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Mayer M, Rusch S, Didion M, Baltensweiler A, Walthert L, Ranft F, Rigling A, Zimmermann S, Hagedorn F. Elevation dependent response of soil organic carbon stocks to forest windthrow. THE SCIENCE OF THE TOTAL ENVIRONMENT 2023; 857:159694. [PMID: 36302424 DOI: 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2022.159694] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/06/2022] [Revised: 10/20/2022] [Accepted: 10/20/2022] [Indexed: 06/16/2023]
Abstract
Storms represent a major disturbance factor in forest ecosystems, but the effects of windthrows on soil organic carbon (SOC) stocks are poorly quantified. Here, we assessed the SOC stocks of windthrown forests at 19 sites across Switzerland spanning an elevation gradient from 420 to 1550 m, encompassing a strong climatic gradient. Results show that the effect size of disturbance on SOC stocks increases with the size of the initial SOC stocks. The largest windthrow-induced SOC losses of up to 29 t C ha-1 occurred in high-elevation forests with a harsh climate developing thick organic layers. In contrast, SOC stocks of low-elevation forests with thin organic layers were hardly affected. A mineralization study further revealed high elevation forests to store higher amounts of easily mineralizable C in thick organic layers that got lost following windthrow. These findings are supported by a meta-analysis of available windthrow studies, showing an increase of storm-induced SOC losses with the size of the initial SOC stocks. Modelling simulations further indicate longer-lasting SOC losses and a slower recovery of SOC stocks after windthrow at high compared to low elevations, due to a slower regeneration of mountain forests and associated lower C inputs into soils in a harsh climate. Upscaling the experimental findings/observed patterns by linking them to a data base of Swiss forest soils shows a total SOC loss of ∼0.4 Mt. C for the whole forested area of Switzerland after two major storm events, counteracting the forest net carbon sink of decades. Our study provides strong evidence that the vulnerability of SOC stocks to windthrow is particularly high in forests featuring thick and slowly forming organic layers, such as mountain soils. Thus, the risk of losing SOC to more frequent windthrows in mountain forests strongly limits their potential to mitigate climate change.
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Affiliation(s)
- Mathias Mayer
- Forest Soils and Biogeochemistry, Swiss Federal Institute for Forest, Snow and Landscape Research (WSL), Zürcherstrasse 111, 8903 Birmensdorf, Switzerland; Institute of Terrestrial Ecosystems (ITES), ETH Zurich, Universitätsstrasse 16, 8092 Zurich, Switzerland; Institute of Forest Ecology, Department of Forest and Soil Sciences, University of Natural Resources and Life Sciences (BOKU), Peter-Jordan Straße 82, 1190 Vienna, Austria.
| | - Silvan Rusch
- Forest Soils and Biogeochemistry, Swiss Federal Institute for Forest, Snow and Landscape Research (WSL), Zürcherstrasse 111, 8903 Birmensdorf, Switzerland
| | - Markus Didion
- Forest Resources and Management, Swiss Federal Institute for Forest, Snow and Landscape Research (WSL), Zürcherstrasse 111, 8903 Birmensdorf, Switzerland
| | - Andri Baltensweiler
- Forest Resources and Management, Swiss Federal Institute for Forest, Snow and Landscape Research (WSL), Zürcherstrasse 111, 8903 Birmensdorf, Switzerland
| | - Lorenz Walthert
- Forest Soils and Biogeochemistry, Swiss Federal Institute for Forest, Snow and Landscape Research (WSL), Zürcherstrasse 111, 8903 Birmensdorf, Switzerland
| | - Fabienne Ranft
- Forest Soils and Biogeochemistry, Swiss Federal Institute for Forest, Snow and Landscape Research (WSL), Zürcherstrasse 111, 8903 Birmensdorf, Switzerland
| | - Andreas Rigling
- Institute of Terrestrial Ecosystems (ITES), ETH Zurich, Universitätsstrasse 16, 8092 Zurich, Switzerland; Forest Dynamics, Swiss Federal Institute for Forest, Snow and Landscape Research (WSL), Zürcherstrasse 111, 8903 Birmensdorf, Switzerland
| | - Stephan Zimmermann
- Forest Soils and Biogeochemistry, Swiss Federal Institute for Forest, Snow and Landscape Research (WSL), Zürcherstrasse 111, 8903 Birmensdorf, Switzerland
| | - Frank Hagedorn
- Forest Soils and Biogeochemistry, Swiss Federal Institute for Forest, Snow and Landscape Research (WSL), Zürcherstrasse 111, 8903 Birmensdorf, Switzerland
