Comparison of Methods for the Estimation of Total Inorganic Nitrogen Deposition to Forests in Germany

Ahrends, Bernd; Schmitz, Andreas; Prescher, Anne‐Katrin; Wehberg, Jan; Geupel, Markus; Andreae, Henning; Meesenburg, Henning

doi:10.3389/ffgc.2020.00103

Cited by 7 publications

(11 citation statements)

References 76 publications

(134 reference statements)

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“…For example, uncertainties in temperature, precipitation, and nitrogen deposition estimates arise from various sources such as data, sampling, or regionalization errors. In addition, there are errors from the models used to estimate the total nitrogen deposition (Ahrends et al., 2020). Including these other sources of uncertainty will probably increase the general level of uncertainty in our study.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Spatial 3D mapping of forest soil carbon stocks in Hesse, Germany

Heitkamp

Ahrends

Evers

et al. 2021

J. Plant Nutr. Soil Sci.

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Background Forest soils are an important reservoir of organic carbon (OC) and a potential source or sink for atmospheric CO2. Prediction of OC stock changes under ongoing climatic and management changes requires a spatial explicit base. Knowledge of the vertical distribution of OC stocks is very important, since varying soil layers may be affected differently by environmental change. Aim Three‐dimensional regionalization of OC stocks of the forest floor (FFC) and 5 cm depth increments of the mineral soil (SOC) of Hesse, Germany. Methods Datasets of the second National Forest Soil Inventory (NFSI II) were used for parametrization of hierarchical generalized additive models (hGAM). Validation was performed by a 10 times repeated 10‐fold cross‐validation, and spatial model uncertainty was assessed. Results Depth‐dependent validation indicated that model performance was best between 15 and 60 cm (amount of variance explained ≈ 0.5). All covariates showed plausible partial effects. FFC stocks were predicted to be highest under coniferous forest with a high influence of N deposition. Climate and potential cation exchange capacity affected SOC stocks markedly, whereas soil class and parent material were most important for the depth distribution. Overall, average predicted OC stocks were between 78.0 and 92.5 t ha−1, amounting to 67.6 to 80.1 Mt for all forest soils of Hesse. Between 16% and 24% were stored in the forest floor. Sixty‐eight percent to 69% of predicted SOC stocks were stored in the upper 30 cm. Model uncertainty was highest at locations with high elevation or ground water influence. Conclusions This work provides the first spatial explicit database for OC stocks of forest soils in Hesse at an intermediate scale. Stocks can be assessed flexibly for varying depth from the forest floor down to 100 cm. Uncertainty analysis informs about locations, where the model results have to be handled with care.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Spatial 3D mapping of forest soil carbon stocks in Hesse, Germany

Heitkamp

Ahrends

Evers

et al. 2021

J. Plant Nutr. Soil Sci.

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“…Experimental research on natural ecosystem responses to N deposition has commonly focussed on forests (Cheng et al, 2019;Knorr et al, 2005;Schmitz et al, 2019;Zhang et al, 2018). Forest deposition rates tend to be greater than open field, due to the high surface area and greater aerodynamic roughness of tree canopies (Ahrends et al, 2020). Schwede et al (2018) compared two global N deposition estimates with high resolution land use maps to investigate variation in deposition rates among ecosystems.…”

Section: N Deposition On Forestsmentioning

confidence: 99%

The gap between atmospheric nitrogen deposition experiments and reality

Bebber

2021

Science of The Total Environment

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“…The Level I monitoring is based on a systematic 16 × 16 km grid and covers around 6000 plots, where annual crown condition assessments are carried out. So far, two forest soil condition surveys were conducted from 1985to 1996and 2004, respectively (Cools and de Vos, 2011.…”

Section: Study Sitesmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…We are aware that there is a high degree of uncertainty associated with the estimates of N inputs and outputs for the N balance (e.g. Ahrends et al, 2020;De Vries et al, 2003b). However the N balance is a useful tool for determining small changes in soil N pools and is much more sensitive than the repeated soil inventories (De Vries et al, 2006;Brumme and Khanna, 2008;Fleck et al, 2019).…”

