10060918] [Citation(s) in RCA: 16] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/17/2022]
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10
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Chen HYH, Brant AN, Seedre M, Brassard BW, Taylor AR. The Contribution of Litterfall to Net Primary Production During Secondary Succession in the Boreal Forest. Ecosystems 2016. [DOI: 10.1007/s10021-016-0063-2] [Citation(s) in RCA: 36] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 10/20/2022]
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Liu S, Xu H, Ding J, Chen HYH, Wang J, Xu Z, Ruan H, Chen Y. CO2 Emission Increases with Damage Severity in Moso Bamboo Forests Following a Winter Storm in Southern China. Sci Rep 2016; 6:30351. [PMID: 27468803 PMCID: PMC4965870 DOI: 10.1038/srep30351] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/14/2016] [Accepted: 07/04/2016] [Indexed: 11/08/2022] Open
Abstract
Despite the prevalence of disturbances in forests, the effects of disturbances on soil carbon processes are not fully understood. We examined the influences of a winter storm on soil respiration and labile soil organic carbon (SOC) of a Moso Bamboo (Phyllostachys heterocycle) plantation in the Wuyi Mountains in Southern China from May 2008 to May 2009. We sampled stands that were damaged at heavy, moderate, and light levels, which yielded aboveground biomass inputs to the soil at 22.12 ± 0.73 (mean ± 1 s.e.m.), 10.40 ± 1.09, and 5.95 ± 0.73 Mg per hectare, respectively. We found that soil respiration rate and annual cumulative CO2 emissions were significantly higher in heavily damaged sites than moderately and lightly damaged sites. Soil temperature was the most important environmental factor affecting soil respiration rate across all studied stands. However, soil respiration sensitivity to temperature (Q10) decreased in heavily damaged sites. Microbial biomass carbon and its proportion to total SOC increased with damage intensity. Soil respiration rate was positively correlated to microbial biomass carbon and soil moisture. Our results indicated that the increase of soil respiration following canopy disturbance from winter storm resulted from increased microbial biomass carbon, soil moisture, and temperature.
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Affiliation(s)
- Sheng Liu
- Laboratory of Poyang Lake and Wetland Ecosystem Research, Nanjing Institute of Geography and Limnology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Nanjing 210008, PR China
- Graduate University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100049, PR China
- Co-Innovation Center for Sustainable Forestry in Southern China, College of Biology and the Environment, Nanjing Forestry University, Nanjing, 210037, China
| | - Hangmei Xu
- Co-Innovation Center for Sustainable Forestry in Southern China, College of Biology and the Environment, Nanjing Forestry University, Nanjing, 210037, China
| | - Jiuming Ding
- Lianyungang Technical College, Lianyungang, Jiangsu Province 222006, China
| | - Han Y. H. Chen
- Faculty of Natural Resources Management, Lakehead University, 955 Oliver Road, Thunder Bay, ON, P7B 5E1 Canada
| | - Jiashe Wang
- Administrative Bureau of Wuyishan National Nature Reserve, Wuyishan, Fujian 354300, China
| | - Zikun Xu
- Administrative Bureau of Wuyishan National Nature Reserve, Wuyishan, Fujian 354300, China
| | - Honghua Ruan
- Co-Innovation Center for Sustainable Forestry in Southern China, College of Biology and the Environment, Nanjing Forestry University, Nanjing, 210037, China
| | - Yuwei Chen
- Laboratory of Poyang Lake and Wetland Ecosystem Research, Nanjing Institute of Geography and Limnology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Nanjing 210008, PR China
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