Estimation of litter input in hemi-boreal forests with drained organic soils for improvement of GHG inventories

2021 ◽  
Vol 27 (2) ◽  
Author(s):  
Arta Bārdule ◽  
Guna Petaja ◽  
Aldis Butlers ◽  
Dana Purviņa ◽  
Andis Lazdiņš
Keyword(s):  
Boreal Forests ◽  
Middle Age ◽  
Ghg Emissions ◽  
National Forest Inventory ◽  
Ground Vegetation ◽  
Organic Soils ◽  
Litter Production ◽  
Vegetation Modelling ◽  
Below Ground ◽  
C Input

Assessments of net greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions in forest land with drained organic soils conducted within the scope of National GHG inventories requires reliable data on litter production and carbon (C) input to soil information. To estimate C input through tree above-ground litter, sampling of above-ground litter was done in 36 research sites in Latvia representing typical forests with drained organic soils in hemiboreal region. To estimate C input through tree below-ground litter and litter from ground vegetation, modelling approach based on literature review and data on characteristics of forest stands with drained organic soils in Latvia provided by National Forest Inventory (NFI) was used. The study highlighted dependence of C input to soil through litter production from the stand characteristics and thus significant differences in the C input with litter between young and middle age stands. The study also proves that drained organic soils in middle age forests dominated by Silver birch, Scots pine and Norway spruce may not be the source of net GHG emissions due to offset by C input through litter production. However, there is still high uncertainty of C input with tree below-ground litter and ground vegetation, particularly, mosses, herbs and grasses which may have crucial role in C balance in forests with drained organic soils. Key words: forests, drained organic soils, litter production, carbon input, National GHG inventory

scholarly journals Burial of downed deadwood is strongly affected by log attributes, forest ground vegetation, edaphic conditions, and climate zones

2016 ◽  
Vol 46 (12) ◽  
pp. 1451-1457 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jogeir N. Stokland ◽  
Christopher W. Woodall ◽  
Jonas Fridman ◽  
Göran Ståhl
Keyword(s):  
Boreal Forests ◽  
Good Practice ◽  
National Forest Inventory ◽  
Ground Vegetation ◽  
Organic Layer ◽  
Greenhouse Gas Inventories ◽  
Edaphic Conditions ◽  
Humus Layer ◽  
Carbon Transfer ◽  
Using Data

Deadwood can represent a substantial portion of forest ecosystem carbon stocks and is often reported following good practice guidance associated with national greenhouse gas inventories. In high-latitude forest ecosystems, a substantial proportion of downed deadwood is overgrown by ground vegetation and buried in the humus layer. Such burial obfuscates the important process of deadwood carbon transfer to other pools (e.g., litter and soil) and emission to the atmosphere (i.e., rates of decay). Using data from the Swedish National Forest Inventory, we found that the proportion of downed logs that is buried increased from temperate to boreal forests. Several factors affect the probability of burial, including log attributes (e.g., decay class), ground vegetation (e.g., moss dominance, type of moss cover), and edaphic conditions (e.g., soil type, depth of organic layer). Combined assessments suggest that about 24% of the carbon in the aboveground downed deadwood pool was found to be buried in boreal forests. Deadwood burial has important implications for forest carbon dynamics and associated monitoring (e.g., United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change reporting) as such a pool typically decomposes much slower compared with aboveground deadwood.

scholarly journals Rapid Changes in Ground Vegetation of Mature Boreal Forests—An Analysis of Swedish National Forest Inventory Data

Forests ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 12 (4) ◽  
pp. 475
Author(s):  
Bengt Gunnar Jonsson ◽  
Jonas Dahlgren ◽  
Magnus Ekström ◽  
Per-Anders Esseen ◽  
Anton Grafström ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Forest Inventory ◽  
Ecosystem Functioning ◽  
Boreal Forests ◽  
Vegetation Change ◽  
National Forest Inventory ◽  
Ground Vegetation ◽  
National Forest ◽  
Time Lags ◽  
Forest Herbs ◽  
Species Groups