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Hollands C, Shannon VL, Sawicka K, Vanguelova EI, Benham SE, Shaw LJ, Clark JM. Management impacts on the dissolved organic carbon release from deadwood, ground vegetation and the forest floor in a temperate Oak woodland. THE SCIENCE OF THE TOTAL ENVIRONMENT 2022; 805:150399. [PMID: 34818782 DOI: 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2021.150399] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/13/2021] [Revised: 09/13/2021] [Accepted: 09/13/2021] [Indexed: 06/13/2023]
Abstract
The forest floor is often considered the most important source of dissolved organic carbon (DOC) in forest soils, yet little is known about the relative contribution from different forest floor layers, understorey vegetation and deadwood. Here, we determine the carbon stocks and potential DOC production from forest materials: deadwood, ground vegetation, leaf litter, the fermentation layer and top mineral soil (Ah horizon), and further assess the impact of management. Our research is based on long-term monitoring plots in a temperate deciduous woodland, with one set of plots actively managed by thinning, understorey scrub and deadwood removal, and another set that were not managed in 23 years. We examined long-term data and a spatial survey of forest materials to estimate the relative carbon stocks and concentrations and fluxes of DOC released from these different pools. Long-term soil water monitoring revealed a large difference in median DOC concentrations between the unmanaged (43.8 mg L-1) and managed (18.4 mg L-1) sets of plots at 10 cm depth over six years, with the median DOC concentration over twice as high in the unmanaged plots. In our spatial survey, a significantly larger cumulative flux of DOC was released from the unmanaged than the managed site, with 295.5 and 230.3 g m-2, respectively. Whilst deadwood and leaf litter released the greatest amount of DOC per unit mass, when volume of the material was considered, leaf litter contributed most to DOC flux, with deadwood contributing least. Likewise, there were significant differences in the carbon stocks held by different forest materials that were dependent on site. Vegetation and the fermentation layer held more carbon in the managed site than unmanaged, whilst the opposite occurred in deadwood and the Ah horizon. These findings indicate that management affects the allocation of carbon stored and DOC released between different forest materials.
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Affiliation(s)
- C Hollands
- Soil Research Centre, Department of Geography and Environmental Science, University of Reading, Whiteknights, PO Box 227, Reading RG6 6AB, UK
| | - V L Shannon
- Soil Research Centre, Department of Geography and Environmental Science, University of Reading, Whiteknights, PO Box 227, Reading RG6 6AB, UK.
| | - K Sawicka
- Soil Research Centre, Department of Geography and Environmental Science, University of Reading, Whiteknights, PO Box 227, Reading RG6 6AB, UK; UK Centre for Ecology & Hydrology, Environment Centre Wales, Deiniol Road, Bangor LL57 2UW, UK
| | - E I Vanguelova
- Centre for Forestry and Climate Change, Forest Research, Alice Holt Lodge, Farnham, Surrey, GU10 4LH, UK
| | - S E Benham
- Centre for Forestry and Climate Change, Forest Research, Alice Holt Lodge, Farnham, Surrey, GU10 4LH, UK
| | - L J Shaw
- Soil Research Centre, Department of Geography and Environmental Science, University of Reading, Whiteknights, PO Box 227, Reading RG6 6AB, UK
| | - J M Clark
- Soil Research Centre, Department of Geography and Environmental Science, University of Reading, Whiteknights, PO Box 227, Reading RG6 6AB, UK
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Ostertag R, Restrepo C, Dalling JW, Martin PH, Abiem I, Aiba S, Alvarez‐Dávila E, Aragón R, Ataroff M, Chapman H, Cueva‐Agila AY, Fadrique B, Fernández RD, González G, Gotsch SG, Häger A, Homeier J, Iñiguez‐Armijos C, Llambí LD, Moore GW, Næsborg RR, Poma López LN, Pompeu PV, Powell JR, Ramírez Correa JA, Scharnagl K, Tobón C, Williams CB. Litter decomposition rates across tropical montane and lowland forests are controlled foremost by climate. Biotropica 2021. [DOI: 10.1111/btp.13044] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/29/2022]
Affiliation(s)
| | | | - James W. Dalling
- University of Illinois at Urbana‐Champaign Urbana Illinois USA
- Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute Panamá
| | | | | | | | | | - Roxana Aragón
- Instituto de Ecología Regional (Universidad Nacional de Tucuman‐CONICET) Tucuman Argentina
| | | | | | - Augusta Y. Cueva‐Agila
- Escuela de Ciencias Agrícolas y Ambientales Pontificia Universidad Católica del Ecuador Sede Ibarra Imbabura Ecuador
| | | | - Romina D. Fernández
