Spatial variability of forest floor and topsoil thicknesses and their relation to topography and forest stand characteristics in managed forests of Norway spruce and European beech

Zajícová, Kateřina; Chuman, Tomáš

doi:10.1007/s10342-020-01316-1

Cited by 7 publications

(2 citation statements)

References 46 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Order By: Relevance

“…The results from this study demonstrate the potential of terrain indices for modelling soil moisture across the landscape when the optimal scales and thresholds are selected for the calculations. Terrain indices have been related to soil properties Zajícová and Chuman, 2021), ecological studies (Zinko et al, 2005;Bartels et al, 2018) and site productivity Bjelanovic et al, 2018) and will likely develop further as a useful tool within many fields of study. However, it should be recognized that the predictive power of terrain indices is limited by the non-topographical drivers of the spatial variation in soil moisture, which will always be significant and rarely less than 50 % (Western et al, 1999).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Soil moisture conditions control nutrient accumulation, carbon storage and tree growth in boreal forest landscapes

Larson

2023

Acta Universitatis Agriculturae Sueciae

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Forest and soil properties change across landscapes due to the complex interactions between various environmental factors. In many landscapes, topography exerts a major influence on the variation in soil moisture conditions, which in turn largely affects soil properties and processes. This thesis synthesises the results from four studies (papers I-IV), with the underlying aim to increase the understanding of how environmental factors, in particular, soil moisture, control the variation of nutrient accumulation, carbon storage, and tree growth within boreal landscapes. The four studies were all based on an extensive survey of a 68 km2 boreal forest landscape in northern Sweden. In Paper I, soil moisture conditions were predicted using multiple terrain indices. The results emphasised within-study validation and how digital elevation model resolution together with user-defined thresholds influence prediction accuracy. Paper II focused on how multiple environmental drivers influence the variation in soil carbon-to-nitrogen (C/N) ratios, with a noteworthy result that the ratio decreases as soil moisture conditions increase. Paper III presented how, soil moisture conditions significantly controls the distribution and partitioning of carbon stocks, with large increases in total carbon stock observed as soil moisture conditions increases, which was observed at both plot and landscape scale. The results in paper IV showed that, estimates of forest site quality decrease in response to increased soil moisture conditions. In conclusion, the research discussed in this thesis emphasises the importance of studying forest ecosystems on a landscape scale, an approach that can provide key insights into the factors that influence variation of different attributes of boreal forest ecosystems.

show abstract

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Soil moisture conditions control nutrient accumulation, carbon storage and tree growth in boreal forest landscapes

Larson

2023

Acta Universitatis Agriculturae Sueciae

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…The results from this study demonstrate the potential of terrain indices for modelling soil moisture across the landscape when the optimal scales and thresholds are selected for the calculations. Terrain indices have been related to soil properties Zajícová and Chuman, 2021), ecological studies (Zinko et al, 2005;Bartels et al, 2018) and site productivity (Mohamedou et al, 2017;Bjelanovic et al, 2018) and will likely develop further as a useful tool within many fields of study. However, it should be recognized that the predictive power of terrain indices is limited by the non-topographical drivers of the spatial variation in soil moisture, which will always be significant and rarely less than 50 % (Western et al, 1999).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Predicting soil moisture conditions across a heterogeneous boreal catchment using terrain indices

Larson

Lidberg

Ågren

et al. 2022

Hydrol. Earth Syst. Sci.

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Abstract. Soil moisture has important implications for drought and flooding forecasting, forest fire prediction and water supply management. However, mapping soil moisture has remained a scientific challenge due to forest canopy cover and small-scale variations in soil moisture conditions. When accurately scaled, terrain indices constitute a good candidate for modelling the spatial variation of soil moisture conditions in many landscapes. In this study, we evaluated seven different terrain indices at varying digital elevation model (DEM) resolutions and user-defined thresholds as well as two available soil moisture maps, using an extensive field dataset (398 plots) of soil moisture conditions registered in five classes from a survey covering a (68 km2) boreal landscape. We found that the variation in soil moisture conditions could be explained by terrain indices, and the best predictors within the studied landscape were the depth to water index (DTW) and a machine-learning-generated map. Furthermore, this study showed a large difference between terrain indices in the effects of changing DEM resolution and user-defined thresholds, which severely affected the performance of the predictions. For example, the commonly used topographic wetness index (TWI) performed best on a resolution of 16 m, while TWI calculated on DEM resolutions higher than 4 m gave inaccurate results. In contrast, depth to water (DTW) and elevation above stream (EAS) were more stable and performed best on 1–2 m DEM resolution. None of the terrain indices performed best on the highest DEM resolution of 0.5 m. In addition, this study highlights the challenges caused by heterogeneous soil types within the study area and shows the need of local knowledge when interpreting the modelled results. The results from this study clearly demonstrate that when using terrain indices to represent soil moisture conditions, modelled results need to be validated, as selecting an unsuitable DEM resolution or user-defined threshold can give ambiguous and even incorrect results.

show abstract

Spatial distribution and influencing factors of humus layer thickness of forest land in permafrost region of Northeast China

Man

Dong

et al. 2023

CATENA

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Spatial variability of forest floor and topsoil thicknesses and their relation to topography and forest stand characteristics in managed forests of Norway spruce and European beech

Cited by 7 publications

References 46 publications

Soil moisture conditions control nutrient accumulation, carbon storage and tree growth in boreal forest landscapes

Soil moisture conditions control nutrient accumulation, carbon storage and tree growth in boreal forest landscapes

Predicting soil moisture conditions across a heterogeneous boreal catchment using terrain indices

Spatial distribution and influencing factors of humus layer thickness of forest land in permafrost region of Northeast China

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About