scholarly journals Biomonitoring and assessing total mercury concentrations and pools in forested areas

Biomonitoring ◽  
2016 ◽  
Vol 2 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Mina Nasr ◽  
Paul A. Arp
Keyword(s):  
Forest Floor ◽  
Mineral Soil ◽  
Forest Biomass ◽  
Forest Vegetation ◽  
Soil Survey ◽  
Soil Layers ◽  
Forest Regions ◽  
Forested Areas ◽  
Mineral Soils ◽  
Two Phases

Abstract:This article focusses on the bio-monitoring of total Hg (THg), sulfur (TS) and carbon (TC) concentrations and pool sizes in forest vegetation and soil layers within the context of a maritime-to-inland transect study in southwestern New Brunswick. This transect stretches from the Grand Manan Island in the Bay of Fundy to the mainland coast (Little Lepreau to New River Beach) and 100 km northward to Fredericton. Along the Bay, frequent summer fogs are thought to have led to increased THg concentrations in forest vegetation and soils such that island THg > coast THg > inland THg concentrations. Transect sampling was done in two phases: (i) a general vegetation and soil survey, and (ii) focusing on specific soil layers (forest floor, top portion of the mineral soils), and select moss and mushrooms species. By way of multiple regression, it was found that soil, moss and mushroom THg and TS were strongly related to one another, with THg decreasing from the island to the inland locations. The accumulated Hg pool within the mineral soil, however, far exceeded (i) the estimated THg pools of the forest biomass (trees, moss and mushrooms) and the forest floor, and (ii) the literature-reported and case-study inferred net input/output rates for annual atmospheric Hg deposition and sequestration, Hg volatilization, and Hg leaching. Partitioning the total soil Hg pool into geogenically and atmospherically derived portions suggested that mineral soils in temperate to boreal forest regions have accumulated and retained atmospherically derived Hg over thousand years and more. These results are summarized in terms of further guiding forest THg monitoring and modelling efforts in terms of specific vegetation and soil sampling targets.

scholarly journals Effects of land use change from natural forest to plantation on C, N and natural abundance of 13C and 15N along a climate gradient in eastern China

2019 ◽  
Vol 9 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Mbezele Junior Yannick Ngaba ◽  
Ya-Lin Hu ◽  
Roland Bol ◽  
Xiang-Qing Ma ◽  
Shao-Fei Jin ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Land Use ◽  
Land Use Change ◽  
Forest Floor ◽  
Eastern China ◽  
Mineral Soil ◽  
Mean Annual Precipitation ◽  
Mean Annual Temperature ◽  
Natural Forests ◽  
Soil C ◽  
Mineral Soils

Abstract Soil C and N turnover rates and contents are strongly influenced by climates (e.g., mean annual temperature MAT, and mean annual precipitation MAP) as well as human activities. However, the effects of converting natural forests to intensively human-managed plantations on soil carbon (C), nitrogen (N) dynamics across various climatic zones are not well known. In this study, we evaluated C, N pool and natural abundances of δ13C and δ15N in forest floor layer and 1-meter depth mineral soils under natural forests (NF) and plantation forest (PF) at six sites in eastern China. Our results showed that forest floor had higher C contents and lower N contents in PF compared to NF, resulting in high forest floor C/N ratios and a decrease in the quality of organic materials in forest floor under plantations. In general, soil C, N contents and their isotope changed significantly in the forest floor and mineral soil after land use change (LUC). Soil δ13C was significantly enriched in forest floor after LUC while both δ13C and δ15N values were enriched in mineral soils. Linear and non-linear regressions were observed for MAP and MAT in soil C/N ratios and soil δ13C, in their changes with NF conversion to PF while soil δ15N values were positively correlated with MAT. Our findings implied that LUC alters soil C turnover and contents and MAP drive soil δ13C dynamic.

