Effects of forest thinning on soil-plant carbon and nitrogen dynamics

Bai, Shahla Hosseini; Dempsey, Raymond; Reverchon, Frédérique; Blumfield, Timothy John; Ryan, Sean F.; Cernusak, Lucas A.

doi:10.1007/s11104-016-3052-5

Cited by 52 publications

(26 citation statements)

References 68 publications

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“…However, better relationships between MTT and MAP occurred in very humid zone (AI > 1.0) than other zones, which was similar to soil pool, but soil MTT has higher sensitivity to precipitation than ecosystem MTT under AI > 1. SOM decomposition often increases with added moisture in aerobic soils (Trumbore, 1997;Bai et al, 2017), because the metabolic loss of various C pools increases under warmer and wetter climates (Frank et al, 2012), resulting in high sensitivity of MTT to MAP. Thus, the fitting regression combining MAT and MAP clearly improved soil MTT (R 2 = 0.76, p < 0.001).…”

Section: The Sensitivity Of Turnover Time To Climatementioning

confidence: 99%

Effects of carbon turnover time on terrestrial ecosystem carbon storage

et al. 2017

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Abstract. Carbon (C) turnover time is a key factor in determining C storage capacity in various plant and soil pools as well as terrestrial C sink in a changing climate. However, the effects of C turnover time on ecosystem C storage have not been well explored. In this study, we compared mean C turnover times (MTTs) of ecosystem and soil, examined their variability to climate, and then quantified the spatial variation in ecosystem C storage over time from changes in C turnover time and/or net primary production (NPP). Our results showed that mean ecosystem MTT based on gross primary production (GPP; MTT EC_GPP = C pool /GPP, 25.0 ± 2.7 years) was shorter than soil MTT (MTT soil = C soil /NPP, 35.5 ± 1.2 years) and NPP-based ecosystem MTT (MTT EC_NPP = C pool /NPP, 50.8 ± 3 years; C pool and C soil referred to ecosystem or soil C storage, respectively). On the biome scale, temperature is the best predictor for MTT EC (R 2 = 0.77, p < 0.001) and MTT soil (R 2 = 0.68, p < 0.001), while the inclusion of precipitation in the model did not improve the performance of MTT EC (R 2 = 0.76, p < 0.001). Ecosystem MTT decreased by approximately 4 years from 1901 to 2011 when only temperature was considered, resulting in a large C release from terrestrial ecosystems. The resultant terrestrial C release caused by the decrease in MTT only accounted for about 13.5 % of that due to the change in NPP uptake (159.3 ± 1.45 vs. 1215.4 ± 11.0 Pg C). However, the larger uncertainties in the spatial variation of MTT than temporal changes could lead to a greater impact on ecosystem C storage, which deserves further study in the future.

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Section: The Sensitivity Of Turnover Time To Climatementioning

confidence: 99%

Effects of carbon turnover time on terrestrial ecosystem carbon storage

et al. 2017

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“…In the larch plantations of this study, the temporal effects of thinning on the soil C concentrations were not significant (Figure 4), which was inconsistent with the first hypothesis and previous studies. Several studies have found that the short-term (1-3 years after thinning) effect increased the total mineral soil C concentrations [50], but the medium-term (5 and 7 years) or long-term (11 years) effects had no significant influence on soil C [22,37]. These results in part suggest that the thinning effects may persist only for a short term.…”

Section: Temporal Effects Of Thinning On Light Availability and Soil mentioning

confidence: 96%

“…For example, at lower light conditions, there are higher N and P concentrations in the leaves of plants [16,17], while at lower soil N and P conditions, plants tend to have lower leaf C:N and C:P ratios to enhance nutrient utilization efficiency [18,19]. There is a close relationship between soil and plant stoichiometry because of the interaction of plants with soil nutrients and changing environmental conditions [20][21][22]. Thus, understanding the alterations of nutrient stoichiometry to varying environmental factors might help predict the development of regenerated broadleaved trees in coniferous plantations.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The effects of thinning on light and nutrient availability are highly dependent on the thinning intensity and the time after thinning. Much more attention has been paid to the effects of thinning intensity in previous studies [22,26,27]. However, the light availability (canopy openness) may obviously decrease over time after thinning due to the rapid growth of residual and regenerated trees or shrubs [28][29][30].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…On the other hand, a few studies have investigated the response of soil C and N to the length of time after thinning, but there are contradictory results [34][35][36][37]. For example, Hwang and Son reported that soil C and N concentrations in a pitch pine plantation and the available P concentration in a Japanese larch (Larix keampferi) plantation significantly increased over 1 year after thinning [38], but Bai et al found that thinning had no effects on soil total C and N concentrations for both Corymbia variegata and C. citriodora plantations in 5 and 7 years post-thinning [22]. Therefore, further studies are urgently needed to reveal the temporal impacts of thinning on soil nutrients [36].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Temporal Effects of Thinning on the Leaf C:N:P Stoichiometry of Regenerated Broadleaved Trees in Larch Plantations

Xie

Yan

Yuan

et al. 2020

Forests

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The shift from natural mixed broadleaved forests to pure coniferous plantations results in soil degradation and the unsustainable development of plantations due to the simple stand structure and low species diversity. Thinning can practically sustain the forest structure and promote the regeneration and growth of broadleaved trees in these pure coniferous plantations. The growth of regenerated broadleaved trees is closely related to leaf ecological stoichiometry, which is strongly restricted by environmental factors such as light, soil moisture, and nutrients after thinning. However, the temporal effects of thinning on leaf C:N:P stoichiometry are still not well understood, which constrains our understanding of implementing thinning in coniferous plantations to promote the regeneration and growth of broadleaved species, and further forming the mixed larch-broadleaf forests. Here, we compared canopy openness (i.e., light availability) and the soil and leaf stoichiometry for regenerated broadleaved trees in larch (Larix keampferi) plantations in short-term (1–3 years), medium-term (4–9 years), and long-term (≥10 years) periods after thinning, taking natural mixed broadleaved forests as a control in Northeast China. The results showed that the temporal effects of thinning were not significant with respect to soil C concentrations, but significant with respect to soil C:P and N:P ratios. The regenerated broadleaved trees adjusted their leaf N concentrations and C:N ratios in response to the changed environmental conditions after thinning over time. The responses of soil and leaf stoichiometry to thinning and their significant correlation indicated a strong interaction between the soil and understory regeneration following thinning. Thus, thinning affects the soil and leaf stoichiometry of regenerated trees over time. These findings provide new insights into the conversion of pure coniferous plantations into mixed larch-broadleaf forests by controlling thinning intervals.

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