The Influence of Forest Management and Changed Hydrology on Soil Biochemical Properties in a Central-European Floodplain Forest

Abstract

Anthropogenic modifications to water regimes are one of the main factors threatening the stability and existence of floodplain forests. This study presents an analysis of topsoil biogeochemistry within three floodplain forest stands with different levels of human alteration. Decreasing contents of soil organic carbon (OC) and microbial biomass were observed along the gradient from natural to plantation forest. High annual variations were observed in soil N contents and in microbial biomass, while comparable spatial variations were observed within the natural forest. High ground-water levels resulted in increased accumulation of available Na+ and SO42− in the natural forest soil, yet the concentrations of ions were at sub-saline levels. The increasing contents of available Mn, SO42− or Cl− had mostly positive effects on soil microbial activity across the sites, though the results indicate the existence of a certain ecological limit for soil microorganisms. Reintroduction of surface-water flooding should be considered in future forest and water management to promote the dilution of ions accumulated in soils and natural deposition of sediments rich in organic matter (OM) at the sites.

Analysis of Missouri Floodplain Soils Along the Mississippi River and an Assessment of Ecosystem Services

“…The long-term agroforestry plots exhibited the smallest CO 2 and N 2 O emissions. In a central European forest, Valtera et al [9] investigated anthropogenic changes to water regimes, documenting that humanaltered water regimes frequently threaten the stability and existence of floodplain forests. Soil organic carbon and microbial biomass deceased on transition from pristine natural floodplain forests to plantation forests.…”

Influences of channel and floodplain modification on expansion of woody vegetation into Catahoula Lake, Louisiana, USA

“…Wetland ecosystems are defined by complex disturbance regimes that control vegetation communities (Kirkman et al, 2000; Sharitz & Pennings, 2006; Ward et al, 2002) including both spatially and temporally variable hydrologic conditions (Wheeler, 1999) and other disturbance agents such as fire (e.g., Davis et al, 2002). Plant composition in turn creates feedbacks to geomorphology (Gurnell, 2014), biogeochemistry (Li et al, 2014; Valtera et al, 2021), and hydrology (Muneepeerakul et al, 2008; Scott et al, 2006), which can lead to ecological instability if the type, magnitude, frequency, or duration of disturbances change (Foti et al, 2013). However, it can be difficult to isolate specific causal processes for ecological changes in individual wetlands, both because there are often multiple alterations and because specific mechanisms controlling ecosystems are not sufficiently understood.…”