Denitrification and nitrogen fixation in floodplain successional soils along the Tanana River, interior Alaska

1993 ◽  
Vol 23 (5) ◽  
pp. 956-963 ◽  
Author(s):  
K.M. Klingensmith ◽  
K. Van Cleve
Keyword(s):  
Nitrogen Fixation ◽  
Forest Floor ◽  
Nitrogenase Activity ◽  
Mineral Soil ◽  
White Spruce ◽  
Interactive Effects ◽  
Successional Stage ◽  
Alder Forest ◽  
Mineral Soils ◽  
Soil Interface

Forest floors and mineral soils from early (open willow), middle (poplar–alder), and late (white spruce) floodplain primary successional stages were examined for nitrogen fixation and denitrification. The acetylene-reduction and acetylene-inhibition techniques were used separately and in combination to measure nitrogenase and denitrification activities, both in laboratory and field studies. In situ N2O production was undetectable at all sites and during all sampling periods. Denitrifying activity measured in the field with acetylene amendments was low to undetectable, except after a brief flood in the open willow stand when N2O production ranged from undetectable to 34 ng N•cm−2•h−1 within the newly deposited alluvium–old mineral soil interface. Intact core assays also had low to undetectable denitrification activities; the highest activities (259 ng N•g−1 h−1) were measured in the poplar–alder forest floor in the fall. Laboratory studies showed that potential denitrification enzyme activity (DEA) was also greatest in the poplar–alder forest floor (4332 ng N•g−1•h−1), once again occurring in the fall. In early and midsuccessional stages, the interactive effects of temperature, carbon, and NO3− limited denitrification, yet even with the addition of the limiting amendments, low to undetectable DEA was observed in mineral soils. The later white spruce successional stage also had low to undetectable DEA, increasing only with the addition of the full DEA media and independent of temperature changes. Nonsymbiotic nitrogenase activities were highly variable, ranging from undetectable to 30 ng N•cm−2•h−1. Highest activities were seen in the open willow, newly deposited alluvium–old mineral soil interface immediately after a flood and approximately 1 month after the flood on the newly deposited silt surface. Only the white spruce forest floor had measurable nonsymbiotic nitrogenase activity at all sampling times. Alder root nodule nitrogenase activity showed no significant differences between sampling periods. The estimated annual nitrogen fixation rate of 164 kg N•ha−1 for alder root nodules is a substantial N contribution to the alder stand and to the floodplain ecosystem in general.

Effects of broadcast slash burning on fuels and soil chemical properties in the Sub-boreal Spruce Zone of central British Columbia

1987 ◽  
Vol 17 (12) ◽  
pp. 1577-1584 ◽  
Author(s):  
A. M. Macadam
Keyword(s):  
British Columbia ◽  
Forest Floor ◽  
Mineral Soil ◽  
Chemical Properties ◽  
Soil Samples ◽  
Available P ◽  
Soil Layers ◽  
Exchangeable Ca ◽  
Positive Correlations ◽  
Slash Burning

Soil samples were taken before and 9 and 21 months after the operational broadcast burning of logging slash in two clear-cuts in the Sub-boreal Spruce Zone of central British Columbia. Average slash consumption on the two clear-cuts was estimated from line intersect samples at 20 and 24 t/ha and forest floor depth was reduced by 28 and 36%. Nine months after burning, soil N had decreased by 376 kg/ha (18% of preburn levels) while available P had increased by 37–157 kg/ha. Burning resulted in substantial increases in forest floor base saturation, pH, exchangeable Ca and Mg, and available P. Changes within the 0–15 and 15–30 cm mineral soil layers were variable and in general less pronounced. Significant positive correlations were observed between the consumption of large fuels and postburn changes in forest floor pH and exchangeable Ca and Mg. Changes in forest floor N were negatively correlated with amounts of fine slash consumed. A strongly negative correlation was observed between forest floor depth of burn and changes in forest floor exchangeable K concentrations.