- Instituto de Ecología Regional (Universidad Nacional de Tucuman‐CONICET) Tucuman Argentina
| | - Grizelle González
- USDA Forest Service International Institute of Tropical Forestry Río Piedras Puerto Rico USA
| | | | - Achim Häger
- Leiden University College The Hague Netherlands
| | - Jürgen Homeier
- Plant Ecology and Ecosystems Research University of Goettingen Goettingen Germany
| | - Carlos Iñiguez‐Armijos
- Laboratorio de Ecología Tropical y Servicios Ecosistémicos Universidad Técnica Particular de Loja Loja Ecuador
| | | | | | - Rikke Reese Næsborg
- Department of Biology Franklin and Marshall College Lancaster Pennsylvania USA
- Conservation and Research Santa Barbara Botanic Garden Santa Barbara California USA
| | | | - Patrícia Vieira Pompeu
- Universidade Estadual de Mato Grosso do Sul Aquidauana Brasil
- Universidade de São Paulo São Paulo Brasil
| | | | | | - Klara Scharnagl
- University & Jepson Herbaria University of California Berkeley Berkeley California USA
| | | | - Cameron B. Williams
- Department of Biology Franklin and Marshall College Lancaster Pennsylvania USA
- Conservation and Research Santa Barbara Botanic Garden Santa Barbara California USA
- Channel Islands National Park Ventura California USA
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Menichetti L, Mäkinen H, Stendahl J, Ågren GI, Hyvönen R. Modeling persistence of coarse woody debris residuals in boreal forests as an ecological property. Ecosphere 2021. [DOI: 10.1002/ecs2.3792] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/09/2022] Open
Affiliation(s)
- Lorenzo Menichetti
- Department of Ecology Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences (SLU) Ulls Väg 16 Uppsala 75007 Sweden
| | - Harri Mäkinen
- Natural Resources Institute Finland Tietotie 2 Espoo 02150 Finland
| | - Johan Stendahl
- Department of Soil and Environment Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences (SLU) Lennart Hjelms Väg 9 Uppsala 75007 Sweden
| | - Göran I. Ågren
- Department of Ecology Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences (SLU) Ulls Väg 16 Uppsala 75007 Sweden
| | - Riitta Hyvönen
- Department of Ecology Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences (SLU) Ulls Väg 16 Uppsala 75007 Sweden
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Tikhonova EN, Men’ko EV, Ulanova RV, Li H, Kravchenko IK. Effect of Temperature on the Taxonomic Structure of Soil Bacterial Communities during Litter Decomposition. Microbiology (Reading) 2020. [DOI: 10.1134/s0026261719060195] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/23/2022] Open
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Bani A, Borruso L, Matthews Nicholass KJ, Bardelli T, Polo A, Pioli S, Gómez-Brandón M, Insam H, Dumbrell AJ, Brusetti L. Site-Specific Microbial Decomposer Communities Do Not Imply Faster Decomposition: Results from a Litter Transplantation Experiment. Microorganisms 2019; 7:microorganisms7090349. [PMID: 31547404 PMCID: PMC6780308 DOI: 10.3390/microorganisms7090349] [Citation(s) in RCA: 13] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/27/2019] [Revised: 09/09/2019] [Accepted: 09/09/2019] [Indexed: 12/28/2022] Open
Abstract
Microbes drive leaf litter decomposition, and their communities are adapted to the local vegetation providing that litter. However, whether these local microbial communities confer a significant home-field advantage in litter decomposition remains unclear, with contrasting results being published. Here, we focus on a litter transplantation experiment from oak forests (home site) to two away sites without oak in South Tyrol (Italy). We aimed to produce an in-depth analysis of the fungal and bacterial decomposer communities using Illumina sequencing and qPCR, to understand whether local adaptation occurs and whether this was associated with litter mass loss dynamics. Temporal shifts in the decomposer community occurred, reflecting changes in litter chemistry over time. Fungal community composition was site dependent, while bacterial composition did not differ across sites. Total litter mass loss and rates of litter decomposition did not change across sites. Litter quality influenced the microbial community through the availability of different carbon sources. Additively, our results do not support the hypothesis that locally adapted microbial decomposers lead to a greater or faster mass loss. It is likely that high functional redundancy within decomposer communities regulated the decomposition, and thus greater future research attention should be given to trophic guilds rather than taxonomic composition.
