Land-use history, forest conversion, and soil organic carbon in pine plantations and native forests of south eastern Australia
0401 agriculture, forestry, and fisheries
04 agricultural and veterinary sciences
15. Life on land
DOI:
10.1016/j.geoderma.2006.09.002
Publication Date:
2006-10-28T07:18:00Z
AUTHORS (2)
ABSTRACT
Abstract Land-use history – the number, type, and duration of previous land uses – is relevant to many questions regarding land-use effects on soil carbon, but is infrequently reported. We examine the importance of land-use history variables, as well as topographic and edaphic variables, on soil C in a range of forest types – native forest, pine plantations, secondary forest and rehabilitated forest – at three contrasting locations in south eastern Australia. Our comparisons include a novel forest conversion of exotic pine plantations to native, broadleaf forest. Using nested ANOVAs, we detected few differences in soil C concentration indices (total C, microbial biomass C, K 2 SO 4 –C) and C content among eucalypt-dominated vegetation and pine plantations within each location (0–10 cm depth). However, planned contrasts indicated a 30% decrease in soil C content with conversion of native forest to pine plantation of age 37 years. The reverse land-use change – pine plantation to native, broadleaf forest – was associated with a decrease in soil C concentration and content at one location (40%; age 12–13 years) and no detectable changes at another (to age 7 years). Variable effect between locations of this novel land-use change on soil C could be due to differences in potential productivity, conifer species, and plantation age. We used correlation coefficients and general linear models to identify widely applicable variables for predicting soil C concentration and content at local scales (≤ 20 km 2 ). Within-location relationships with topographic variables were weak and infrequent relative to those with edaphic and land-use history variables. Soil texture was strongly correlated with soil C at each location, although the relative significance of different particle size fractions differed among locations. Electrical conductivity appeared more widely applicable since it was included in C models at two locations. Combining land-use history and edaphic variables produced strong predictive models for soil C concentrations and content at two locations (total r 2 0.83 to 0.95). Positive relationships were indicated between soil C and ‘age of current vegetation’ at one location, and negative relationships were indicated with ‘number of land uses’ at another. These data highlight a potential predictive role for land-use history variables in local-scale assessments of soil C in forested landscapes.
SUPPLEMENTAL MATERIAL
Coming soon ....
REFERENCES (51)
CITATIONS (77)
EXTERNAL LINKS
PlumX Metrics
RECOMMENDATIONS
FAIR ASSESSMENT
Coming soon ....
JUPYTER LAB
Coming soon ....