Section: Measurements and Calculations Of N Fluxesmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Irrigation studies of undisturbed cores from different soil depths of the SOB soil showed a N retention of 54 % in the organic layer and of 34 % in each of the mineral soil layers (0-10 cm, 10-20 cm depth) after a 2-month irrigation with 15 NH 4 at 8 • C in the laboratory. Low nitrification rates (heterotrophic) at the SOB site (Bauhus et al, 1996;Brumme et al, 2009b) result in the adsorption of 15 N-labeled ammonium and contributed 3 % to the N retention of 54 % in the organic layer, 24 % of 34 % in R. Brumme et al: Cycling and retention of nitrogen in European beech (Fagus sylvatica L.) 0-10 cm, and 30 % of 34 % in 10-20 cm soil depth. A high adsorption capacity for ammonium extended the residence time and the potential for transformation processes due to microbial immobilization and plant uptake in acidic soils and may have increased the transformation of deposited ammonium in organic compounds.…”

Section: N Fluxes and N Budgetsmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Cycling and retention of nitrogen in European beech (<i>Fagus sylvatica</i> L.) ecosystems under elevated fructification frequency

Brumme¹,

Ahrends

Block³

et al. 2021

Biogeosciences

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Abstract. Atmospheric deposition of nitrogen (N) has exceeded its demand for plant increment in forest ecosystems in Germany. High N inputs increased plant growth, the internal N cycling within the ecosystem, the retention of N in soil and plant compartments, and the N output by seepage water. But the processes involved are not fully understood, notably the effect of fructification in European beech (Fagus sylvatica L.) on N fluxes. The frequency of fructification has increased together with air temperature and N deposition, but its impact on N fluxes and the sequestration of carbon (C) and N in soils have been hardly studied. A field experiment using 15N-labeled leaf litter exchange was carried out over a 5.5-year period at seven long-term European beech (Fagus sylvatica L.) monitoring sites to study the impact of current mast frequency on N cycling. Mean annual leaf litterfall contained 35 kg N ha−1, but about one-half of that was recovered in the soil 5.5 years after the establishment of the leaf litter 15N exchange experiment. In these forests, fructification occurred commonly at intervals of 5 to 10 years, which has now changed to every 2 years as observed during this study period. Seed cupules contributed 51 % to the additional litterfall in mast years, which creates a high nutrient demand during their decomposition due to the very high ratios of C to N and C to phosphorus (P). Retention of leaf litter 15N in the soil was more closely related to the production of total litterfall than to the leaf litterfall, indicating the role of seed cupules in the amount of leaf N retained in the soil. Higher mast frequency increased the mass of mean annual litterfall by about 0.5 Mg ha−1 and of litterfall N by 8.7 kg ha−1. Mean net primary production (NPP) increased by about 4 %. Mean total N retention in soils calculated by input and output fluxes was unrelated to total litterfall, indicating that mast events were not the primary factor controlling total N retention in soils. Despite reduced N deposition since the 1990s, about 5.7 out of 20.7 kg N ha−1 deposited annually between 1994 and 2008 was retained in soils, notably at acid sites with high N/P and C/P ratios in the organic layers and mineral soils, indicating P limitation for litter decomposition. Trees retained twice as much N compared to soils by biomass increment, particularly in less acidic stands where the mineral soils had low C/N ratios. These results have major implications for our understanding of the C and N cycling and N retention in forest ecosystems. In particular the role of mast products in N retention needs more research in the future.

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Comparison of Methods for the Estimation of Total Inorganic Nitrogen Deposition to Forests in Germany

Cited by 7 publications

References 76 publications

Spatial 3D mapping of forest soil carbon stocks in Hesse, Germany

Spatial 3D mapping of forest soil carbon stocks in Hesse, Germany

The gap between atmospheric nitrogen deposition experiments and reality

Cycling and retention of nitrogen in European beech (<i>Fagus sylvatica</i> L.) ecosystems under elevated fructification frequency

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Comparison of Methods for the Estimation of Total Inorganic Nitrogen Deposition to Forests in Germany

Cited by 7 publications

References 76 publications

Spatial 3D mapping of forest soil carbon stocks in Hesse, Germany

Spatial 3D mapping of forest soil carbon stocks in Hesse, Germany

The gap between atmospheric nitrogen deposition experiments and reality

Cycling and retention of nitrogen in European beech (&lt;i&gt;Fagus sylvatica&lt;/i&gt; L.) ecosystems under elevated fructification frequency

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Cycling and retention of nitrogen in European beech (<i>Fagus sylvatica</i> L.) ecosystems under elevated fructification frequency