Dynamics of some mineral nutrients and heavy metals in decomposing forest litter

The dynamics of three major mineral nutrients (K, Ca, Mg) and six heavy metals (Fe, Mn, Zn, Cu, Pb and Cd) were studied in decomposing natural, unpolluted litter in two forest types: Scots pine needle litter in a pure Scots pine forest and oak‐hornbeam leaf litter in a mixed oak‐hornbeam stand. Of the mineral nutrients, only K in the oak‐hornbeam system showed a significant decrease in concentration during the course of litter decomposition. For Ca and Mg in both systems and for K in the Scots pine system no clear relation between concentration and accumulated litter‐mass loss was observed. On the other hand, for Fe, Zn, Pb and Cd at both sites, as well as for Mn in the oak‐hornbeam stand and Cu in the Scots pine stand highly significant positive relations were found between heavy metal concentrations and accumulated mass loss. A decrease in concentration was noted only in the case of Mn in the Scots pine system. No clear pattern was found for Cu in the oak‐hornbeam stand. Concentrations of heavy metals in the decomposing litter reached levels at or above those reported to retard decomposition in other studies. At the oak‐hornbeam stand increased also the absolute amounts of Fe, Zn, Pb and Cd.     

Long-term effect of wood and peat ash fertilization on nutrient content in peat and trees on a drained peatland

ABSTRACT

Total and soluble nutrients in peat were studied after ash fertilization on an oligotroph peatland in southeast Norway. Plots 15?m?×?15?m in size were fertilized with 0, 4, 7, and 10 tons ha¹ of wood or peat ash in 1944. Chemical analyses after 18, 35 and 48 years showed a gradual reduction of phosphorus (P) and calcium (Ca) from the 0 to 10?cm surface peat layer. Some of the leached Ca was recovered in the layers 10–20 and 20–40?cm, while hardly any of the lost P was recovered in this way. The amount of potassium (K) in the surface layer declined by 75% over the first 18 years, and remained stable thereafter. Nothing of the lost K was recovered in deeper layers. The pH reflected the Ca levels. Over the years, an increasing proportion of the applied P, K and Ca was retrieved in the trees. Needle analyses indicated that declining tree vigor on plots fertilized with 4 and 7 tons of ash ha^?1 was due to P limitations. After 48 years, the peat content of P and Ca was still significantly higher in fertilized than in control plots, thus demonstrating the long-lasting effect of ash fertilization.     

Potential use of wood ash in South African forestry: a review

The use of landfills as a disposal method for wood ash is costly, environmentally detrimental and is pitted against increasingly stern environmental regulations. Literature has shown that wood ash has the potential to be used as a forest fertiliser and the effects tend to be highly site-specific. Wood ash contains a combination of carbonates, hydroxides and other calcium-containing minerals that are responsible for the liming effect observed following application to soils. In addition, it contains significant magnesium and potassium concentrations, but little nitrogen and sulphur. The phosphorus availability of wood ash varies considerably and in effect can limit soil phosphorus uptake and may affect subsequent nutrient balance in plants. Short-rotation forestry practices and whole-tree harvest systems can induce periodic or persisting nutrient deficiencies and acidify the soil. This may affect the ability of a site to sustain adequate nutrient levels over successive rotations. Utilising wood ash as a soil amendment can offset or correct some nutrient deficiencies and imbalances induced by intensively managed plantation forests. This review covers the international literature on ash applications to forest land, including the effect of ash-beds remaining after slash burning (as a useful analogy for the effects of wood ash on soil properties and tree growth). The results show that ash applications to forest land can be done safely and can potentially stimulate microbial activity and improve pine and eucalypt growth. Safe ash application rates should be determined after consideration of (1) soil buffer capacity and ash alkalinity (expressed as calcium carbonate equivalence) and (2) an evaluation of the concentrations of heavy metals existing in soils and present in the available ash, particularly from cadmium, chromium, lead and arsenic.     