Prediction of organic carbon content in upland forest soils of Quebec, Canada

2002 ◽  
Vol 32 (5) ◽  
pp. 903-914 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sylvie Tremblay ◽  
Rock Ouimet ◽  
Daniel Houle
Keyword(s):  
Forest Soils ◽  
Forest Floor ◽  
Sustainable Forest Management ◽  
Mineral Soil ◽  
Soil Organic C ◽  
Organic C ◽  
Upland Forest ◽  
Explanatory Variables ◽  
Mineral Soils ◽  
Best Fit

Soil organic carbon (C) is an important component of forest carbon pools and should be taken into account in sustainable forest management. However, there is a need to derive indicators for this attribute, as organic C content (Mg·ha–1) in forest soils is generally not available in Quebec survey data. Thus, we developed models to predict organic C accumulation in the forest floor and in mineral soils of upland forest soils (i.e., with forest floor thickness [Formula: see text]30 cm) using soil survey data as input variables. The best-fit model for predicting forest floor organic C content consisted of the explanatory variables forest floor thickness, latitude, and longitude. The model R2 was 0.76, and its CV was 28%. The second best-fit model, excluding geographical coordinates, included forest floor thickness and mean growing season precipitation as explanatory variables (R2 = 0.71, CV = 29.5%). The model for predicting mineral soil organic C content was composed of two submodels: (i) organic C concentration of a mineral horizon as a function of its colour and (ii) bulk density of that horizon as a function of its estimated C concentration (obtained from the former model). The R2 of the model for predicting organic C content in mineral soils was 0.57, and its CV was 29%. The models were used to predict organic C contents in 5547 pedons, dispersed throughout the commercial forest of Quebec and for which basic soil profile description data were available. It was then possible to evaluate and compare mean soil C accumulation in different forest stand types and to construct two maps of soil organic C accumulation in upland forest soils of southern Quebec. The results pointed out that forest floor thickness combined with mineral soil horizon colour, texture class, and pH would be useful sustainable forest management indicators of organic C accumulation in upland forest soils.

Soil water leachate from two forested catchments on the Precambrian Shield, Ontario

1996 ◽  
Vol 26 (8) ◽  
pp. 1353-1365 ◽  
Author(s):  
Bruce D. LaZerte ◽  
Lem Scott
Keyword(s):  
Forest Floor ◽  
Mineral Soil ◽  
Summer Drought ◽  
Solubility Curve ◽  
Organic C ◽  
Precambrian Shield ◽  
Soil Solutions ◽  
Significant Difference ◽  
Mineral Soils

A predominantly coniferous catchment on the Precambrian Shield had significantly more acid, base-poor, and Al-rich soil solutions than a predominantly deciduous catchment. Eight-year median depth profiles of the forest floor solutions revealed that ceramic tension lysimeters collected significantly higher levels of Al and Si, lower amounts of NO3−, and equal amounts of dissolved organic carbon than plastic zero-tension lysimeters. There was no significant difference between lysimeter types in the deeper mineral soils. NO3−, NH4+, K+, organic C, organic Al, Fe, and to a lesser extent Ca2+ and Mg2+ were more abundant in forest floor solutions than in the mineral soils. Inorganic Al, F−, Na+, and SO42− were more abundant in the mineral horizons, and Cl− was uniform throughout the profile. Calculations based on the Na profile and the weathering of plagioclase feldspars suggested that secondary Al and Si minerals were accumulating in the mineral soil. Long-term median inorganic Al concentrations followed the microcrystalline gibbsite solubility curve (−log(Al3+) = −9.2 + 3.0(pH); R2 = 0.97), and F− was closely correlated (R2 = 0.7). NO3−, NH4+, and K+ in the forest floor exhibited the strongest seasonal patterns, with peaks during the winter–spring snowmelt and late summer. Their levels increased severalfold in response to summer drought, but there was little response in the lower horizons. Apparently because of a decline in SO42− and possibly Ca2+ deposition, there was a long-term decline in Ca2+ and SO42− in the stream draining the PCl mineral horizons (approximately −2.1 ± 0.4 μequiv.•L−1•year−1), and a similar Ca2+ decline in the mineral soil solutions themselves. However, there was no change in pH or inorganic Al levels.

