Impact of Tree Stump Harvesting on Soil Carbon and Nutrients and Second Rotation Tree Growth in Mid-Wales, UK

Vanguelova, Elena; Pitman, Rona M.; Benham, Sue; Perks, Mike; Morison, J. I. L.

doi:10.4236/ojf.2017.71005

Cited by 9 publications

(7 citation statements)

References 20 publications

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“…In contrast to most other European studies, Vanguelova, Pitman, Benham, Perks, and Morison (2017) reported dramatic losses of SOC 4 years after stump harvesting in mid-Wales. Unfortunately, for the conclusion, the main plots were not replicated, and the differences reported can thus also depend on initial plot differences.…”

Section: Field Experiments Outside the Nordic Countriescontrasting

confidence: 90%

Stump harvesting for bioenergy: A review of climatic and environmental impacts in northern Europe and America

Persson

Egnell²

2018

WIREs Energy & Environment

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Stump harvesting is defined as an intensification of forest management in comparison with stem-only harvesting and removal of tops and branches. It increases soil mixing and the proportion of bare soil. In contrast to earlier hypotheses, stump harvesting was found to reduce emissions of carbon dioxide (CO 2 ), nitrous oxide, and methane in the short term. In the long term, heterotrophic soil CO 2 evolution is reduced. Both model and empirical studies indicate that stump removal can reduce the soil organic carbon (SOC) pool in the short term, but long-term experiments (32-39 years) could not verify any SOC decline. Life cycle assessment studies showed that stumps as fuel resulted in markedly lower emissions of CO 2 into the atmosphere, viewed over a whole forest rotation compared to heating by natural gas and coal. Stump removal does not seem to affect timber production in the next forest rotation and often reduces the infection rate of root rot. It increases the natural regeneration of birch and pine, it can increase nitrate leaching at N-rich sites, and it can increase the number of water-filled cavities where methylmercury is formed. Stump extraction decreases the amount of dwarf shrubs in young clearcuts, but after 1-2 decades, these species are generally recovered. Many species dependent on dead wood are adversely affected by intense stump harvest. Model studies suggest that the risk of species extinction is small when only 10% of the total clear-cut area in the forest landscape is stump harvested, but the risk of extinction rises at increasing extraction intensities.

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Section: Field Experiments Outside the Nordic Countriescontrasting

confidence: 90%

Stump harvesting for bioenergy: A review of climatic and environmental impacts in northern Europe and America

Persson

Egnell²

2018

WIREs Energy & Environment

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“…Forest harvesting has been shown to lead to soil acidification (Vanguelova et al, 2010, Vanguelova et al, 2017, and therefore the lower pH values in the abandoned coppice stand may be related to past management. However, this explanation is not supported by the fact that the upper soil layer (pH 5.50 and 5.70 in high and coppiced stands, respectively) in both types of forest stand was less acidic than the deeper layers, as the upper layer of coppice forest should be more acidic and of similar pH to the underlying soil layers.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Use of soil enzyme activities to assess the recovery of soil functions in abandoned coppice forest systems

Ananbeh

Stojanović

Pompeiano

et al. 2019

Science of The Total Environment

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Coppicing consists of periodically cutting back tree stems to ground level to stimulate the growth of multiple stems from the stool. In Central Europe, many coppiced forests were abandoned at the beginning of the last century owing to a decline in the demand for charcoal and wood. This was assumed to enable the forests to recover and the properties to become similar to those of unmanaged forest (high forest). Most studies on abandoned coppiced forest have focused on forest recovery, while soil recovery has generally been overlooked. With the aim of filling this gap, this study investigated the effect of coppicing abandonment on soil recovery by analysing the changes in soil enzyme activities (dehydrogenase, ß-glucosidase, invertase, urease, acid phosphatase and arylsulphatase). Two differently managed sessile oak (Quercus petraea) forests were selected for study: a former coppice forest, abandoned more than 90 years ago, and an undisturbed forest. The analytical data were compared to assess the degree of recovery of the soil in the abandoned coppice forest. The soil organic matter content was two times lower in the abandoned coppice than in the high forest, suggesting that organic matter depletion due the past coppicing is a long-term effect. All of the absolute enzyme activities were also two times lower in the abandoned coppice forest soil than in the high forest soil. However, the specific enzyme activities were similar in both types of soil. This indicates that metabolic activity is similar in both soil types, suggesting that it either recovers faster than organic matter and soil enzyme activity or that, despite the depletion in organic matter and enzyme activities, metabolic activity was sustained in coppiced forest soil. However, in the latter case this would imply that organic matter and soil enzymes were lost in exactly the same proportion, which is highly improbable.

