Soil carbon and nitrogen through twenty years of intensive plantation forest management

IF 3.7 2区农林科学 Q1 FORESTRY

Forest Ecology and Management Pub Date : 2025-02-05 DOI:10.1016/j.foreco.2025.122548

Shea A. Hoffman, Dehai Zhao, Daniel Markewitz

{"title":"Soil carbon and nitrogen through twenty years of intensive plantation forest management","authors":"Shea A. Hoffman, Dehai Zhao, Daniel Markewitz","doi":"10.1016/j.foreco.2025.122548","DOIUrl":null,"url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Understanding the effects of silvicultural practices on soil carbon (C) and nitrogen (N) is critical for sustainable forest management. This study investigates how fertilization and vegetation control impact soil C and N concentrations and contents in <em>Pinus taeda</em> plantations across four sites in Georgia, USA. This study considers soil depths of 0–10, 10–30, and 30–50 cm and stand ages of ∼10 and ∼30 years. We hypothesized that vegetation control would reduce soil C and N by limiting belowground inputs from understory vegetation, while fertilization would enhance soil C and N by increasing productivity and suppressing microbial decomposition. Results showed that vegetation control reduced mineral soil C and N by 10 % through 50 cm; however, compensatory accumulation in the forest floor and aboveground biomass led to overall gains in ecosystem C and N. Fertilization increased C and N in the forest floor but did not have an effect on mineral soil through 50 cm. Increasing stand age resulted in insignificant changes in mineral soil C, while mineral soil N increased d by 21 % at the well-drained Piedmont site (Eatonton) and decreased by 36 % at the poorly drained lower coastal plain location (Waycross). Mineral soil N increase in all treatments at Eatonton reflect an unexplained ecosystem-level N input. Intensive management practices such as complete understory vegetation control have repeatedly been demonstrated to deplete mineral soil C and N while fertilization has relatively little effect on soil C or N.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":12350,"journal":{"name":"Forest Ecology and Management","volume":"580 ","pages":"Article 122548"},"PeriodicalIF":3.7000,"publicationDate":"2025-02-05","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":"0","resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":null,"PeriodicalName":"Forest Ecology and Management","FirstCategoryId":"97","ListUrlMain":"https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0378112725000568","RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"农林科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":null,"EPubDate":"","PubModel":"","JCR":"Q1","JCRName":"FORESTRY","Score":null,"Total":0}

引用次数: 0

Abstract

Understanding the effects of silvicultural practices on soil carbon (C) and nitrogen (N) is critical for sustainable forest management. This study investigates how fertilization and vegetation control impact soil C and N concentrations and contents in Pinus taeda plantations across four sites in Georgia, USA. This study considers soil depths of 0–10, 10–30, and 30–50 cm and stand ages of ∼10 and ∼30 years. We hypothesized that vegetation control would reduce soil C and N by limiting belowground inputs from understory vegetation, while fertilization would enhance soil C and N by increasing productivity and suppressing microbial decomposition. Results showed that vegetation control reduced mineral soil C and N by 10 % through 50 cm; however, compensatory accumulation in the forest floor and aboveground biomass led to overall gains in ecosystem C and N. Fertilization increased C and N in the forest floor but did not have an effect on mineral soil through 50 cm. Increasing stand age resulted in insignificant changes in mineral soil C, while mineral soil N increased d by 21 % at the well-drained Piedmont site (Eatonton) and decreased by 36 % at the poorly drained lower coastal plain location (Waycross). Mineral soil N increase in all treatments at Eatonton reflect an unexplained ecosystem-level N input. Intensive management practices such as complete understory vegetation control have repeatedly been demonstrated to deplete mineral soil C and N while fertilization has relatively little effect on soil C or N.

查看原文本刊更多论文

求助全文

约1分钟内获得全文求助全文

来源期刊

Forest Ecology and Management 农林科学-林学

CiteScore

7.50

自引率

10.80%

发文量

665

审稿时长

39 days

期刊介绍： Forest Ecology and Management publishes scientific articles linking forest ecology with forest management, focusing on the application of biological, ecological and social knowledge to the management and conservation of plantations and natural forests. The scope of the journal includes all forest ecosystems of the world. A peer-review process ensures the quality and international interest of the manuscripts accepted for publication. The journal encourages communication between scientists in disparate fields who share a common interest in ecology and forest management, bridging the gap between research workers and forest managers. We encourage submission of papers that will have the strongest interest and value to the Journal''s international readership. Some key features of papers with strong interest include: 1. Clear connections between the ecology and management of forests; 2. Novel ideas or approaches to important challenges in forest ecology and management; 3. Studies that address a population of interest beyond the scale of single research sites, Three key points in the design of forest experiments, Forest Ecology and Management 255 (2008) 2022-2023); 4. Review Articles on timely, important topics. Authors are welcome to contact one of the editors to discuss the suitability of a potential review manuscript. The Journal encourages proposals for special issues examining important areas of forest ecology and management. Potential guest editors should contact any of the Editors to begin discussions about topics, potential papers, and other details.