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Affiliation(s)
- Alessia Bani
- Faculty of Science and Technology, Free University of Bozen/Bolzano, Piazza Università 5, 39100 Bolzano, Italy.
- School of Life Sciences, University of Essex, Wivenhoe Park, Colchester, Essex CO4 3SQ, UK.
| | - Luigimaria Borruso
- Faculty of Science and Technology, Free University of Bozen/Bolzano, Piazza Università 5, 39100 Bolzano, Italy.
| | | | - Tommaso Bardelli
- Department of Agrifood and Environmental Science, University of Florence, Piazzale delle Cascine 18, 50144 Florence, Italy.
- Institute of Microbiology, University of Innsbruck, Technikerstraβe 25d, 6020 Innsbruck, Austria.
| | - Andrea Polo
- Faculty of Science and Technology, Free University of Bozen/Bolzano, Piazza Università 5, 39100 Bolzano, Italy.
| | - Silvia Pioli
- Faculty of Science and Technology, Free University of Bozen/Bolzano, Piazza Università 5, 39100 Bolzano, Italy.
| | - María Gómez-Brandón
- Institute of Microbiology, University of Innsbruck, Technikerstraβe 25d, 6020 Innsbruck, Austria.
- Departamento de Ecoloxía e Bioloxía Animal, Universidade de Vigo, E-36310 Vigo, Spain.
| | - Heribert Insam
- Institute of Microbiology, University of Innsbruck, Technikerstraβe 25d, 6020 Innsbruck, Austria.
| | - Alex J Dumbrell
- School of Life Sciences, University of Essex, Wivenhoe Park, Colchester, Essex CO4 3SQ, UK.
| | - Lorenzo Brusetti
- Faculty of Science and Technology, Free University of Bozen/Bolzano, Piazza Università 5, 39100 Bolzano, Italy.
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Herzog C, Hartmann M, Frey B, Stierli B, Rumpel C, Buchmann N, Brunner I. Microbial succession on decomposing root litter in a drought-prone Scots pine forest. ISME JOURNAL 2019; 13:2346-2362. [PMID: 31123321 PMCID: PMC6776048 DOI: 10.1038/s41396-019-0436-6] [Citation(s) in RCA: 40] [Impact Index Per Article: 8.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/09/2017] [Revised: 04/16/2019] [Accepted: 05/03/2019] [Indexed: 12/21/2022]
Abstract
Decomposition is a major flux of the carbon cycle in forest soils and understanding the involved processes is a key for budgeting carbon turnover. Decomposition is constrained by the presence of biological agents such as microorganisms and the underlying environmental conditions such as water availability. A metabarcoding approach of ribosomal markers was chosen to study the succession of bacterial and fungal decomposers on root litter. Litterbags containing pine roots were buried in a pine forest for two years and sequentially sampled. Decomposition and the associated communities were surveyed under ambient dry and long-term irrigation conditions. Early decomposition stages were characterized by the presence of fast-cycling microorganisms such as Bacteroidetes and Helotiales, which were then replaced by more specialized bacteria and litter-associated or parasitic groups such as Acidobacteria, white rots, and Pleosporales. This succession was likely driven by a decrease of easily degradable carbohydrates and a relative increase in persistent compounds such as lignin. We hypothesize that functional redundancy among the resident microbial taxa caused similar root decomposition rates in control and irrigated forest soils. These findings have important implications for drought-prone Alpine forests as frequent drought events reduce litter fall, but not litter decomposition, potentially resulting in lower carbon stocks.