Molybdenum at German Norway spruce sites: contents and mobility

2000 ◽  
Vol 30 (7) ◽  
pp. 1034-1040 ◽  
Author(s):  
Friederike Lang ◽  
Martin Kaupenjohann
Keyword(s):  
Norway Spruce ◽  
Forest Soils ◽  
Forest Floor ◽  
Forest Ecosystems ◽  
Mineral Soil ◽  
Organic Layer ◽  
Soil Profiles ◽  
Nitrogen Turnover ◽  
Acid Forest Soils ◽  
Mineral Soils

Molybdenum plays an important role in the nitrogen turnover of ecosystems. However, very little is known about Mo availability in forest soils. We measured the oxalate-extractable Mo concentrations of acid forest soils, the Mo, nitrate, phosphate, and sulfate fluxes from the organic forest floor into the mineral soil using resin tubes and the Mo concentrations of the tree needles at 28 different Norway spruce (Picea abies (L.) Karst.) sites in southern Germany. The supply of oxalate-extractable Mo varied from 51 to 3400 g·ha-1, with the lowest values occurring in sandstone-derived soils (370 ± 212 g·ha-1; mean ± SD). Molybdenum concentrations of current-year needles were in the range of 5 to 48 ng·g-1. The Mo needle concentrations and oxalate-extractable Mo of soils did not correlate. However, Mo fluxes (6-60 g·ha-1·a-1) from the organic forest floor into the mineral soils were correlated to needle concentrations and to the NO3 fluxes. We conclude that Mo turnover within forest ecosystems is governed by Mo plant availability of mineral soils as well as by plant Mo uptake. In addition, Mo cycling strongly affects Mo distribution within soil profiles and Mo fluxes out of the organic layer.

scholarly journals Impact of forest biomass for energy harvesting on soil compaction – Irish case study

2014 ◽  
Vol 60 (No. 12) ◽  
pp. 526-533
Author(s):  
J. Pohořalý ◽  
R. Klvač ◽  
T. Kent ◽  
M. Kleibl ◽  
E. Coates ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Soil Compaction ◽  
Anthropogenic Activities ◽  
Mineral Soil ◽  
Forest Biomass ◽  
Timber Harvesting ◽  
Soil Conditions ◽  
Significant Difference ◽  
Logging Residue ◽  
Mineral Soils ◽  
Irish Case

An assessment of soil compaction caused by machinery used in stump and/or logging residue extraction for energy on soils typical of Ireland. We determined unaffected soil conditions and to find the compaction grade after timber harvesting and bundling activities, and to compare those results with stands where timber harvesting was followed by stump extraction for energy. The investigation was carried out in Ireland on three different locations which had a slightly different proportion of stones in their soils. Two of the soils were purely mineral soils, and the third was a mineral soil affected by anthropogenic activities. To ensure comparable results as much as possible, the moisture content of the soil on wet basis was investigated. Each location was purposely treated. Therefore, on each location plots were identified as follows: plots unaffected by operation (reference area), plots after timber harvesting, plots after timber harvesting and bundling operation, and plots after timber harvesting and stump extraction operation. According to the experimental design 40 repetitions on each of the three different treatments were set. The results showed that the compaction of soil occurred on plots after timber harvesting, but there was not a significant difference between compaction grades with and without logging residue bundling operation. However, once the site was extracted of stumps, the soil became too loose and no significant difference was found compared to unaffected soil.  

Weight loss of litter and cellulose bags in a thinned white spruce forest in interior Alaska

1978 ◽  
Vol 8 (1) ◽  
pp. 42-46 ◽  
Author(s):  
Harald Piene ◽  
Keith Van Cleve
Keyword(s):  
Weight Loss ◽  
Organic Matter ◽  
Forest Floor ◽  
Mineral Soil ◽  
White Spruce ◽  
Litter Bags ◽  
Soil Layers ◽  
Interior Alaska ◽  
Decomposition Processes ◽  
Moisture Conditions

Thinning in a white spruce, Piceaglanca (Moench) Voss, forest in interior Alaska stimulated organic matter decomposition in the forest floor as indicated by weight loss of litter and cellulose bags. The general higher weight loss in the most heavily thinned plot is attributed to observed higher average seasonal temperatures. Cellulose bags placed in the boundary between the fermentation–humus and the humus–mineral soil layers of the forest floor showed a significantly higher weight loss than those placed on top of the litter layer. This was attributed to more favorable moisture conditions and a more direct contact with the decomposing microbial populations in the fermentation–humus and humus–mineral soil layers.Regardless of thinning treatment, elements were grouped according to their rate of release from decomposing organic matter as follows: K > Mg > C ≈ P ≈ N ≈ Ca, where potassium is lease resistant. Since relatively small differences in weight loss of litter bags were observed between the treatments, similar studies should extend over a longer period in order to obtain a better understanding of the decomposition processes.

