Loss of soil organic carbon following natural forest conversion to Chinese fir plantation

2019 ◽  
Vol 449 ◽  
pp. 117476 ◽  
Author(s):  
Zhijie Yang ◽  
Shidong Chen ◽  
Xioafei Liu ◽  
Decheng Xiong ◽  
Chao Xu ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Organic Carbon ◽  
Soil Organic Carbon ◽  
Chinese Fir ◽  
Natural Forest ◽  
Forest Conversion ◽  
Chinese Fir Plantation

scholarly journals Forest conversion to poplar plantation in a Lombardy floodplain (Italy): effects on soil organic carbon stock

2014 ◽  
Vol 11 (22) ◽  
pp. 6483-6493 ◽  
Author(s):  
C. Ferré ◽  
R. Comolli ◽  
A. Leip ◽  
G. Seufert
Keyword(s):  
Land Use ◽  
Organic Carbon ◽  
Soil Organic Carbon ◽  
Management Practices ◽  
Natural Forest ◽  
Aerial Photographs ◽  
Forest Conversion ◽  
Poplar Plantation ◽  
C Stocks ◽  
Soc Stocks

Abstract. Effects of forest conversion to poplar plantation on soil organic carbon (SOC) stocks were investigated by sampling paired plots in an alluvial area of the Ticino River in Northern Italy. According to land registers and historical aerial photographs, the two sites were part of a larger area of a 200 yr old natural forest that was partly converted to poplar plantation in 1973. The soil sampling of three layers down to a depth of 100 cm was performed at 90 and 70 points in the natural forest (NF) and in the nearby poplar plantation (PP) respectively. The substitution of the natural forest with the poplar plantation strongly modified soil C stock down to a depth of 55 cm, although the management practices at PP were not intensive. After calculation of equivalent soil masses and of SOC stocks in individual texture classes, the comparison of C stocks showed an overall decrease in SOC of 5.7 kg m−2 or 40% in consequence of 37 years of poplar cultivation. Our case study provides further evidence that (i) spatial heterogeneity of SOC is an important feature in paired plot studies requiring a careful sampling strategy and high enough number of samples; (ii) land use changes through tillage are creating a more homogeneous spatial structure of soil properties and may require the application of dedicated spatial statistics to tackle eventual problems of pseudo-replicates and auto-correlation; (iii) short rotation forests are not properly represented in current reporting schemes for changes of SOC after land use change and may better be considered as cropland.

scholarly journals Forest conversion to poplar plantation in a Lombardy floodplain (Italy): effects on soil organic carbon stock

2014 ◽  
Vol 11 (6) ◽  
pp. 9601-9627 ◽  
Author(s):  
C. Ferré ◽  
R. Comolli ◽  
A. Leip ◽  
G. Seufert
Keyword(s):  
Organic Carbon ◽  
Soil Organic Carbon ◽  
Management Practices ◽  
Natural Forest ◽  
Aerial Photographs ◽  
Organic Layer ◽  
Forest Conversion ◽  
Organic Carbon Content ◽  
Poplar Plantation ◽  
C Stocks

Abstract. Effects of forest conversion to poplar plantation on soil organic carbon (SOC) stocks were investigated by sampling paired plots in an alluvial area of the Ticino river in Northern Italy. According to land registers and historical aerial photographs, the two sites were part of a larger area of a 200 years-old natural forest that was partly converted to poplar plantation in 1973. The soil sampling of three layers down to a depth of 100 cm was performed at 90 and 70 points in the natural forest (NF) and in the nearby poplar plantation (PP), respectively. The substitution of the natural forest with the poplar plantation strongly modified soil C stock down to a depth of 55 cm, although the management practices at PP were not intensive. By evaluation of equivalent soil masses, the comparison of C stocks (organic layer included) between the different land uses showed a decrease in SOC of 5.7 kg m−2 after 37 years of poplar cultivation, corresponding to more than 1/3 of the initial organic carbon content. The land use change from NF to PP not only affected the stock but also the vertical distribution of SOC: ploughing led to the transfer of SOC from soil surface into the deeper layers resulting in a more uniform allocation of organic carbon in the ploughed layer and disappearance of the SOC stratification observed in the forest.

scholarly journals Conversion of Natural Evergreen Broadleaved Forests Decreases Soil Organic Carbon but Increases the Relative Contribution of Microbial Residue in Subtropical China

