Forest thinning and soil respiration in a Sitka spruce forest in Ireland

Thinning effects on soil and microbial respiration in a coppice-originated Carpinus betulus L. stand in Turkey

“…In the present study, fine root biomass was significantly higher in the thinned plots. Our results disagree with previous studies that demonstrated a reduction in fine root biomass after thinning (Silver & Vogt 1993, Lindo & Visser 2003, Tufekcioglu et al 2005, Ryu et al 2009, Olajuyigbe et al 2012, Pang et al 2013. The main reason that fine root biomass was higher in the thinned plots is probably related to the increased ground cover biomass after the thinning treatment.…”

“…However, Sullivan et al (2008) reported that soil temperature did not differ significantly between the thinned plots and the control sites, suggesting that thinning did not alter soil CO2 efflux because of soil tem- iForest -Biogeosciences and Forestry perature variation, though it might change the soil physical environment. Nevertheless, several researchers have stated that soil temperature is a key component in estimating the CO2 flux from forest soils (Keith et al 1997, Londo et al 1999, Parkin & Kaspar 2003, Conant et al 2004, Lee et al 2005, Graf et al 2012, Olajuyigbe et al 2012. It has also been noted that thinning increases canopy opening, which in turn increases the amount of sunlight reaching the forest floor (Ryu et al 2009).…”

“…Forest thinning affects soil processes by altering key microclimatic conditions, root and microbial respiration, soil organic matter turnover and N mineralization rates , Olajuyigbe et al 2012, Alvarez et al 2014. Thinning and its variants (i.e., type, intensity, timing and interactions with other forest practices) can affect soil respiration (Cheng et al 2014).…”

Soil CO<sub>2</sub> efflux from mountainous windthrow areas: dynamics over 12 years post-disturbance

“…Roots of dead trees decompose and represent a further source of organic C. However, after this initial C input, tree litter production and active transport of labile C from the trees to the rhizosphere cease (Högberg et al, 2001;Levy-Varon et al, 2012;Singh et al, 2008;Olajuyigbe et al, 2012;Tang et al, 2005), with renewed C inputs depending on subsequent vegetation establishment. However, litter from populating pioneer herbs and grasses can differ in quality and quantity to that provided pre-disturbance (Spielvogel et al, 2006).…”

Mitigating the Stress of Drought on Soil Respiration by Selective Thinning: Contrasting Effects of Drought on Soil Respiration of Two Oak Species in a Mediterranean Forest

“…Previous studies have shown contradictory results of how thinning affects SR: SR has been found to increase, decrease, or even remain unchanged after thinning [18,44,[58][59][60][61][62][63]. The different responses likely are due to thinning intensity, timing, and duration of the measurement campaigns after thinning.…”