Abstract
Sustainable forest management should avoid disturbance and volatilization of the soil carbon (C) and nitrogen (N) stocks both under present and projected future climate. Earlier studies have shown that thinning of European beech forests induces a strong initial perturbation of the soil C and N cycles in shallow Rendzic Leptosol, which consists of lower soil N retention and strongly enhanced gaseous losses observed over several years. Persistence of these effects could decrease soil organic matter (SOM) levels and associated soil functions such as erosion protection, nutrient retention, and fertility. Therefore, we resampled untreated control and thinned stands a decade after thinning at sites representing both typical present day and projected future climatic conditions for European beech forests. We determined soil organic C and total N stocks, as well as δ13C and δ15N as integrators of changes in soil C and N cycles. Thinning did not alter these parameters at any of the sampled sites, indicating that initial effects on soil C and N cycles constitute short-term perturbations. Consequently, thinning may be considered a sustainable beech forest management strategy with regard to the maintenance of soil organic C and total N stocks both under present and future climate.
Highlights
Under sustainable forest management carbon (C) released from wood combustion would have been released during decomposition of old trees with subsequent re-fixation due to natural or anthropogenically induced rejuvenation [1,2,3]
A holistic view of forest management on greenhouse gas balance and key soil functions of managed forests needs to consider the effects of silvicultural measures on soil organic carbon (SOC) and total nitrogen (TN) stocks
The goal of this study was to elucidate whether thinning leads to long-term changes of soil C and N stocks in the widely spread beech forest ecosystems occurring on calcareous soil, and facilitate a synthesis of both short-term and long-term effects of forest management practices on C and N biogeochemistry both under present and projected future climate
Summary
Under sustainable forest management carbon (C) released from wood combustion would have been released during decomposition of old trees with subsequent re-fixation due to natural or anthropogenically induced rejuvenation [1,2,3]. In many forests, C and N inputs into the soil are exceeding the respective outputs so that SOM tends to accumulate [5]. This accrual is generally assumed to favor soil functions such as fertility, nutrient and water retention, and erosion protection [6,7]. The latter aspect is of particular importance in European beech forests stocking on calcareous soils (i.e., on steep slopes with karst hydrology) because the Forests 2017, 8, 167; doi:10.3390/f8050167 www.mdpi.com/journal/forests
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