The effect of coppice management on the structure, tree growth and soil nutrients in temperate Turkey

Abstract

ABSTRACT:Coppicing was widespread throughout Europe for many centuries but was largely abandoned in the second half of the 19 th century. Currently, there has been a renewed interest in coppicing for biomass production and nature conservation.We studied differences in soil chemistry and tree growth between active and abandoned coppices to highlight the impacts of coppice restoration on soil fertility and tree. Stand structure, collected soil samples and tree cores were compared on 46 research plots in temperate Turkey. The plots were set as actively managed and abandoned coppice stand. In our study no effect of coppicing on growth rate was confirmed. Active coppice stands had lower content of Ca, K, N and C:N and higher soil acidification than abandoned coppices. The tree growth rate was significantly higher on more nutrient-rich soils. Coppice restoration may not result in increased biomass production in long-term periods due to a negative effect on soil fertility.

Canonical Correlation Analysis across Vegetation and Soil Properties of the Disturbed and Undisturbed Coastal Forest Ecosystems

“…bulk density, electric conductivity and soil texture in this work) in agreement with [10]. From these findings, it can be predicted that any land use change, which affects the tree stand parameters has some impacts on soil nutrients [9,27]. It is from this predicted and established reciprocal relationship where the results revealed strong correlation of stand parameters in closed forest site than in the disturbed ones.…”

“…Different processes and activities occurring in forest ecosystems affect forest structural parameters by providing favorable or unfavorable conditions [2,6]. Disturbances affect the ecological relationship between forest vegetation and soils [8,9,10,11]. In essence, human induced disturbances bring soil degradation, which is defined in this study as any physical or chemical alteration of the soils caused by different operations in forest ecosystems [1].…”

“…The above-ground forest disturbances are related with under-ground status because there is a close relationship between forest and land use management on species diversity and soils conditions [9]. For example, low species diversity in disturbed areas is associated with low values of soil elements such as carbon, nitrogen and phosphorus [10].…”

Litter quality, land-use history, and nitrogen deposition effects on topsoil conditions across European temperate deciduous forests

“…higher bulk density, pH, phosphorus levels and exchangeable base cations, and lower carbon stocks and C/N-ratios than ancient forest soils (Blondeel et al, 2018;Compton and Boone, 2000;Falkengren-Grerup et al, 2006;Holmes and Matlack, 2018;McLauchlan, 2006;Prévosto et al, 2004;Verheyen et al, 1999). Effects of (past) forest management on topsoil conditions might be more subtle and are less understood, with differing results across studies (Fraterrigo et al, 2005;Hölscher et al, 2001;Ringeval et al, 2017;Šrámek et al, 2015;Thiffault et al, 2011). Particularly interesting and still debated remains the question of how historically important management practices such as coppicing may have altered nutrient cycling and soil conditions (Buckley, 1992;Hédl and Rejšek, 2007;Hölscher et al, 2001;Šrámek et al, 2015).…”

Short‐term Impact of Coppice Management on Soil in a Quercus ilex l. Stand of Sardinia

“…Indeed, the biomass removal may possibly have undesirable impacts on soil functions, water cycle, site productivity, biodiversity and atmospheric systems (Williams, 2003;Lattimore et al, 2009;Ojea et al, 2012;Gamfeldt et al, 2013). As far as soil is concerned, organic matter depletion (Rubio & Escudero, 2003;Noormets et al, 2015), nutrient losses (Ranger & Nys, 1996;Pyttel et al, 2015;Šrámek et al, 2015), changes in bulk density or porosity (Worrell & Hampson, 1997;Cambi et al, 2015) and accelerated erosion (Swanston & Swanson, 1976;Derose et al, 1993;Greer et al, 1996;Kitahara et al, 2000;Stott et al, 2001;Borrelli & Schütt, 2014;Borrelli et al, 2016) are the most detected negative impacts. As regards this latter impact, the importance of the interaction between vegetation cover and soil erosion has been highlighted by many studies (Cerdà, 1998;Feng et al, 2015;Ola et al, 2015).…”