Forests ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 10 (6) ◽  
pp. 468 ◽  
Author(s):  
Liuming Yang ◽  
Silu Chen ◽  
Yan Li ◽  
Quancheng Wang ◽  
Xiaojian Zhong ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Land Use ◽  
Anthropogenic Disturbance ◽  
Soil Depth ◽  
Chinese Fir ◽  
Natural Forest ◽  
Amino Sugars ◽  
Forest Conversion ◽  
Pine Plantation ◽  
Chinese Fir Plantation ◽  
Microbial Residue

It has been recognized that land use change affects soil organic carbon (SOC) dynamics and the associated microbial turnover. However, the contribution of microbial residue to SOC storage remains largely unknown in land use change processes. To this end, we adopted a “space for time” approach to examine the dynamics of SOC and amino sugars, which was a biomarker of microbial residue C, in different natural forest conversions. Three typical converted forests were selected: an assisted natural regeneration (ANR) and two coniferous plantations of Cunninghamia lanceolata (Lamb.) Hook (Chinese fir) and Pinus massoniana Lamb. (pine) each. All of these were developed at the same time after the harvest of an old natural forest and they were used to evaluate the effects of forest conversions with contrasting anthropogenic disturbance on SOC and microbial residue C, along with the natural forest. Natural forest conversion led to an approximately 42% decrease in SOC for ANR with low anthropogenic disturbance, 60% for the Chinese fir plantation, and 64% for the pine plantation. In contrast, the natural forest conversion led to a 32% decrease in the total amino sugars (TAS) for ANR, 43% for the Chinese fir plantation, and 54% for the pine plantation at a soil depth of 0–10 cm. The ratios of TAS to SOC were significantly increased following natural forest conversion, with the highest ratio being observed in the Chinese fir plantation, whereas the ratios of glucosamine to muramic acid (GluN/MurA) were significantly decreased in the two plantations, but not in ANR. The contents of SOC, individual amino sugar, or TAS, and GluN/MurA ratios were consistently higher at a soil depth of 0–10 cm than at 10–20 cm for all of the experimental forests. Redundancy analysis showed that microbial residue C was significantly correlated with SOC, and both were positively correlated with fine root biomass, annual litterfall, and soil available phosphorus. Taken together, our findings demonstrated that microbial residue C accumulation varied with SOC and litter input, and played a more important role in SOC storage following forest conversion to plantations with higher anthropogenic disturbance.

scholarly journals Evaluation of Forest Conversion Effects on Soil Erosion, Soil Organic Carbon and Total Nitrogen Based on 137Cs Tracer Technique

Forests ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 10 (5) ◽  
pp. 433 ◽  
Author(s):  
Xi Zhu ◽  
Jie Lin ◽  
Qiao Dai ◽  
Yanying Xu ◽  
Haidong Li
Keyword(s):  
Soil Erosion ◽  
Organic Carbon ◽  
Soil Organic Carbon ◽  
Nutrient Loss ◽  
Vegetation Coverage ◽  
Forest Conversion ◽  
Tracer Technique ◽  
Mountain Areas ◽  
Clear Cutting ◽  
Average Annual Loss

Soil erosion can affect the horizontal and the vertical distribution of soil carbon at the landscape scale. The 137Cs tracer technique can overcome the shortcomings of traditional erosion research and has proven to be the best method to study soil erosion. To understand the responses of soil organic carbon and nitrogen to soil erosion and forest conversion in the development of slope economic forests in rocky mountain areas, three representative types of economic forests that were all formed after clear-cutting and afforestation on the basis of CBF (coniferous and broad-leaved mixed forests) were selected: CF (chestnut forests) with small human disturbance intensity, AF (apple forests), and HF (hawthorn forests) with high interference intensity. The results showed that all land use types have significantly eroded since 1950; the average annual loss of soil was 0.79 mm in the CBF, 2.31 mm in the AF, 1.84 mm in the HF, and 0.87 mm in the CF. The results indicated aggravation of soil erosion after the transformation of the CBF into an economic forest. The economic forest management reduced the average carbon storage and accelerated nutrient loss. The better vegetation coverage and litter coverage of CF made them stand out among the three economic forest varieties. Therefore, when developing economic forests, we should select species that can produce litter to ensure as much soil conservation as possible to reduce the risk of soil erosion.

Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document