Soil carbon and nitrogen content and stabilization in mid-rotation, intensively managed sweetgum and loblolly pine stands

Johnsen, Kurt H.; Samuelson, Lisa J.; Sanchez, Felipe G.; Eaton, Robert J.

doi:10.1016/j.foreco.2013.03.016

Cited by 9 publications

(8 citation statements)

References 56 publications

(68 reference statements)

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“…The present study found no effect of stand age or biomass accumulation on any soil C parameter using a chronosequence approach. These results are similar to reports from other southern pine plantations where little (Richter et al, 1999) or no increase in soil C was detectable over time (Markewitz et al, 2002;Johnson et al, 2003;Johnsen et al, 2013).…”

Section: Soc and Stand Agesupporting

confidence: 90%

Vertical distribution and persistence of soil organic carbon in fire-adapted longleaf pine forests

Butnor

Samuelson

Johnsen

et al. 2017

Forest Ecology and Management

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Longleaf pine (Pinus palustris Miller) forests in the southern United States are being restored and actively managed for a variety of goals including: forest products, biodiversity, C sequestration and forest resilience in the face of repeated disturbances from hurricanes and climate change. Managed southern pine forests can be sinks for atmospheric CO 2 in forest biomass; however, the persistence of biomass in the environment or in forest products is limited, thus making soil C the primary long-term pool. Little is known about the size of extant soil C pools, residence time of soil C or the role that frequent burning plays in C stabilization in longleaf pine ecosystems. We sampled soil from a chronosequence of longleaf pine stands ranging in age from 5 to 87 years to quantify the vertical distribution of soil organic carbon (SOC) stocks; both oxidizable (SOC OX) and oxidation resistant (SOC R) fractions, pyrogenic carbon (PyC) and the mean residence time (MRT) of SOC and its associated fractions. SOC stocks (0-1 m) ranged from 44.1 to 98.1 (= 77.0) Mg C ha-1 , and no effect of stand age or biomass accumulation on SOC stocks was detected. Soil C accumulation was associated with elevated clay and extractable Fe contents. While SOC concentration declined with soil depth, the proportion of SOC R in SOC increased with depth. PyC was a minor component of soil C, representing 5-7% of SOC and the proportion was not depth dependent. The MRT of SOC was hundreds of years near the surface and many thousands of years at depth. Though SOC R was less abundant than SOC OX , SOC R MRT was an order of magnitude greater than SOC OX MRT and had a strong influence on bulk SOC MRT. The majority of the PyC was in the less persistent SOC ox and not associated with long-term C storage in soil. Despite the flow of C from biomass in the form of decay products, litter fall, root turnover and pulses of PyC, these soils preserve little of recent inputs, which may be rapidly oxidized, lost to the atmosphere from periodic fires or, in the case of PyC, may be transported out of the system via erosion. Our results indicate that these soils were not strong sinks for atmospheric CO 2 , especially when compared to C accumulation in biomass.

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Section: Soc and Stand Agesupporting

confidence: 90%

Vertical distribution and persistence of soil organic carbon in fire-adapted longleaf pine forests

Butnor

Samuelson

Johnsen

et al. 2017

Forest Ecology and Management

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“…The relatively higher C input to the A1 horizon reflected a substantial contribution from aboveground litter to Cnew, as also indicated by the different  13 C signatures of the fLF and the roots (Table 2). Decreases in C and N concentration with depth have been reported previously (e.g., Johnsen et al 2013;Ostrowska & Porębska 2012) and are probably due to a lower SOM input (lower Cnew) in the A2 horizon combined with a different quality of the SOM entering the soil (Bowden et al 2014). The increases in C:N ratios of the oLF and fLF with depth were probably due to concurrent increases in the C:N ratio of the roots but could also originate from higher concentration of recalcitrant compounds (Brunn et al 2014).…”

Section: Effect Of Soil Depth On Som Turnoversupporting

confidence: 78%

Decrease in heathland soil labile organic carbon under future atmospheric and climatic conditions

2017

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“…Highly productive sites can retain large quantities of soil C as well as support stands with higher productivity, and soil C and consequently ecosystem C were related to SI in this study. Pinus taeda planted on former agricultural land in southwest Georgia contained 268 Mg C/ha in the upper 0.3 m of soil (Johnsen et al 2013) and a Pinus taeda plantation in the coastal plain of South Carolina contained 171 Mg C/ha in the upper 0.6 m (Maier et al 2012). Thus, soil C in the present study (32-98 Mg C/ha) was lower than values reported for highly productive sites.…”

Section: Density and Ecosystem Ccontrasting

confidence: 56%

“…Pinus taeda planted on former agricultural land in southwest Georgia contained 268 Mg C/ha in the upper 0.3 m of soil (Johnsen et al 2013) and a Pinus taeda plantation in the coastal plain of South Carolina contained 171 Mg C/ha in the upper 0.6 m (Maier et al 2012). Highly productive sites can retain large quantities of soil C as well as support stands with higher productivity, and soil C and consequently ecosystem C were related to SI in this study.…”

Section: Density and Ecosystem Cmentioning

confidence: 57%

Ecosystem carbon density and allocation across a chronosequence of longleaf pine forests

Samuelson

Stokes

Butnor

et al. 2017

Ecological Applications

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Forests can partially offset greenhouse gas emissions and contribute to climate change mitigation, mainly through increases in live biomass. We quantified carbon (C) density in 20 managed longleaf pine (Pinus palustris Mill.) forests ranging in age from 5 to 118 years located across the southeastern United States and estimated above- and belowground C trajectories. Ecosystem C stock (all pools including soil C) and aboveground live tree C increased nonlinearly with stand age and the modeled asymptotic maxima were 168 Mg C/ha and 80 Mg C/ha, respectively. Accumulation of ecosystem C with stand age was driven mainly by increases in aboveground live tree C, which ranged from <1 Mg C/ha to 74 Mg C/ha and comprised <1% to 39% of ecosystem C. Live root C (sum of below-stump C, ground penetrating radar measurement of lateral root C, and live fine root C) increased with stand age and represented 4-22% of ecosystem C. Soil C was related to site index, but not to stand age, and made up 39-92% of ecosystem C. Live understory C, forest floor C, downed dead wood C, and standing dead wood C were small fractions of ecosystem C in these frequently burned stands. Stand age and site index accounted for 76% of the variation in ecosystem C among stands. The mean root-to-shoot ratio calculated as the average across all stands (excluding the grass-stage stand) was 0.54 (standard deviation of 0.19) and higher than reports for other conifers. Long-term accumulation of live tree C, combined with the larger role of belowground accumulation of lateral root C than in other forest types, indicates a role of longleaf pine forests in providing disturbance-resistant C storage that can balance the more rapid C accumulation and C removal associated with more intensively managed forests. Although other managed southern pine systems sequester more C over the short-term, we suggest that longleaf pine forests can play a meaningful role in regional forest C management.

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Soil carbon and nitrogen content and stabilization in mid-rotation, intensively managed sweetgum and loblolly pine stands

Cited by 9 publications

References 56 publications

Vertical distribution and persistence of soil organic carbon in fire-adapted longleaf pine forests

Vertical distribution and persistence of soil organic carbon in fire-adapted longleaf pine forests

Decrease in heathland soil labile organic carbon under future atmospheric and climatic conditions

Ecosystem carbon density and allocation across a chronosequence of longleaf pine forests

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