Four centuries of soil carbon and nitrogen change after stand-replacing fire in a forest landscape in the western Cascade Range of Oregon

2008 ◽  
Vol 38 (9) ◽  
pp. 2455-2464 ◽  
Author(s):  
T. W. Giesen ◽  
S. S. Perakis ◽  
K. Cromack
Keyword(s):  
Pacific Northwest ◽  
Forest Floor ◽  
Mineral Soil ◽  
Douglas Fir ◽  
Cascade Range ◽  
Carbon And Nitrogen ◽  
The Pacific ◽  
C And N ◽  
Mineral Soils

Episodic stand-replacing wildfire is a significant disturbance in mesic and moist Douglas-fir ( Pseudotsuga menziesii (Mirb.) Franco) forests of the Pacific Northwest. We studied 24 forest stands with known fire histories in the western Cascade Range in Oregon to evaluate long-term impacts of stand-replacing wildfire on carbon (C) and nitrogen (N) pools and dynamics within the forest floor (FF, Oe and Oa horizons) and the mineral soil (0–10 cm). Twelve of our stands burned approximately 150 years ago (“young”), and the other 12 burned approximately 550 years ago (“old”). Forest floor mean C and N pools were significantly greater in old stands than young stands (N pools: 1823 ± 132 kg·ha–1vs. 1450 ± 98 kg·ha–1; C pools: 62 980 ± 5403 kg·ha–1vs. 49 032 ± 2965 kg·ha–1, mean ± SE) as a result of significant differences in FF mass. Forest floor C and N concentrations and C/N ratios did not differ by time since fire, yet potential N mineralization rates were significantly higher in FF of old sites. Old and young mineral soils did not differ significantly in pools, concentrations, C/N ratios, or cycling rates. Our results suggest that C and N are sequestered in FF of Pacific Northwest Douglas-fir forests over long (∼400 year) intervals, but that shorter fire return intervals may prevent that accumulation.

scholarly journals Carbon stocks in tree biomass and soils of German forests

2017 ◽  
Vol 63 (2-3) ◽  
pp. 105-112 ◽  
Author(s):  
Nicole Wellbrock ◽  
Erik Grüneberg ◽  
Thomas Riedel ◽  
Heino Polley
Keyword(s):  
Mineral Soil ◽  
Forest Biomass ◽  
Belowground Biomass ◽  
National Forest Inventory ◽  
Carbon Stocks ◽  
Organic Layer ◽  
National Forest ◽  
Organic Layers ◽  
Below Ground ◽  
Mineral Soils

AbstractClose to one third of Germany is forested. Forests are able to store significant quantities of carbon (C) in the biomass and in the soil. Coordinated by the Thünen Institute, the German National Forest Inventory (NFI) and the National Forest Soil Inventory (NFSI) have generated data to estimate the carbon storage capacity of forests. The second NFI started in 2002 and had been repeated in 2012. The reporting time for the NFSI was 1990 to 2006. Living forest biomass, deadwood, litter and soils up to a depth of 90 cm have stored 2500 t of carbon within the reporting time. Over all 224 t C ha-1in aboveground and belowground biomass, deadwood and soil are stored in forests. Specifically, 46% stored in above-ground and below-ground biomass, 1% in dead wood and 53% in the organic layer together with soil up to 90 cm. Carbon stocks in mineral soils up to 30 cm mineral soil increase about 0.4 t C ha-1yr-1stocks between the inventories while the carbon pool in the organic layers declined slightly. In the living biomass carbon stocks increased about 1.0 t C ha-1yr-1. In Germany, approximately 58 mill. tonnes of CO2were sequestered in 2012 (NIR 2017).

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