Effects of forest soil compaction and organic matter removal on leaf litter decomposition in central British Columbia

Kranabetter, J. M.; Chapman, Bill

doi:10.4141/s98-081

Cited by 26 publications

(21 citation statements)

References 23 publications

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“…However, these effects were often variable among sites and soil horizons, precluding identification of general treatment effects. Relatively few microbial parameters, such as biomass, enzyme activity, nitrogen mineralization potential and litter decomposition rates, were measured (Kranabetter and Chapman, 1999;Li et al, 2003;Busse et al, 2006;Mariani et al, 2006;Tan et al, 2008) and, like other soil properties, they did not reveal consistent treatment effects. The few studies that examined microbial community composition were limited in scope and did not take advantage of the full-factorial experimental design and replicated experimental sites, or were limited in coverage and resolution of the microbial communities by the available methods (Axelrood et al, 2002a, b;Chow et al, 2002;Busse et al, 2006;Hartmann et al, 2009).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 85%

Significant and persistent impact of timber harvesting on soil microbial communities in Northern coniferous forests

Hartmann¹,

Howes²,

et al. 2012

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Forest ecosystems have integral roles in climate stability, biodiversity and economic development. Soil stewardship is essential for sustainable forest management. Organic matter (OM) removal and soil compaction are key disturbances associated with forest harvesting, but their impacts on forest ecosystems are not well understood. Because microbiological processes regulate soil ecology and biogeochemistry, microbial community structure might serve as indicator of forest ecosystem status, revealing changes in nutrient and energy flow patterns before they have irreversible effects on long-term soil productivity. We applied massively parallel pyrosequencing of over 4.6 million ribosomal marker sequences to assess the impact of OM removal and soil compaction on bacterial and fungal communities in a field experiment replicated at six forest sites in British Columbia, Canada. More than a decade after harvesting, diversity and structure of soil bacterial and fungal communities remained significantly altered by harvesting disturbances, with individual taxonomic groups responding differentially to varied levels of the disturbances. Plant symbionts, like ectomycorrhizal fungi, and saprobic taxa, such as ascomycetes and actinomycetes, were among the most sensitive to harvesting disturbances. Given their significant ecological roles in forest development, the fate of these taxa might be critical for sustainability of forest ecosystems. Although abundant bacterial populations were ubiquitous, abundant fungal populations often revealed a patchy distribution, consistent with their higher sensitivity to the examined soil disturbances. These results establish a comprehensive inventory of bacterial and fungal community composition in northern coniferous forests and demonstrate the long-term response of their structure to key disturbances associated with forest harvesting.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 85%

Significant and persistent impact of timber harvesting on soil microbial communities in Northern coniferous forests

Hartmann¹,

Howes²,

et al. 2012

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“…Following harvest and treatments, plots were planted with lodgepole pine and hybrid spruce seedlings. A more complete description of the experimental design, pre-and post- harvest vegetation and soil characteristics, and ecology of the field sites are to be found in Holcomb (1996) and Kranabetter and Chapman (1999).…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Response of soil CO₂ and O₂ concentrations to forest soil compaction at the Long-term Soil Productivity sites in central British Columbia

Conlin¹,

Driessche²

2000

Can. J. Soil. Sci.

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Conlin, T. S. S. and van den Driessche, R. 2000. Response of soil CO 2 and O 2 concentrations to forest soil compaction at the Long-term Soil Productivity sites, Central British Columbia. Can. J. Soil Sci. 80: 625-632. The concentrations of soil CO 2 and O 2 at three Long-term Soil Productivity sites located in the Sub-Boreal Spruce biogeoclimatic zone of British Columbia, Canada, were monitored over several growing seasons. These sites were treated with three levels of soil compaction and three levels of organic material removal following forest harvest. Both compaction and depth had a significant effect upon soil CO 2 concentrations and average values increased in response to deeper sampling and compaction. Removal of the forest floor and other organic materials had no significant effect upon soil CO 2 and O 2 concentrations. Mean soil CO 2 concentrations varied from site to site and data collected over three growing seasons also showed that mean CO 2 values in response to compaction fluctuated significantly from year to year. The high levels of soil CO 2 observed in this study (up to 40 000 µL L -1 ), especially in response to the compaction treatments, may have had a substantial effect upon whole plant carbon allocation as well as soil nutrition available to trees growing on the treated plots. Although mean soil O 2 also decreased in response to compaction and sampling depth, these lower concentrations did not approach the levels required to influence plant growth.Key words: Soil, compaction, carbon dioxide, oxygen, long-term soil productivity Conlin, T. S. S. et van den Driessche, R. 2000. Réponse à la compaction des concentrations de CO 2 et de O 2 des sols forestiers aux Emplacements d'observation de longue durée de la productivité du sol dans le centre de la Colombie-Britannique. Can. J. Soil Sci. 80: 625-632. Nous avons surveillé durant plusieurs saisons de croissance l'évolution des concentrations de CO 2 et de O 2 dans le sol à trois placeaux d'observation de longue durée de la productivité du sol dans la zone biogéoclimatique sud-boréale à épinette (épicéa) en Colombie-Britannique (Canada). Ces placeaux étaient exposés à trois intensités de compaction et à trois niveaux d'enlèvement de la couche organique à la suite de la récolte de la forêt. La compaction et la profondeur d'échantillonnage exerçait toutes deux un effet significatif sur les concentrations de CO 2 du sol, les valeurs moyennes augmentant en fonction du degré de compaction et de la profondeur de l'échantillon. L'enlèvement de la couche organique et d'autres matières organiques n'avaient pas d'effets significatifs sur les concentrations de CO 2 et de O 2 du sol. Les concentrations moyennes de CO 2 variaient d'un emplacement à l'autre et en outre leur réaction à la compaction fluctuait significativement d'une année à l'autre. Les concentrations élevées de CO 2 du sol observées (jusqu'à 40 000 µL L -1 ), surtout en réponse à l'intensité de la compaction, pourraient avoir un effet substantiel sur la disponibilité du carbone et des éléments ...

