Soc stock in different forest-related land-uses in central Stara planina mountain, Bulgaria

Abstract

Forest conversions may lead to an accumulation of carbon in vegetation, but little is known about changes in soil C storage with establishment of plantation forests. Understanding these effects is important to addressing issues relevant to ecosystem function and productivity, and to global balance of carbon. The study investigated the effects of the created coniferous plantations on former beech and pasture sites on the soil organic carbon storage. The major forest-related land-uses in the high mountainous regions of central Stara Planina Mountain were investigated: mountainous pasture, coniferous plantations (planted on previous pasture and beech forests between four and five decades ago) and natural beech forests. The experimental data of soil properties, conducted in 2005, 2006 and 2007, were used in determining the variations in organic carbon storage in forest litter and in mineral soil under different land-use patterns. At each site five representative soil profiles were opened and described giving a total 75 soil samples from the soil layers respectively at 0-10, 10-30 and 30-50 cm depth. A total of 55 samples from forest floor layers (Aol, Aof, Aoh and greensward) were collected with 25:25 cm plastic frame. The main soil properties were determined in accordance with the standardized methods in the Laboratory of soil science at the Forest Research Institute - BAS. The IPCC Good Practice Guidance for Land Use, Land Use Change and Forestry was used to estimate the soil organic carbon stock in soil and litter. The results obtained showed that the SOC stock was quite similar among forest land-uses. The conversion of natural beech forests to coniferous plantations in studied region is related with slightly expressed decrease in soil carbon storage. The values of SOC stocks in 0-50 cm soil layer in these sites were 8.5 (±2.1) tones/ha for pine and 11.0 (±1.4) tones/ha for spruce, while under the natural beech forest it was 14.8 (±1.0) tones/ha. The SOC stock in mountainous pasture was 20.7 (± 6.5) tones/ha, while in spruce plantation created on previous pasture it was 13.5 (±2.7) tones/ha. Our finding showed that forest conversions effect in central Stara Planina Mountain is expressed by decrease in SOC stock related with losses of carbon from the upper mineral soil decades after creation of coniferous plantations. Nevertheless the relatively large organic carbon storage in forest litter in the spruce plantations compensated C lost from mineral soil after the land-use change. The overall carbon stock both in forest litter and soil under plantations ranged from 56 tones/ha (pine) to 77 tones/ha (spruce), while under natural beech forest and pasture the values were 70 and 81 tones/ha respectively. But in terms of stability C sequestrated in mineral soil is more desirable than C sequestrated in forest floor which are more vulnerable to decomposition following disturbances. The application of silvicultural activities in coniferous plantations created by conversion of forest lands or grasslands in the region of centr...

Assessment and mapping the dynamics of soil properties in selected forest stands from the region of Central Balkan National Park in the context of ecosystem services

“…6). The estimates are classified in scale 1-5, which allows a wide application of the approach in the ecosystem services assessments with regard to different natural, social and economic parameters (Crossman et al 2013, Zhiyanski et al 2016, Avetisyan et al 2016.…”

“…1). The integration of ecological indicators that provide information about the environmental status, conditions and interconnections between the landscape components provide opportunities for assessment of the present ecological condition and trends , Kandziora et al 2013, Maes et al 2016, Müller and Burkhard 2012, Tammi et al 2017, Zhiyanski et al 2009, Zhiyanski et al 2008. For the realisation of the objectives of the present research, the authors apply the ecosystem services concept that allows the assessment and mapping of the dynamics in soil properties in forest ecosystems.…”

“…In addition, countries shall align the monitoring networks with the analytical framework developed by the EU initiative on Mapping and Assessment of Ecosystems and their Services -MAES in line with the actions in support of the EU Biodiversity Strategy to 2020. Most recently, the MAES initiative was set up in Bulgaria through several case studies (Boyanova et al 2014, Zhiyanski et al 2016, Nedkov et al 2017, Yaneva 2016) and introduced on a national level with projects such as TUNESinURB, IBBIS, ESMERALDA and EnROUTE. In the project MetEcosMap, a national methodological framework to assess and to map ecosystems' condition and ecosystem services according to MAES was developed, based on assessment of indicators for the delivery of services in reference to the Common International Classification of Ecosystem Services ( CICES) V 4-3 classification.…”

“…There are studies that document the ecological status, dynamics and carbon accumulation in forest vegetation in Bulgaria Lyubenova 2014, Dimitrova et al 2015), studies that focus on the health status of the Central Balkan region (Rossnev et al 2008, Rossnev et al 2010a, Rossnev et al 2010b) and on forest soil properties (Sokolovska and Zhiyanski 2007, Zhiyanski et al 2008, Zhiyanski et al 2009). …”