Thinning of Beech Forests Stocking on Shallow Calcareous Soil Maintains Soil C and N Stocks in the Long Run

Abstract

Sustainable forest management should avoid disturbance and volatilization of the soil carbon (C) and nitrogen (N) stocks both under present and projected future climate. Earlier studies have shown that thinning of European beech forests induces a strong initial perturbation of the soil C and N cycles in shallow Rendzic Leptosol, which consists of lower soil N retention and strongly enhanced gaseous losses observed over several years. Persistence of these effects could decrease soil organic matter (SOM) levels and associated soil functions such as erosion protection, nutrient retention, and fertility. Therefore, we resampled untreated control and thinned stands a decade after thinning at sites representing both typical present day and projected future climatic conditions for European beech forests. We determined soil organic C and total N stocks, as well as δ 13 C and δ 15 N as integrators of changes in soil C and N cycles. Thinning did not alter these parameters at any of the sampled sites, indicating that initial effects on soil C and N cycles constitute short-term perturbations. Consequently, thinning may be considered a sustainable beech forest management strategy with regard to the maintenance of soil organic C and total N stocks both under present and future climate.

Enhancing Forest Sustainability: A Comprehensive Exploration of Thinning Practices and their Effects on Soil Chemical and Biochemical Properties

“…These decrease in SOM under beech may be considered a short-term perturbation induced by thinning. In fact, a study of Tejedor et al (2017) evidenced that thinning in a European beech stand did not remarkably affect SOC stocks at a timescale of ca. one decade after logging, highlighting the goodness of thinning as a sustainable beech forestry treatment from a soil ecological perspective [51].…”