The boreal forest floor vegetation is critical for ecosystem functioning and an important part of forest biodiversity. Given the ongoing global change, knowledge on broad-scale changes in the composition and abundance of different plant species and species groups is hence important for both forest conservation and management. Here, we analyse permanent plot data from the National Forest Inventory (NFI) on changes in the vegetation over a 10-year period in four regions of Sweden. To limit the direct and relatively well-known effects of forest management and associated succession, we only included mature forest stands not influenced by forestry during the 10 years between inventories, and focused on vegetation change mainly related to other factors. Results show strong decrease among many species and species groups. This includes dominant species such as Vaccinimum myrtillus and Deschampsia flexuosa as well as several forest herbs. The only species increasing are some mosses in the southern regions. Our data do not allow for a causal interpretation of the observed patterns. However, the changes probably result from latent succession in combination with climate change and nitrogen deposition, and with time lags complicating the interpretation of their relative importance. Regardless of the cause, the observed changes are on a magnitude that suggest impacts on ecosystem functioning and hence highlight the need for more experimental work.

Potential soil carbon sequestration of agricultural land around the world

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sylvia Vetter ◽  
Michael Martin ◽  
Pete Smith
Keyword(s):  
Organic Carbon ◽  
Management Practices ◽  
Agricultural Land ◽  
Ghg Emissions ◽  
C Sequestration ◽  
Organic Soils ◽  
Soil C ◽  
Sequestration Potential ◽  
The World ◽  
Soil C Sequestration

<p>Reducing greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions in to the atmosphere to limit global warming is the big challenge of the coming decades. The focus lies on negative emission technologies to remove GHGs from the atmosphere from different sectors. Agriculture produces around a quarter of all the anthropogenic GHGs globally (including land use change and afforestation). Reducing these net emissions can be achieved through techniques that increase the soil organic carbon (SOC) stocks. These techniques include improved management practices in agriculture and grassland systems, which increase the organic carbon (C) input or reduce soil disturbances. The C sequestration potential differs among soils depending on climate, soil properties and management, with the highest potential for poor soils (SOC stock farthest from saturation).</p><p>Modelling can be used to estimate the technical potential to sequester C of agricultural land under different mitigation practices for the next decades under different climate scenarios. The ECOSSE model was developed to simulate soil C dynamics and GHG emissions in mineral and organic soils. A spatial version of the model (GlobalECOSSE) was adapted to simulate agricultural soils around the world to calculate the SOC change under changing management and climate.</p><p>Practices like different tillage management, crop rotations and residue incorporation showed regional differences and the importance of adapting mitigation practices under an increased changing climate. A fast adoption of practices that increase SOC has its own challenges, as the potential to sequester C is high until the soil reached a new C equilibrium. Therefore, the potential to use soil C sequestration to reduce overall GHG emissions is limited. The results showed a high potential to sequester C until 2050 but much lower rates in the second half of the century, highlighting the importance of using soil C sequestration in the coming decades to reach net zero by 2050.</p>

GHG mitigation potential of agricultural management practises on mineral and organic soils

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Saara Lind ◽  
Marja Maljanen ◽  
Merja Myllys ◽  
Mari Räty ◽  
Sanna Kykkänen ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Greenhouse Gas ◽  
Agricultural Soils ◽  
Mineral Soil ◽  
Ghg Emissions ◽  
Grassland Management ◽  
Organic Soils ◽  
Carbon Dioxide Exchange ◽  
Ghg Mitigation ◽  
Nutrient Quality ◽  
Effect On Yield

