Soils on Historic Charcoal Hearths: Terminology and Chemical Properties

Hirsch, Florian; Raab, Thomas; Ouimet, William B.; Dethier, David P.; Schneider, Anna; Raab, Alexandra

doi:10.2136/sssaj2017.02.0067

Cited by 52 publications

(40 citation statements)

References 29 publications

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“…Hardy et al (2016) did not find such a large difference between hearth and reference soils at several hearth sites in Wallonia, like other authors did in other locations (e.g., Mikan and Abrams, 1996;Criscuoli et al, 2014). Hirsch et al (2017) found even a lower N content in hearth soils in Connecticut. However, an increase of N is consistent with the accumulation of uncharred SOM often found in hearth soils (Borchard et al, 2014;Kerré et al, 2016;Mastrolonardo et al, 2018).…”

Section: Contribution Of Charcoal To Soil Organic Carbon Contentsupporting

confidence: 47%

“…This latter included a Bw 1 and a Bw 2 horizon. Soil of RCHs showed a uniform Auh horizon, i.e., a mineral horizon enriched in charcoal and organic matter (FAO, 2006;Hirsch et al, 2017) thicker than 20 cm. Therefore, we further divided the charcoal enriched topsoil in a top part (A 1 layer), 20 cm thick, and a bottom part (A 2 layer), so allowing a direct meaningful comparison between topsoil (20 cm; A 1 layer) in the RCH and reference plots.…”

Section: Soil Samplingmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Relic or historic charcoal hearths (RCHs, sometimes also called charcoal kilns or charcoal burning platforms) represent the legacy of historic charcoal production, an activity that was particularly widespread in Europe and North America (Hirsch et al, 2017). For centuries charcoal was directly made in forests from wood piled in mounds (earth mounds) or amassed in pits (earth pits) (FAO, 1987;Schenkel et al, 1998).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

See 2 more Smart Citations

Long-Term Effect of Charcoal Accumulation in Hearth Soils on Tree Growth and Nutrient Cycling

Mastrolonardo

Calderaro

Cocozza

et al. 2019

Front. Environ. Sci.

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There is a lack of long-term field approach investigating biochar impact on soil properties and vegetation, particularly in forest ecosystems. Relic charcoal hearths (RCHs), the result of the historical charcoal production in the forests, preserve a charcoal-enriched topsoil horizon, thus representing a suitable proxy for studying the long-term effect of biochar addition to soil. In this study, we analyzed the chemical properties of a soil as impacted by charcoal accumulation in three RCH plots in southern Wallonia (Belgium) compared to the soil outside RCHs. We further evaluated the effects of RCHs soil properties on the growth performances of silver birch and European beech as well as the leaves' nutrient concentration of the latter. RCHs soil stored much more carbon and nitrogen than the reference ones. Most of the C in RCHs derived from charcoal (70-94% of total organic carbon), which would correspond to a total input of 342 tons of biochar per hectare in these soils. Such an accumulation of charcoal still affects nutrient status of soil even after 150 years since charcoal hearths abandonment: CEC and K, Ca, Mg, Na, Mn, and Zn concentration remained higher in RCHs soil compared to the reference one. In spite of a seemingly higher fertility of RCHs soil, elemental concentrations of European beech leaves grown in RCHs did not show any significant difference compared to the reference plots, except for C and Mn concentration, higher and lower, respectively, in the leaves of European beech trees grown inside than outside RCHs. Overall, RCHs soil chemical properties were not a decisive factor in significantly improving tree growth. On the contrary, tree ring width average values of both tree species was slightly lower in RCH plots, suggesting to better investigate the potential long-term detrimental effect of a large biochar addition to soil on forest trees.

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Section: Contribution Of Charcoal To Soil Organic Carbon Contentsupporting

confidence: 47%

Section: Soil Samplingmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Long-Term Effect of Charcoal Accumulation in Hearth Soils on Tree Growth and Nutrient Cycling

Mastrolonardo

Calderaro

Cocozza

et al. 2019

Front. Environ. Sci.

