Reforestation makes a minor contribution to soil carbon accumulation in the short term: Evidence from four subtropical plantations

Chen, Yuanqi; Yu, Shiqin; Liu, Suping; Wang, Xiaoling; Zhang, Yu; Liu, Tao; Zhou, Lixia; Zhang, Weixin; Fu, Shenglei

doi:10.1016/j.foreco.2016.10.053

Cited by 40 publications

(19 citation statements)

References 47 publications

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“…Soil physicochemical properties could make contributions to the difference [40]. However, we previously found that there were no significant differences in soil organic carbon among these plantations [41], and there were no significant differences in soil pH, soil nitrogen, soil available phosphorus among the above six plantations [42]. Moreover, in our experimental sites, the effects of plantation type on mean soil temperature, soil water content, and leaf area index were not significant either [43].…”

Section: Effects Of Plantation Typecontrasting

confidence: 57%

Dynamics of Understory Shrub Biomass in Six Young Plantations of Southern Subtropical China

Chen

Zhang

et al. 2017

Forests

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Abstract:Understory shrubs are an important component of forest ecosystems and drive ecosystem processes, such as ecosystem carbon cycling. However, shrub biomass carbon stocks have rarely been reported, which limits our understanding of ecosystem C stock and cycling. In this study, we evaluated carbon accumulation of shrub species using allometric equations based on height and basal diameter in six subtropical plantations at the age of 1, 3, 4 and 6 years. The results showed that plantation type did not significantly affect the total biomass of shrubs, but it significantly affected the biomass of Rhodomyrtus tomentosa, Ilex asprella, Clerodendrum fortunatum and Baeckea frutescens. The biomass of dominant shrub species R. tomentosa, I. asprella, Gardenia jasminoides and Melastoma candidum increased with stand age, while the biomass of C. fortunatum and B. frutescens decreased. The inconsistent biomass-time patterns of different shrub species may be the primary reason for the altered total shrub biomass in each plantation. Consequently, we proposed that R. tomentosa, I. asprella, G. jasminoides and M. candidum could be preferable for understory carbon accumulation and should be maintained or planted because of their important functions in carbon accumulation and high economic values in the young plantations of southern subtropical China.

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Section: Effects Of Plantation Typecontrasting

confidence: 57%

Dynamics of Understory Shrub Biomass in Six Young Plantations of Southern Subtropical China

Chen

Zhang

et al. 2017

Forests

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“…Understory plants are abundant and contribute up to 33.9% of net primary production of the Eucalyptus plantations in southern China . Interestingly, our recent work found that the change patterns of SOC stock in plantations were the same with those in the naturally recovered shrub-fern lands, although there were largely accumulated biomasses of canopy trees in four 10-yr-old plantations (Chen et al 2017). This result implies that the dominant fern of Dicranopteris dichotoma may drive the dynamics of SOC in these plantations.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 79%

“…In the young plantation, the quickly accumulated plant biomass needs a large amount of nutrients (Chen et al 2017). The inherent traits of the two functional groups of plants and the soil fertility status may jointly affect the fate of plant-induced new LOC in soils.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The inherent traits of the two functional groups of plants and the soil fertility status may jointly affect the fate of plant-induced new LOC in soils. In the young plantation, the quickly accumulated plant biomass needs a large amount of nutrients (Chen et al 2017). Soil organic matter (including the plant-derived new LOC) is the main nutrient source for plant growth (Pii et al 2015).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Plantations in southern China play essential roles in increasing carbon (C) sequestration in terrestrial ecosystems (Piao et al 2009). This is largely ascribed to the rapid accumulation of tree biomass in the plantations (Chen et al 2017). However, the time and magnitude that the accumulated plant biomass could result in a C sink in soil remain debatable .…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Labile C dynamics reflect soil organic carbon sequestration capacity: Understory plants drive topsoil C process in subtropical forests

et al. 2019

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The huge background pool of soil organic carbon (SOC) is likely to impede the ready detection of SOC changes. We propose to explore SOC changes by monitoring the dynamics of soil labile organic carbon (LOC); namely if LOC could be largely retained in soils rather than respired rapidly, the SOC would be ready to be sequestered. The effects of the two major functional groups of plants, that is, canopy trees and understory plants, on SOC accumulation were then illustrated with this LOC-based approach. The characteristics of LOC and SOC of topsoils (0-20 cm) in a field manipulation experiment with 5-yr treatments of understory removal and tree girdling in both a young and a mature Eucalyptus plantations were examined. The concentration and potential turnover time of soil LOC were used to indicate the state of vegetation-induced C accumulation in soils, which were estimated by a sequential fumigation-incubation procedure. Soil natural abundances of 13 C and 15 N were measured to reflect the proportion of newly retained LOC in soils. We found that, in the young plantation, understory removal did not significantly affect both soil LOC and SOC concentrations, but significantly increased the potential turnover time of soil LOC. In contrast, in the mature plantation, understory removal significantly decreased soil LOC and SOC concentrations, but did not significantly alter the potential turnover time of soil LOC. However, tree girdling did not significantly affect SOC concentration, soil LOC concentration, or potential turnover time in either the young plantation or the mature plantation. These results demonstrated that understory plantderived C was one of the major components of LOC pool in topsoils, and it may be readily mineralized in the young plantation but accumulated as an important fraction of SOC in the mature plantation. This study suggests that the LOC-based approach is potentially useful in monitoring SOC changes and improves our understanding of how plant functional groups and soil fertility status could jointly affect LOC and SOC dynamics. In considering the great contribution of understory plants to SOC processes, we propose that understory plants should be maintained in subtropical plantation ecosystems.

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Effects of mowing and fertilization on soil quality in a semiarid grassland of North China

et al. 2020

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Soil quality has been defined as the capacity to sustain biological productivity and maintain environmental quality. Mowing and fertilization may affect ecosystem function through numerous soil properties, especially in semiarid grasslands where plant growth is limited by nutrient availability. However, the effects of grassland management on the trade‐off between soil quality and plant community structure is still unclear. Understanding the effect of land use type on soil quality is essential to adopt proper grassland management practices for a specific region. Principal component analysis was used to calculate a soil quality index (SQI) with 18 variables under the following treatments: control, mowing, nitrogen addition, and mowing plus nitrogen addition in August 2017 in a typical steppe of North China. This study showed that nitrogen addition significantly increased SQI by 0.82, field water capacity by 3.77%, soil capillary porosity by 3.30%, and soil available nitrogen content by 13.85 mg kg−1, but reduced soil aggregate proportion by 3.07%, microbial biomass nitrogen content by 7.74 mg kg−1, arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi by 0.02 μmol g−1, the ratio of fungus to bacteria by 0.16, and the ratio of Gram‐positive bacteria to Gram‐negative bacteria by 0.13 across the mowing and unmowing treatments. Nitrogen addition could improve productivity by increasing the soil quality but reduce plant diversity of the grassland ecosystems. Mowing did not affect SQI and aboveground biomass. The results suggested that fertilization as grassland management improved soil quality and productivity, whereas mowing was a sustainable way to maintain plant diversity in this semiarid grassland.

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Reforestation makes a minor contribution to soil carbon accumulation in the short term: Evidence from four subtropical plantations

Cited by 40 publications

References 47 publications

Dynamics of Understory Shrub Biomass in Six Young Plantations of Southern Subtropical China

Dynamics of Understory Shrub Biomass in Six Young Plantations of Southern Subtropical China

Labile C dynamics reflect soil organic carbon sequestration capacity: Understory plants drive topsoil C process in subtropical forests

Effects of mowing and fertilization on soil quality in a semiarid grassland of North China

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