Cryptopodzolic Soils in Switzerland

Blaser, Peter; KERNEBEEK, P.; TEBBENS, L.; BREEMEN, N. VAN; Luster, J.

doi:10.1046/j.1365-2389.1997.00104.x

Cited by 39 publications

(30 citation statements)

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“…The high C/N ratio of the plant litter from Nardus vegetation (C/N = 35) relative to that of the soil (10-12) suggests that N is immobilised during the initial decomposition of this litter (Bloemhof and Berendse, 1995;Parton et al, 1987), as found in our third laboratory experiment. The particular soil chemistry of the acidic cryptopodzolic soils also tends to promote the immobilisation of N in soil organic matter (Blaser et al, 1997). For camp areas, the low C/N ratio of the camp-area substrate (13) suggests a release of N already during the initial stages of decomposition (Bloemhof and Berendse, 1995;Parton et al, 1987), in agreement with the results of our third laboratory experiment.…”

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 81%

“…The bedrock is a mixed biotite plagioclase gneiss (Reinhard et al, 1962). The soils are silty and mainly of the 'cryptopodzol' type with extremely low pH, high aluminium content, and the accumulation of humic acids in the topsoil (Blaser et al, 1997). The system has been grazed during the summer for many centuries, as indicated by ruins of former stables and stone walls.…”

Section: Study Areamentioning

confidence: 99%

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Effects of heterogeneous habitat use by cattle on nutrient availability and litter decomposition in soils of an Alpine pasture

2005

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Grazing by free-ranging cattle on Alpine pastures in southern Switzerland creates sharp contrasts in plant species composition between small 'camp areas', which are grazed intensely and receive most cattle excreta, and surrounding pasture dominated by Nardus stricta, which is only lightly grazed. We hypothesised that these contrasts are maintained by positive feedbacks related to nutrient availability in soil, in that (a) plant material with rapid decomposition and nutrient release decomposes in camp areas and (b) litter decomposition is further stimulated by enhanced nutrient availability in soil. We compared nutrient availability at three camp areas with that in surrounding Nardus vegetation and investigated how the decomposition of plant material from both vegetation types responds to nutrient availability in soil, both in the field (during 14 weeks) and in the laboratory (during 4, 10, and 16 weeks). At all three field sites P availability was significantly enhanced in camp areas, whereas differences in N availability were inconsistent among the three sites. Laboratory incubations indicated that microbial activity after the addition of labile C (cellulose) was limited by P availability in the Nardus vegetation but not in camp areas. The camp-area plant substrate decomposed much faster (81.5% vs. 27.1% ash-free dry mass loss in the field) and released more N and P than the Nardus substrate, which tended to immobilise soil nutrients. However, the decomposition rate of neither substrate was influenced by nutrient availability in soil, both in the field (comparing camp areas and Nardus vegetation) and in the laboratory (comparing incubations with and without N or P fertilisation). We conclude that the contrasting quality of plant substrates contributes to the greater nutrient availability in camp areas (feedback a) but that the latter does not influence the decomposition of in situ plant material (feedback b) because the latter is not nutrient-limited.

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Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 81%

Section: Study Areamentioning

confidence: 99%

Effects of heterogeneous habitat use by cattle on nutrient availability and litter decomposition in soils of an Alpine pasture

2005

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“…Parent material is a mixture of orthogneiss and gneiss. Soils are Cryptopodzols (FAO: Haplic Podzol; Blaser et al, 1997) with profile depths between 0.6 and 1.4 m and pH (CaCl 2 ) values below 5 throughout the whole profile. The soil texture is sandy with 72, 20 and 8% of sand, silt and clay, respectively.…”

Section: Study Sitementioning

confidence: 99%

Effect of girdling on soil respiration and root composition in a sweet chestnut forest

Frey

Hagedorn

Giudici³

2006

Forest Ecology and Management

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“…Therefore, most of the time the soil conditions are much drier than indicated by the drought index of the model. A third explanation for the underestimation of soil carbon in Southern Alps is given by Blaser et al (1997). The soils of the Southern Alps are characterized by the iron-and aluminium-rich acid bedrock and a litter layer providing dissolved organic matter rich in polyphenolic substances with strong metal-binding properties.…”

Section: Evaluation Of the Yasso Modelmentioning

confidence: 99%

The impact of windthrow on carbon sequestration in Switzerland: a model-based assessment

Thürig

Palosuo²,

Bucher

et al. 2005

Forest Ecology and Management

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Cryptopodzolic Soils in Switzerland

Cited by 39 publications

References 0 publications

Effects of heterogeneous habitat use by cattle on nutrient availability and litter decomposition in soils of an Alpine pasture

Effects of heterogeneous habitat use by cattle on nutrient availability and litter decomposition in soils of an Alpine pasture

Effect of girdling on soil respiration and root composition in a sweet chestnut forest

The impact of windthrow on carbon sequestration in Switzerland: a model-based assessment

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