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Affiliation(s)
- Claude Herzog
- Swiss Federal Research Institute WSL, CH-8903, Birmensdorf, Switzerland.,ETH Zürich, CH-8092, Zürich, Switzerland
| | - Martin Hartmann
- Swiss Federal Research Institute WSL, CH-8903, Birmensdorf, Switzerland.,ETH Zürich, CH-8092, Zürich, Switzerland
| | - Beat Frey
- Swiss Federal Research Institute WSL, CH-8903, Birmensdorf, Switzerland
| | - Beat Stierli
- Swiss Federal Research Institute WSL, CH-8903, Birmensdorf, Switzerland
| | - Cornelia Rumpel
- Centre Nationale de Recherche Scientifique (CNRS), Institute of Ecology and Environment (IEES), Thiverval-Grignon, 78850, France
| | | | - Ivano Brunner
- Swiss Federal Research Institute WSL, CH-8903, Birmensdorf, Switzerland.
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8
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Hernández L, Jandl R, Blujdea VNB, Lehtonen A, Kriiska K, Alberdi I, Adermann V, Cañellas I, Marin G, Moreno-Fernández D, Ostonen I, Varik M, Didion M. Towards complete and harmonized assessment of soil carbon stocks and balance in forests: The ability of the Yasso07 model across a wide gradient of climatic and forest conditions in Europe. THE SCIENCE OF THE TOTAL ENVIRONMENT 2017; 599-600:1171-1180. [PMID: 28511362 DOI: 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2017.03.298] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/15/2016] [Revised: 03/01/2017] [Accepted: 03/28/2017] [Indexed: 06/07/2023]
Abstract
Accurate carbon-balance accounting in forest soils is necessary for the development of climate change policy. However, changes in soil organic carbon (SOC) occur slowly and these changes may not be captured through repeated soil inventories. Simulation models may be used as alternatives to SOC measurement. The Yasso07 model presents a suitable alternative because most of the data required for the application are readily available in countries with common forest surveys. In this study, we test the suitability of Yasso07 for simulating SOC stocks and stock changes in a variety of European forests affected by different climatic, land use and forest management conditions and we address country-specific cases with differing resources and data availability. The simulated SOC stocks differed only slightly from measured data, providing realistic, reasonable mean SOC estimations per region or forest type. The change in the soil carbon pool over time, which is the target parameter for SOC reporting, was generally found to be plausible although not in the case of Mediterranean forest soils. As expected under stable forest management conditions, both land cover and climate play major roles in determining the SOC stock in forest soils. Greater mean SOC stocks were observed in northern latitudes (or at higher altitude) than in southern latitudes (or plains) and conifer forests were found to store a notably higher amount of SOC than broadleaf forests. Furthermore, as regards change in SOC, an inter-annual sink effect was identified for most of the European forest types studied. Our findings corroborate the suitability of Yasso07 to assess the impact of forest management and land use change on the SOC balance of forests soils, as well as to accurately simulate SOC in dead organic matter (DOM) and mineral soil pools separately. The obstacles encountered when applying the Yasso07 model reflect a lack of available input data. Future research should focus on improving our knowledge of C inputs from compartments such as shrubs, herbs, coarse woody debris and fine roots. This should include turnover rates and quality of the litter in all forest compartments from a wider variety of tree species and sites. Despite the limitations identified, the SOC balance estimations provided by the Yasso07 model are sufficiently complete, accurate and transparent to make it suitable for reporting purposes such as those required under the UNFCCC (United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change) and KP (Kyoto Protocol) for a wide range of forest conditions in Europe.
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Affiliation(s)
- Laura Hernández
- INIA-CIFOR, Silviculture and Forest Management Department, Madrid, Spain.
| | - Robert Jandl
- Austrian Forest Research Center (BFW), Seckendorff GudentWeg 8, 1131 Vienna, Austria.
| | - Viorel N B Blujdea
- Faculty of Silviculture and Forest Engineering, Transilvania University of Brasov, Sirul Beethoven 1, 500123 Brasov, Romania.
| | - Aleksi Lehtonen
- Natural Resources Institute Finland (Luke), Latokartanonkaari 9, 00790 Helsinki, Finland.
| | - Kaie Kriiska
- University of Tartu, Institute of Ecology and Earth Sciences, 46 Vanemuise St, 51014, Estonia.