<p>Agricultural soils are a significant source of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. To study these emissions, we are currently building three research platforms that consist of full eddy covariance instrumentation for determination of net ecosystem carbon dioxide exchange and fluxes of methane and nitrous oxide. These platforms will be completed with supporting weather, plant and soil data collection. Two of our platforms are sites on organic soils with a thick peat layer (>60 cm) and the third one is on a mineral soil (silt loam). To study the role of the grassland management practises at these sites, we have initiated ORMINURMI-project. Here, we will characterise the effects of ground water table (high vs. low), crop renewal methods (autumn vs. summer) and plant species (tall fescue vs. red glover grass) on greenhouse gas budgets of grass production. Also effect on yield amount and nutrient quality will be determined. In this presentation, we will present the preliminary data collected at these research platforms and our plans for the use of these data in the coming years.</p>

Greenhouse gas budget of an extensively managed grassland on drained peat soil in the Irish Midlands

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Marine Valmier ◽  
Matthew Saunders ◽  
Gary Lanigan
Keyword(s):  
Carbon Source ◽  
Greenhouse Gas ◽  
Ghg Emissions ◽  
Organic Soils ◽  
Climate Mitigation ◽  
Sink Strength ◽  
Management Options ◽  
Peat Soils ◽  
Sequestration Potential ◽  
Sink Capacity

<p>Grassland-based agriculture in Ireland contributes over one third of national greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, and the LULUCF sector is a net GHG source primarily due to the ongoing drainage of peat soils. Rewetting of peat-based organic soils is now recognised as an attractive climate mitigation strategy, but reducing emissions and restoring the carbon sequestration potential is challenging, and is not always feasible notably due to agricultural demands. Nonetheless, reducing carbon losses from drained organic soils has been identified as a key action for Ireland to reach its climate targets, and carbon storage associated with improved grassland management practices can provide a suitable strategy to offset GHG emissions without compromising productivity. However, research is still needed to assess the best practices and management options for optimum environmental and production outcomes. While grasslands have been widely studied internationally, data on organic soils under this land use are still scarce. In Ireland, despite their spatial extent and relevance to the national emission inventories and mitigation strategies, only two studies on GHG emissions from grasslands on peat soils have been published.</p><p>Here we present results from a grassland on a drained organic soil that is extensively managed for silage production in the Irish midlands. Continuous monitoring of Net Ecosystem Exchange (NEE) of carbon dioxide (CO<sub>2</sub>) using eddy covariance techniques, and weekly static chamber measurements to assess soil derived emissions of methane (CH<sub>4</sub>) and nitrous oxide (N<sub>2</sub>O) started in 2020. The seasonal CO<sub>2</sub> fluxes observed were greatly dependent on weather conditions and management events. The grassland shifted from a carbon source at the beginning of the year to a sink during the growing season, with carbon uptakes in April and May ranging from 15 to 40 µmol CO<sub>2</sub> m<sup>-2</sup> s<sup>-1</sup> and releases in the order of 5 µmol CO<sub>2</sub> m<sup>-2</sup> s<sup>-1</sup>. Following the first harvest event in early June, approximately 2.5 t C ha<sup>-1</sup> was exported, and the sink capacity took around one month to recover, with an average NEE of 10 µmol CO<sub>2</sub> m<sup>-2</sup> s<sup>-1</sup> during that period. Carbon uptake then reached a maximum of 25 µmol CO<sub>2</sub> m<sup>-2</sup> s<sup>-1</sup> in August. After the second cut in mid-September, which corresponded to an export of 2.25 t.ha<sup>-1</sup> of carbon, the grassland acted once again as a strong carbon source, losing almost 30 g C m<sup>-2</sup> in a month, before stabilising and behaving as an overall small source during the winter period.</p><p>In summary, this grassland demonstrated high rates of carbon assimilation and productivity that translate in a strong carbon sink capacity highly dependent on the management. The biomass harvest is a major component of the annual budget that has the potential to shift the system to a net carbon source. Moreover, while initial measurements of CH<sub>4</sub> and N<sub>2</sub>O fluxes appeared to be negligible, some management events were not assessed due to national COVID 19 restrictions on movement, which might have impacted the sink strength of the site studied.</p>

scholarly journals Drainage of organic soils and GHG emissions: Validation with country data