Ectomycorrhizal colonisation of roots and ash granules in a spruce forest treated with granulated wood ash

Granulated wood ash has been proposed as a slow release fertiliser suitable for forest soils. In this study ectomycorrhizal colonisation of roots and ash granules was studied in a 40-year-old spruce forest treated with 0, 3 or 6 t ha⁻¹ granulated wood ash. We used PCR-RFLP methods for ITS-typing and identification of ectomycorrhizal fungi. In total 20 different ITS-types were recognised on roots in the organic soil horizon. Five of these were identified to species and two to genus. Six species, Tylospora fibrillosa Donk, Cortinarius sp. 3, Piloderma sp. 1, and three unidentified ITS-types (Ve-95-1, Tö-95-3 and Ve-95-9) each occurred on over 5% of the total root tips analysed. Together these comprised 55% of the ectomycorrhizal community on the screened roots.

Ash granules collected from the fertilised plots were normally colonised by fungal mycelia. PCR-RFLP analysis of these mycelia revealed the presence of four ITS-types. Three of these (Piloderma sp. 1, Ha-96-3 and Tor-97-1) were also present on the mycorrhizal roots. Piloderma sp. 1 was the most abundant species colonising roots. A possible role of ectomycorrhizal mycelia in the direct mobilisation of nutrients from ash granules is discussed.     

Implications of fires on carbon budgets in Andean cloud montane forest: The importance of peat soils and tree resprouting

Fire in tropical montane cloud forests (TMCFs) is not as rare as once believed. Andean TMCFs sit immediately below highly flammable, high-altitude grasslands (Puna/Páramo) that suffer from recurrent anthropogenic fire. This treeline is a zone of climatic tension where substantial future warming is likely to force upward tree migrations, while increased fire presence and fire impacts are likely to force it downwards. TMCFs contain large carbon stocks in their peat soils and their loss through fire is a currently unaccounted for regional source of CO₂. This study, conducted in the southern Peruvian Andes (>2800 m), documents differences in live tree biomass, fine root biomass, fallen and standing dead wood, and soil organic carbon in 4 paired-sample plots (burned versus control) following the severe ground fires that occurred during the 2005 Andean drought. Peat soils contributed the most to biomass burning emissions, with lower values corresponding to an 89% mean stock difference compared to the controls (mean ± SE) (54.1 ± 22.3 vs. 5.8 ± 5.3 MgC ha⁻¹). Contrastingly, carbon stocks from live standing trees differed by a non-significant 37% lower value in the burned plots compared to the controls, largely compensated by vigorous resprouting (45.5 ± 17.4 vs. 69.2 ± 13.4 MgC ha⁻¹). Both standing dead trees and fallen dead wood were significantly higher in the burned plots with a three-fold difference from the controls: dead Trees 45.2 ± 9.4 vs. 16.4 ± 4.4 MgC ha⁻¹, and ca. a 2 fold difference for the fallen dead wood: 11.2 ± 5 vs. 6.7 ± 3.2 MgC ha⁻¹ for the burned plots versus their controls. A preliminary estimate of the regional contribution of biomass burning emissions from Andean TMCFs for the period 2000-2008, resulted in mean carbon emission rates of 1.3 TgC yr⁻¹ (max-min: 1.8-0.8 TgC yr⁻¹). This value is in the same order of magnitude than South American annual fire emissions (300 TgC yr⁻¹) suggesting the need for further research on Andean forest fires. On-going projects on the region are working on the promotion of landowner participation in TMCFs conservation through REDD+ mechanism. The heart of the proposed initiative is reforestation of degraded lands with green fire breaks enriched with economically valuable Andean plant species. The cultivation of these species may contribute to reduce deforestation pressure on the Amazonian cloud forest by providing an alternative income to local communities, at the same time that they prevent the spread of fire into Manu National Park and adjacent community-held forests, protecting forest and reducing CO₂ emissions.     