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“…These differences in RCH densities between flat and sloped terrain are most likely a result of differences in hearth site usage. The morphology and stratigraphy of most RCH platforms on slopes indicate multiple uses of the sites (Hirsch et al, ; Raab et al, ; Stolz, Sebastian, & Grunert, ), whereas single‐use hearth sites are characteristic of RCHs in sandy flatland areas in Brandenburg (Hirsch, Schneider, Bauriegel, Raab, & Raab, ; Raab et al, ).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Large‐scale mapping of anthropogenic relief features—legacies of past forest use in two historical charcoal production areas in Germany

et al. 2020

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With the increasing availability of high‐resolution digital elevation models (DEMs), large‐scale mapping of anthropogenic relief features has become feasible for more areas. However, the landscape‐scale distribution patterns of anthropogenic landforms and the quality of DEM‐based mapping can be highly heterogeneous. In this study, we mapped relict charcoal hearths (RCHs) in two study regions with differing environmental backgrounds, covering forest areas of more than 15,000 km2, analyzed the RCH distributions and evaluated possibilities for predictive modeling of RCH occurrence with respect to natural and cultural landscape structures. More than 45,000 RCHs were recorded in each region, with high site densities even in areas remote from charcoal‐consuming industries. Variations in the quality of DEM‐based mapping were related to small‐scale differences in the DEM quality and larger‐scale substrate heterogeneity. A clear association between RCHs and historical industrial sites was found in the Northern European Lowland; while the density of mapped RCHs was predominantly related to geology and morphology in the lower mountain ranges. The results show that variations in mapping quality across scales and the natural and cultural background of a region need to be considered so that the mapping of anthropogenic relief features can contribute to an improved understanding of land‐use history.

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“…Several studies have characterized the effects of RCHs on plant colonization (Mikan and Abrams, 1995), growth (Buras et al, 2015;Criscuoli et al, 2017;Kerrè et al, 2017), and cover composition (Krause and Möseler, 1993;Carrari et al, 2016). Several recent studies also deliberately address the architecture and properties of the soils on such sites (Borchard et al, 2014;Criscuoli et al, 2014;Hardy et al, 2016;Hirsch et al, 2017;Mastrolonardo et al, 2018), mainly with a focus on soil chemistry. The physical and soil hydraulic characteristics of RCH soils have received relatively little attention so far.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Dye Tracer Visualization of Infiltration Patterns in Soils on Relict Charcoal Hearths

Schneider¹,

Hirsch²,

Raab³

et al. 2018

Front. Environ. Sci.

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Anthropogenically modified soils are often characterized by a high heterogeneity of substrates and show unique patterns of water infiltration. Such effects are not limited to intensively used or disturbed agricultural and technogenic soils, but can also occur as legacies of former land use in forested areas. The remains of historic charcoal hearths represent a widespread legacy of historic land use. Soils at relict charcoal hearths (RCHs) are most prominently altered by the deposition of a layer of charcoal-rich substrate on top of the natural soil surface. The presence of such a technogenic layer can considerably influence infiltration and soil wetness patterns on the sites. This study describes the spatial patterns of infiltration and soil wetness at charcoal hearth sites compared with undisturbed sandy forest soils for a historic charcoal production area north of Cottbus, Germany. We characterized six plots on RCH and reference soils under pine, oak, and mixed forest by visualizing preferential flow patterns of infiltrating water in dye tracer experiments. Additionally, we characterized bulk density, soil organic matter (SOM) contents and water repellency, using water drop penetration time (wdpt) tests, of the RCH and reference soil horizons. The results reflect that the persistence of water repellency of both the technogenic substrates and the natural topsoils is extremely high under dry conditions, but is drastically reduced after wet antecedent conditions. The dye tracer experiments reflect increased preferential flow on the RCHs for dry soil conditions, for which infiltration is limited to very few flow paths in the technogenic substrate layer. Differences between RCH and reference soils are less clear for higher antecedent soil wetness, for which the results indicate more uniform wetting of the technogenic substrates. We conclude that the structural properties of the additional technogenic substrate layer of RCHs have characteristic effects on water infiltration, causing a high temporal variation of preferential flow in relation to antecedent soil moisture conditions. These effects can result in high heterogeneity of soil moisture for dry conditions, and generally in a high temporal variation of soil wetness in RCHs soils.

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Soils on Historic Charcoal Hearths: Terminology and Chemical Properties

Cited by 52 publications

References 29 publications

Long-Term Effect of Charcoal Accumulation in Hearth Soils on Tree Growth and Nutrient Cycling

Long-Term Effect of Charcoal Accumulation in Hearth Soils on Tree Growth and Nutrient Cycling

Large‐scale mapping of anthropogenic relief features—legacies of past forest use in two historical charcoal production areas in Germany

Dye Tracer Visualization of Infiltration Patterns in Soils on Relict Charcoal Hearths

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