Abstract. The use of organic soils by agriculture involves drainage and tillage, and the resulting increase in C and N turnover can significantly affect their greenhouse gas balance. This study estimated annual fluxes of CH 4 and N 2 O, and ecosystem respiration (R eco ), from eight organic soils managed by agriculture. The sites were located in three regions representing different landscape types and climatic conditions, and three land use categories were covered (arable crops, AR, grass in rotation, RG, and permanent grass, PG). The normal management at each site was followed, except that no N inputs occurred during the monitoring period from August 2008 to October 2009. The stratified sampling strategy further included six sampling points in three blocks at each site. Environmental variables (precipitation, PAR, air and soil temperature, soil moisture, groundwater level) were monitored continuously and during sampling campaigns, where also groundwater samples were taken for analysis. Gaseous fluxes were monitored on a three-weekly basis, giving 51, 49 and 38 field campaigns for land use categories AR, PG and RG, respectively. Climatic conditions in each region during monitoring were representative as compared to 20-yr averages. Peat layers were shallow, typically 0.5 to 1 m, and with a pH of 4 to 5. At six sites annual emissions of N 2 O were in the range 3 to 24 kg N 2 O-N ha −1 , but at two arable sites (spring barley, potato) net emissions of 38 and 61 kg N 2 O-N ha −1 were recorded. The two highemitting sites were characterized by fluctuating groundwater, low soil pH and elevated groundwater SO 2− 4 concentrations. Annual fluxes of CH 4 were generally small, as expected, ranging from 2 to 4 kg CH 4 ha −1 . However, two permanent grasslands had tussocks of Juncus effusus L. (soft rush) in sampling points that were consistent sources of CH 4 throughout the year. Emission factors for organic soils in rotation and with permanent grass, respectively, were estimated to be 0.011 and 0.47 g m −2 for CH 4 , and 2.5 and 0.5 g m −2 for N 2 O. This first documentation of CH 4 and N 2 O emissions from managed organic soils in Denmark confirms the levels and wide ranges of emissions previously reported for the Nordic countries. However, the stratified experimental design also identified links between gaseous emissions and site-specific conditions with respect to soil, groundwater and vegetation which point to areas of future research that may account for part of the variability and hence lead to improved emission factors or models.
Forest ecosystems in central Europe are predicted to face an increasing frequency and severity of summer droughts because of global climate change. European beech and Norway spruce often coexist in these forests with mostly positive effects on their growth. However, their different below-ground responses to drought may lead to differences in ectomycorrhizal (ECM) fungal community composition and functions which we examined at the individual root and ecosystem levels. We installed retractable roofs over plots in Kranzberg Forest (11°39'42″E, 48°25'12″N; 490 m a.s.l.) to impose repeated summer drought conditions and assigned zones within each plot where trees neighboured the same or different species to study mixed species effects. We found that ECM fungal community composition changed and the numbers of vital mycorrhizae decreased for both tree species over 3 drought years (2014-2016), with the ECM fungal community diversity of beech exhibiting a faster and of spruce a stronger decline. Mixed stands had a positive effect on the ECM fungal community diversity of both tree species after the third drought year. Ectomycorrhizae with long rhizomorphs increased in both species under drought, indicating long-distance water transport. However, there was a progressive decline in the number of vital fine roots during the experiment, resulting in a strong reduction in enzyme activity per unit volume of soil. Hydrolytic enzyme activities of the surviving ectomycorrhizae were stable or stimulated upon drought, but there was a large decline in ECM fungal species with laccase activity, indicating a decreased potential to exploit nutrients bound to phenolic compounds. Thus, the ectomycorrhizae responded to repeated drought by maintaining or increasing their functionality at the individual root level, but were unable to compensate for quantitative losses at the ecosystem level. These findings demonstrate a strong below-ground impact of recurrent drought events in forests.
The use of organic soils by agriculture involves drainage and tillage, and the resulting increase in C and N turnover can significantly affect their greenhouse gas balance. This study estimated annual fluxes of CH4 and N2O, and ecosystem respiration (Reco), from eight organic soils managed by agriculture. The sites were located in three regions representing different landscape types and climatic conditions, and three land use categories (arable crops, AR, grass in rotation, RG, and permanent grass, PG) were covered. The normal management at each site was followed, except that no N inputs occurred during the monitoring period from August 2008 to October 2009. The stratified sampling strategy further included six sampling points in three blocks at each site. Environmental variables (precipitation, PAR, air and soil temperature, soil moisture, groundwater level) were monitored continuously and during sampling campaigns, where also groundwater samples were taken for analysis. Gaseous fluxes were monitored on a three-weekly basis, giving 51, 49 and 38 field campaigns for land use categories AR, PG and RG, respectively. Climatic conditions in each region during monitoring were representative based on 20-yr averages. Peat layers were shallow, typically 0.5 to 1 m, and with a pH of 4–5. At six sites annual emissions of N2O were in the range 3 to 24 kg N2O-N ha−1, but at two arable sites (spring barley, potato) net emissions of 38 and 61 kg N2O-N ha−1 were recorded. Both were characterized by fluctuating groundwater with elevated SO42− concentrations. Annual fluxes of CH4 were generally small, as expected, ranging from –2 to 4 kg CH4 ha−1. However, two permanent grasslands had tussocks of Juncus effusus (soft rush) in sampling points that were consistent sources of CH4 throughout the year. Emission factors for organic soils in rotation and permanent grass, respectively, were estimated to be 0.011 and 0.47 g m−2 for CH4, and 2.5 and 0.5 g m−2 for N2O. This first documentation of CH4 and N2O emissions from managed organic soils in Denmark confirms the levels and wide ranges of emissions previously reported for this region. However, the factorial approach also identified links between gaseous emissions and site-specific conditions with respect to soil, groundwater and vegetation which point to areas of future research that may account for part of the variability and hence lead to improved emission factors or models
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