Effect of intervention and type of forest management on quality and quantity characteristics of dead wood in managed and reserve forests: A case study

We compared the dead wood (DW) conditions of Cheshmeh-sar forest and Sardab forest with different management history,including reserve forest and harvested forest. The First forest took 100% inventory from all the available DW. Also dead trees were compared interms of species, shape, location and quality of fracture in both forests.Volumes of dead wood in Cheshmeh-sar and Sardab forests were 207.47and 142.74 m3, respectively. Due to this significant difference, impact onthe management level was determined. In Cheshmeh-sar forest, 42% ofdead trees were standing and 58% were fallen type while in Sardab forest 38.6% were standing and 61.4% fallen. But the difference was not statistically significant between them (p = 0.0587). In terms of quality, dead trees of hard, soft and hollow had the highest frequency, respectively.However, 71.5% of DW was seen as hard dead in Cheshmeh-sar forestwhile hard dead trees in Sardab forests were 54.2%. Soft quality degree ofdead trees which formed in Cheshmeh-sar and Sardab forest were calculated as 26.6% and 43.4% respectively. Also 30% of the dead trees of Sardab forest were eradicated while in Cheshmeh-sar this amount was reduced to 12%. Due to this significant difference ((Р=0/018), it is concluded that the type of management and human interference are affecting the quality of dead trees and makes us to think the human interferences could effect on the ecosystem of touched forests.     

Habitat associations of saproxylic beetles in the southeastern United States: A comparison of forest types,tree species and wood postures

Saproxylic beetles are highly sensitive to forest management practices that reduce the abundance and variety of dead wood. However, this diverse fauna continues to receive little attention in the southeastern United States even though this region supports some of the most diverse, productive and intensively managed forests in North America. In this replicated three-way factorial experiment, we investigated the habitat associations of saproxylic beetles on the coastal plain of South Carolina. The factors of interest were forest type (upland pine-dominated vs. bottomland hardwood), tree species (Quercus nigra L., Pinus taeda L. and Liquidambar styraciflua L.) and wood posture (standing and downed dead wood, i.e., snags and logs). Wood samples were taken at four positions along each log and snag (lower bole, middle bole, upper bole and crown) ∼11 months after the trees were killed and placed in rearing bags to collect emerging beetles. Overall, 33,457 specimens from 52 families and ≥250 species emerged. Based on an analysis of covariance, with surface area and bark coverage as covariates, saproxylic beetle species richness differed significantly between forest types as well as between wood postures. There were no significant interactions. Species richness was significantly higher in the upland pine-dominated stand than the bottomland hardwood forest, possibly due to higher light exposure and temperature in upland forests. Although L. styraciflua yielded more beetle species (152) than either Q. nigra (122) or P. taeda (125), there were no significant differences in species richness among tree species. There were also no relationships evident between relative tree abundance and observed or expected beetle species richness. Significantly more beetle species emerged from logs than from snags. However snags had a distinct fauna including several potential canopy specialists. Our results suggest that conservation practices that retain or create entire snags as opposed to high stumps or logs alone will most greatly benefit saproxylic beetles in southeastern forests.     

Effects of differences in forest floor and canopy vegetation on ectomycorrhizas ofBetula platyphylla var.japonica: A test using seedlings planted into soils taken from various sites

Effects of different forest floor vegetation types in secondary forest and of conversion to plantation on the quality and quantity of ectomycorrhizas are mostly unknown.Betula platyphylla var.japonica seedlings were used for bioassays of ectomycorrhizal fungal inoculum using soils from four 50-year-oldB. platyphylla var.japonica forests that had different types of forest floor vegetation: two with shrub types, one with aSasa type, and one with a grass type. Seedlings were also grown in soil from a nearby monospecific plantation ofChamaecyparis obtusa. Ectomycorrhizas formed 13 to 26% of root length of seedlings grown in soil from the five different sites. The maximum percentage of ectomycorrhizal formation was obtained from the grass-type forest. The dominant type of ectomycorrhiza in the two shrub-type forest soils was the same as that in theSasa-type forest soil. The dominant types of ectomycorrhizas in the grass-type forest soil and in theC. obtusa plantation soil were different from that in the two shrub-type forest soils and in theSasa-type forest soil. The results of this investigation suggest that the type of forest floor vegetation, accompanied with changes in thickness of the A₀ horizon, might affect the ectomycorrhizal fungi in the soils ofB. platyphylla var.japonica forests. Establishment of artificial plantations ofC. obtusa might change the ectomycorrhizal fungi that could associate withB. platyphylla var.japonica seedlings in soil.