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“…Soil degradation was found to reduce leaf decomposition and nutrient release in tropical forests (Tian 1998), and some effects of organic matter removal on decomposition rates were found in our initial experiment, immediately after treatment installation (Kranabetter and Chapman 1999). The results from this second study, which began 5-6 yr posttreatment, suggest soil disturbance had no longer-term effects on litter decomposition.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 50%

“…In an earlier LTSP study from central British Columbia, we commented that nutrient release from decaying litter appeared to be greater on mineral soils than forest floors when compared against remaining leaf mass (Kranabetter and Chapman 1999). The change in N content of decaying litter was compared more carefully in this second field study using artificial materials to isolate litter bags from contact with forest floors or mineral soil.…”

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An analysis of litter nitrogen dynamics using artificial soils across a gradient of forest soil disturbances

Kranabetter¹,

Chapman²

2004

Can. J. Soil. Sci.

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Kranabetter, J. M. and Chapman, B. K. 2004. An analysis of litter nitrogen dynamics using artificial soils across a gradient of forest soil disturbances. Can. J. Soil Sci. 84: 159-167. The release of nutrients from a standard litter is often assumed to be solely a function of its decomposition rate. We tested whether nitrogen release would also be influenced by soil attributes affected by disturbance, such as interactions with soil microflora. Changes in nitrogen contents of decaying litter (Populus balsamifera) were compared across soil compaction and organic matter removal treatments in central British Columbia, using artificial materials to isolate litter bags from contact with forest floors or mineral soil. After 30 mo, nitrogen content of litter was only slightly higher on artificial soils than actual soils, suggesting that most nitrogen had been lost by leaching. A significant interaction, however, was detected in leaf nitrogen content between organic matter removal and soil compaction treatments that was not found on the artificial soils. This difference in nitrogen release led to a range in C:N ratios of 28 to 32 (from an initial C:N ratio of 52) for leaves at 1.5 g (70% mass loss). The differences in nitrogen release were relatively small and will perhaps be less important than other effects of soil disturbance (such as changes in litter quality) on nitrogen cycling. On présume souvent que les déchets forestiers libèrent uniquement leurs éléments nutritifs en fonction de la rapidité avec laquelle ils se décomposent. Les auteurs ont tenté de voir si la quantité d'azote libérée dépend aussi de paramètres affectés par la perturbation du sol comme les interactions avec la microflore tellurique. Pour cela, ils ont comparé la teneur en azote de résidus forestiers en décomposition (Populus balsamifera) selon divers traitements du sol pratiqués dans le centre de la Colombie-Britannique (compactage et retrait de la matière organique) en isolant des sacs de déchets du sol forestier ou minéral grâce à des matériaux synthétiques. Après 30 mois, la concentration d'azote des déchets n'était que légèrement plus élevée dans le sol artificiel que dans le sol naturel, signe que la majeure partie de l'azote se perd par lixiviation. L'interaction sensible entre le retrait de la matière organique et le compactage observée pour la teneur des feuilles en azote dans le sol naturel n'a toutefois pas été relevée dans le sol artificiel. Cet écart au niveau du taux de libération de l'azote donne un ratio C:N variant de 28 à 32 (contre un ratio initial de 52) pour les feuilles de 1,5 g (perte de 70 % de la masse). Les variations au niveau de la libération de N restent relativement faibles et ont peut-être moins d'importance sur le cycle de l'azote que d'autres conséquences de la perturbation du sol (une modification de la qualité des résidus, par exemple).

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Effects of forest soil compaction and organic matter removal on leaf litter decomposition in central British Columbia

Cited by 26 publications

References 23 publications

Significant and persistent impact of timber harvesting on soil microbial communities in Northern coniferous forests

Significant and persistent impact of timber harvesting on soil microbial communities in Northern coniferous forests

Response of soil CO₂ and O₂ concentrations to forest soil compaction at the Long-term Soil Productivity sites in central British Columbia

An analysis of litter nitrogen dynamics using artificial soils across a gradient of forest soil disturbances

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Effects of forest soil compaction and organic matter removal on leaf litter decomposition in central British Columbia

Cited by 26 publications

References 23 publications

Significant and persistent impact of timber harvesting on soil microbial communities in Northern coniferous forests

Significant and persistent impact of timber harvesting on soil microbial communities in Northern coniferous forests

Response of soil CO2 and O2 concentrations to forest soil compaction at the Long-term Soil Productivity sites in central British Columbia

An analysis of litter nitrogen dynamics using artificial soils across a gradient of forest soil disturbances

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Response of soil CO₂ and O₂ concentrations to forest soil compaction at the Long-term Soil Productivity sites in central British Columbia