| | - Iciar Alberdi
- INIA-CIFOR, Silviculture and Forest Management Department, Madrid, Spain.
| | - Veiko Adermann
- Estonian Environment Agency, Mustamäe tee 33, 10616 Tallinn, Estonia
| | - Isabel Cañellas
- INIA-CIFOR, Silviculture and Forest Management Department, Madrid, Spain; Sustainable Forest Management Research Institute, Universidad de Valladolid & INIA, Palencia, Spain.
| | - Gheorghe Marin
- National Institute for Research and Development in Forestry (INCDS) "Marin Drăcea", National Forest Inventory, Bd Eroilor 128, Voluntari, Ilfov, Romania
| | - Daniel Moreno-Fernández
- INIA-CIFOR, Silviculture and Forest Management Department, Madrid, Spain; Sustainable Forest Management Research Institute, Universidad de Valladolid & INIA, Palencia, Spain.
| | - Ivika Ostonen
- University of Tartu, Institute of Ecology and Earth Sciences, 46 Vanemuise St, 51014, Estonia
| | - Mats Varik
- Estonian University of Life Sciences, Kreutzwaldi 1, 51014 Tartu, Estonia
| | - Markus Didion
- Forest Resources and Management, Swiss Federal Research Institute WSL, 8903 Birmensdorf, Switzerland.
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9
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Towards Harmonizing Leaf Litter Decomposition Studies Using Standard Tea Bags—A Field Study and Model Application. FORESTS 2016. [DOI: 10.3390/f7080167] [Citation(s) in RCA: 43] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/16/2022]
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10
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Dalsgaard L, Astrup R, Antón-Fernández C, Borgen SK, Breidenbach J, Lange H, Lehtonen A, Liski J. Modeling Soil Carbon Dynamics in Northern Forests: Effects of Spatial and Temporal Aggregation of Climatic Input Data. PLoS One 2016; 11:e0149902. [PMID: 26901763 PMCID: PMC4762889 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0149902] [Citation(s) in RCA: 7] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.9] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/18/2015] [Accepted: 02/05/2016] [Indexed: 12/04/2022] Open
Abstract
Boreal forests contain 30% of the global forest carbon with the majority residing in soils. While challenging to quantify, soil carbon changes comprise a significant, and potentially increasing, part of the terrestrial carbon cycle. Thus, their estimation is important when designing forest-based climate change mitigation strategies and soil carbon change estimates are required for the reporting of greenhouse gas emissions. Organic matter decomposition varies with climate in complex nonlinear ways, rendering data aggregation nontrivial. Here, we explored the effects of temporal and spatial aggregation of climatic and litter input data on regional estimates of soil organic carbon stocks and changes for upland forests. We used the soil carbon and decomposition model Yasso07 with input from the Norwegian National Forest Inventory (11275 plots, 1960–2012). Estimates were produced at three spatial and three temporal scales. Results showed that a national level average soil carbon stock estimate varied by 10% depending on the applied spatial and temporal scale of aggregation. Higher stocks were found when applying plot-level input compared to country-level input and when long-term climate was used as compared to annual or 5-year mean values. A national level estimate for soil carbon change was similar across spatial scales, but was considerably (60–70%) lower when applying annual or 5-year mean climate compared to long-term mean climate reflecting the recent climatic changes in Norway. This was particularly evident for the forest-dominated districts in the southeastern and central parts of Norway and in the far north. We concluded that the sensitivity of model estimates to spatial aggregation will depend on the region of interest. Further, that using long-term climate averages during periods with strong climatic trends results in large differences in soil carbon estimates. The largest differences in this study were observed in central and northern regions with strongly increasing temperatures.
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Affiliation(s)
- Lise Dalsgaard
- Norwegian Institute of Bioeconomy Research (NIBIO), Ås, Norway
- * E-mail:
| | - Rasmus Astrup
- Norwegian Institute of Bioeconomy Research (NIBIO), Ås, Norway
| | | | | | | | - Holger Lange
- Norwegian Institute of Bioeconomy Research (NIBIO), Ås, Norway
| | - Aleksi Lehtonen
- Natural Resources Institute Finland (LUKE), Helsinki, Finland
| | - Jari Liski
- Finnish Environment Institute (SYKE), Helsinki, Finland
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