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Giulia Conchedda ◽  
Francesco N. Tubiello
Keyword(s):  
East Asia ◽  
Oil Palm ◽  
Ghg Emissions ◽  
Field Measurements ◽  
Organic Soils ◽  
Past Century ◽  
South East Asia ◽  
Tropical Peatlands ◽  
Carbon Dioxide Co2 ◽  
Reported Data

Abstract. Drainage of large areas with organic soils was conducted over the past century to free land for agriculture. A significant acceleration of such trends was observed in recent decades in South-East Asia, largely driven by drainage of tropical peatlands, an important category of organic soils, for cultivation of oil palm. This work presents methods and main results of a new methodology developed for FAOSTAT, whereby the overlay of dynamic maps of land cover and the use of information on histosols allows the production of a global annual dataset of drained area and emissions over a time series, covering the period 1990–2019. This is an improvement over the existing FAO approach, which had produced only a static map of drained organic soils for the year 2000. Results indicate that drained area and emissions increased by 13 percent globally since 1990, reaching in 2019 24 million ha of drained organic soils, with world total emissions of 830 million tonnes of carbon dioxide (CO2) equivalent. Of these totals, the largest contribution was from the drainage of tropical peatlands in South-East Asia, generating nearly half of global emissions. Results were validated against national data reported by countries to the UN Climate Convention and to well established literature. Overall, the validation yielded a good agreement with these sources. FAOSTAT estimates explained about 60 percent of the variability in official country reported data. The predicted emissions were virtually identical – with over 90 percent of explained variability – to official data from Indonesia, currently the top emitting country by drained organic soils. Also, calculated emissions factors for oil palm plantations in Indonesia and Malaysia were in the same range and very close to emissions factors derived from detailed field measurements. This validation suggests that the FAO estimates may be a useful and sound reference in support of countries reporting needs. Data are made available as open access via the Zenodo portal (Tubiello and Conchedda, 2020) with DOI https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.3942370.

scholarly journals Low and contrasting impacts of vegetation CO<sub>2</sub> fertilization on terrestrial runoff over the past three decades: Accounting for above- and below-ground vegetation-CO<sub>2</sub> effects

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Yuting Yang ◽  
Tim R. McVicar ◽  
Dawen Yang ◽  
Yongqiang Zhang ◽  
Shilong Piao ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Atmospheric Carbon Dioxide ◽  
Stomatal Closure ◽  
Carbon Dioxide Concentration ◽  
Ground Vegetation ◽  
Positive Trend ◽  
Terrestrial Runoff ◽  
The Past ◽  
Leaf Level ◽  
Below Ground ◽  
Vegetation Water

Abstract. Elevation in atmospheric carbon dioxide concentration (eCO2) affects vegetation water use, with consequent impacts on terrestrial runoff (Q). However, the sign and magnitude of the eCO2 effect on Q is still contentious. This is partly due to the poor understanding of the opposing eCO2-induced water effects at different scales, being water-saving caused by partial stomatal closure at the leaf-level contrasting with increased water-consumption due to increase foliage cover at the canopy level, leading to highly debated findings among existing studies. None of the existing studies implicitly account for eCO2-induced changes to below-ground vegetation functioning. Here we develop an analytical eco-hydrological framework that includes the effects of eCO2 on plant leaf, canopy density, and rooting characteristics to attribute changes in Q and detect the eCO2 signal on Q over the past three decades. Globally, we detect a very small decrease of Q induced by eCO2 during 1982–2010 (−1.69 %). When assessed locally, along the resource availability (α) gradient, a positive trend (p 

Above- and below-ground N stocks in coniferous boreal forests in Finland: Implications for sustainability of more intensive biomass utilization

2014 ◽  
Vol 311 ◽  
pp. 17-28 ◽  
Author(s):  
Päivi Merilä ◽  
Kaisa Mustajärvi ◽  
Heljä-Sisko Helmisaari ◽  
Sari Hilli ◽  
Antti-Jussi Lindroos ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Boreal Forests ◽  
Biomass Utilization ◽  
Below Ground
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