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“…UK guidelines are the most in-depth and note that forest harvest residue removal may lead to reduced soil C storage [73] but a "lack of empirical data makes it difficult to predict the impact of stump removal on the exchange of CO 2 and other greenhouse gases for different soil types" [81]. Guidelines suggest that the amount of soil C lost will increase with soil C content, which is reinforced by stump harvesting trial results [82,83]. More recent UK guidelines [34,67] recommend biomass retention to minimize C loss from sites, and this is consistent with guidance for maintaining soil productivity (e.g.…”

Section: Carbon Emissions and Sequestrationmentioning

confidence: 99%

Sustainable forest biomass: a review of current residue harvesting guidelines

et al. 2021

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Forest biomass harvesting guidelines help ensure the ecological sustainability of forest residue harvesting for bioenergy and bioproducts, and hence contribute to social license for a growing bioeconomy. Guidelines, typically voluntary, provide a means to achieve outcomes often required by legislation, and must address needs related to local or regional context, jurisdictional compatibility with regulations, issues of temporal and spatial scale, and incorporation of appropriate scientific information. Given this complexity, comprehensive reviews of existing guidelines can aid in development of new guidelines or revision of existing ones. We reviewed 32 guidelines covering 43 jurisdictions in the USA, Canada, Europe and East Asia to expand upon information evaluated and recommendations provided in previous guideline reviews, and compiled a searchable spreadsheet of direct quotations from documents as a foundation for our review. Guidelines were considered in the context of sustainable forest management (SFM), focusing on guideline scope and objectives, environmental sustainability concerns (soils, site productivity, biodiversity, water and carbon) and social concerns (visual aesthetics, recreation, and preservation of cultural, historical and archaeological sites). We discuss the role of guidelines within the context of other governance mechanisms such as SFM policies, trade regulations and non-state market-driven (NSMD) standards, including certification systems. The review provides a comprehensive resource for those developing guidelines, or defining sustainability standards for market access or compliance with public regulations, and/or concerned about the sustainability of forest biomass harvesting. We recommend that those developing or updating guidelines consider (i) the importance of well-defined and understood terminology, consistent where possible with guidelines in other jurisdictions or regions; (ii) guidance based on locally relevant research, and periodically updated to incorporate current knowledge and operational experience; (iii) use of indicators of sensitive soils, sites, and stands which are relevant to ecological processes and can be applied operationally; and (iv) incorporation of climate impacts, long-term soil carbon storage, and general carbon balance considerations when defining sustainable forest biomass availability. Successful implementation of guidelines depends both on the relevance of the information and on the process used to develop and communicate it; hence, appropriate stakeholders should be involved early in guideline development.

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Impact of Tree Stump Harvesting on Soil Carbon and Nutrients and Second Rotation Tree Growth in Mid-Wales, UK

Cited by 9 publications

References 20 publications

Stump harvesting for bioenergy: A review of climatic and environmental impacts in northern Europe and America

Stump harvesting for bioenergy: A review of climatic and environmental impacts in northern Europe and America

Use of soil enzyme activities to assess the recovery of soil functions in abandoned coppice forest systems

Sustainable forest biomass: a review of current residue harvesting guidelines

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