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Soil Carbon Dynamics in a Mixed Deciduous Forest Following Clear‐Cutting with and without Residue Removal
Author(s) -
Edwards N. T.,
RossTodd B. M.
Publication year - 1983
Publication title -
soil science society of america journal
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.836
H-Index - 168
eISSN - 1435-0661
pISSN - 0361-5995
DOI - 10.2136/sssaj1983.03615995004700050035x
Subject(s) - clearcutting , soil respiration , deciduous , environmental science , watershed , growing season , respiration , soil carbon , agronomy , soil water , hydrology (agriculture) , soil science , ecology , biology , botany , geology , geotechnical engineering , machine learning , computer science
The effect of two harvest intensities on soil carbon dynamics was determined for the first year following harvest of a mixed deciduous forest in Tennessee. Harvest procedures were clear‐cutting (all trees of all diameters cut) with only sawlogs removed (RL) and clear‐cutting with removal of all woody material except stumps (RR). There were no detectable differences in soil carbon pools between treated and control watersheds before harvest or 5 months after harvest. During the winter months immediately following harvest, CO 2 efflux rates from the soil surface were greater in the intensively harvested watersheds than in the other watersheds. However, CO 2 efflux rates were greater in the control watershed than in the harvested watersheds during the first growing season following harvest. This was apparently due to greater live root respiration in the control watershed because mineral soil respiration only (as determined by laboratory incubations) was greater in harvested watersheds than the control reflecting the higher soil temperature and moisture in the harvested watersheds. Annual soil respiration rates, predicted from laboratory measurements and field temperatures, were 92, 121, and 154 g CO 2 /m 2 in the control watershed, RL watersheds, and RR watersheds, respectively. When extrapolated to a land area equal to that represented by the annual harvest of U.S. deciduous forests these rate increases amount to only ca. 0.006% of the annual carbon released from fossil fuel burning.