Variation of key elements in soils and plant tissues in subalpine forests of the northern Rocky Mountains, USA

Pompeani, David P.; McLauchlan, Kendra K.; Chileen, B.; Wolf, Kyra D.; Higuera, Philip E.

doi:10.5194/bg-2018-443

Cited by 2 publications

(1 citation statement)

References 12 publications

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“…These traits, such as bark thickness, seed dispersal distance, and serotiny, vary in subalpine forests of the western US. Finally, nutrient-related plant traits such as foliar N concentration have the potential to create feedbacks with ecosystem primary productivity [19,20] but these are difficult to quantify on decadal or shorter timeframes. Ultimately, regional-scale variation in carbon trajectories will also depend on other site characteristics, such as the local climate.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Post-Fire Carbon Dynamics in Subalpine Forests of the Rocky Mountains

Bartowitz

Higuera

Shuman

et al. 2019

Fire

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Forests store a large amount of terrestrial carbon, but this storage capacity is vulnerable to wildfire. Combustion, and subsequent tree mortality and soil erosion, can lead to increased carbon release and decreased carbon uptake. Previous work has shown that non-constant fire return intervals over the past 4000 years strongly shaped subalpine forest carbon trajectories. The extent to which fire-regime variability has impacted carbon trajectories in other subalpine forest types is unknown. Here, we explored the interactions between fire and carbon dynamics of 14 subalpine watersheds in Colorado, USA. We tested the impact of varying fire frequency over a ~2000 year period on ecosystem productivity and carbon storage using an improved biogeochemical model. High fire frequency simulations had overall lower carbon stocks across all sites compared to scenarios with lower fire frequencies, highlighting the importance of fire-frequency in determining ecosystem carbon storage. Additionally, variability in fire-free periods strongly influenced carbon trajectories across all the sites. Biogeochemical trajectories (e.g., increasing or decreasing total ecosystem carbon and carbon-to-nitrogen (C:N) ratios) did not vary among forest types but there were trends that they may vary by elevation. Lower-elevations sites had lower overall soil C:N ratios, potentially because of higher fire frequencies reducing carbon inputs more than nitrogen losses over time. Additional measurements of ecosystem response to fire-regime variability will be essential for improving estimates of carbon dynamics from Earth system models.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Post-Fire Carbon Dynamics in Subalpine Forests of the Rocky Mountains

Bartowitz

Higuera

Shuman

et al. 2019

Fire

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Frequent burning causes large losses of carbon from deep soil layers in a temperate savanna

et al. 2020

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1. Fire activity is changing dramatically across the globe, with uncertain effects on ecosystem processes, especially below-ground. Fire-driven losses of soil carbon (C) are often assumed to occur primarily in the upper soil layers because the repeated combustion of above-ground biomass limits organic matter inputs into surface soil. However, C losses from deeper soil may occur if frequent burning reduces root biomass inputs of C into deep soil layers or stimulates losses of C via leaching and priming. 2. To assess the effects of fire on soil C, we sampled 12 plots in a 51-year-long fire frequency manipulation experiment in a temperate oak savanna, where variation in prescribed burning frequency has created a gradient in vegetation structure from closed-canopy forest in unburned plots to open-canopy savanna in frequently burned plots. 3. Soil C stocks were nonlinearly related to fire frequency, with soil C peaking in savanna plots burned at an intermediate fire frequency and declining in the most frequently burned plots. Losses from deep soil pools were significant, with the absolute difference between intermediately burned plots versus most frequently burned plots more than doubling when the full 1 m sample was considered rather than the top 0-20 cm alone (losses of 98.5 Mg C/ha [−76%] and 42.3 Mg C/ha [−68%] in the full 1 m and 0-20 cm layers respectively). Compared to unburned forested plots, the most frequently burned plots had 65.8 Mg C/ ha (−58%) less C in the full 1 m sample. Root biomass below the top 20 cm also declined by 39% with more frequent burning. Concurrent fire-driven losses of nitrogen and gains in calcium and phosphorus suggest that burning may increase nitrogen limitation and play a key role in the calcium and phosphorus cycles in temperate savannas.

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Variation of key elements in soils and plant tissues in subalpine forests of the northern Rocky Mountains, USA

Cited by 2 publications

References 12 publications

Post-Fire Carbon Dynamics in Subalpine Forests of the Rocky Mountains

Post-Fire Carbon Dynamics in Subalpine Forests of the Rocky Mountains

Frequent burning causes large losses of carbon from deep soil layers in a temperate savanna

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