Does tree species composition control soil organic carbon pools in Mediterranean mountain forests?

2011 ◽  
Vol 262 (10) ◽  
pp. 1895-1904 ◽  
Author(s):  
Eugenio Díaz-Pinés ◽  
Agustín Rubio ◽  
Helga Van Miegroet ◽  
Fernando Montes ◽  
Marta Benito
Keyword(s):  
Organic Carbon ◽  
Soil Organic Carbon ◽  
Species Composition ◽  
Tree Species ◽  
Carbon Pools ◽  
Control Soil ◽  
Mountain Forests ◽  
Tree Species Composition ◽  
Composition Control ◽  
Soil Organic Carbon Pools

Loss of available soil organic carbon from afforestation plots: effect of tree species composition and warming

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Zhenhui Jiang ◽  
Anna Gunina ◽  
Lucas Merz ◽  
Yihe Yang ◽  
Yakov Kuzyakov ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Organic Carbon ◽  
Soil Organic Carbon ◽  
Species Composition ◽  
Temperature Sensitivity ◽  
Tree Species ◽  
Enzyme Activities ◽  
Environmental Changes ◽  
European Beech ◽  
Microbial Biomass C ◽  
Tree Species Composition

<p>Afforestation with pure and mixed-species is an important strategy to improve soil organic carbon (SOC) stocks and restore degraded lands. However, what remains unclear is the stability of SOC to microbial degradation after afforestation and the effect of tree species composition. Moreover, it is important to reveal how sensitive the SOC in afforestation lands is to environmental changes, such as warming. To study the combined effects of warming and the tree species composition on decomposition of SOC by microorganisms and enzyme activities, soils were collected from the monocultural and mixtures of Silver birch (Betula Pendula) and European beech (Fagus Silvatica) (BangorDiversity, UK, 12 years since afforestation) and were incubated for 169 days at 0, 10, 20, 30 °C at 60 % of WHC. The field experiment is arranged into a completely randomized design with n=4. The CO<sub>2</sub> efflux was measured constantly, whereas activities of β-glucosidase, chitinase and acid phosphatase, and content of microbial biomass C (MBC) were obtained at the end of the incubation. Results showed that soil cumulative CO<sub>2</sub> efflux increased by 34.7–107% with the temperature. Potential enzyme activities were dependent on tree species composition. Warming, but not tree species exhibited a significant impact on the temperature sensitivity (Q10) of soil cumulative CO<sub>2</sub> efflux and enzyme activities. The greatest temperature sensitivity (Q<sub>10</sub>) of total CO<sub>2</sub> efflux was found at 10–20 °C and was 2.0–2.1, but that of enzyme activities were found as 0.9–1.1 at 0–10 °C. These results suggest that warming has an asynchronous effect on the SOC decomposition and enzyme activity, and enzymes cannot account for the temperature sensitivity of soil respiration. Thus, thermal adaptations of SOC mineralization is independent of the adaptation of the enzyme pool.</p>

scholarly journals Effect of Long-Term Soil Management Practices on Tree Growth, Yield and Soil Biodiversity in a High-Density Olive Agro-Ecosystem

Agronomy ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (6) ◽  
pp. 1036
Author(s):  
Sauro Simoni ◽  
Giovanni Caruso ◽  
Nadia Vignozzi ◽  
Riccardo Gucci ◽  
Giuseppe Valboa ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Organic Carbon ◽  
Soil Organic Carbon ◽  
Soil Structure ◽  
Soil Management ◽  
Carbon Pools ◽  
Grass Cover ◽  
Soil Biodiversity ◽  
Canopy Effect ◽  
Soil Organic Carbon Pools

Edaphic arthropod communities provide valuable information about the prevailing status of soil quality to improve the functionality and long-term sustainability of soil management. The study aimed at evaluating the effect of plant and grass cover on the functional biodiversity and soil characteristics in a mature olive orchard (Olea europaea L.) managed for ten years by two conservation soil managements: natural grass cover (NC) and conservation tillage (CT). The trees under CT grew and yielded more than those under NC during the period of increasing yields (years 4–7) but not when they reached full production. Soil management did not affect the tree root density. Collecting samples underneath the canopy (UC) and in the inter-row space (IR), the edaphic environment was characterized by soil structure, hydrological properties, the concentration and storage of soil organic carbon pools and the distribution of microarthropod communities. The soil organic carbon pools (total and humified) were negatively affected by minimum tillage in IR, but not UC, without a loss in fruit and oil yield. The assemblages of microarthropods benefited, firstly, from the grass cover, secondly, from the canopy effect, and thirdly, from a soil structure ensuring a high air capacity and water storage. Feeding functional groups—hemiedaphic macrosaprophages, polyphages and predators—resulted in selecting the ecotonal microenvironment between the surface and edaphic habitat.

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