TY - JOUR
T1 - Black carbon and soil properties at historical charcoal production sites in Germany
AU - Borchard, Nils
AU - Ladd, Brenton
AU - Eschemann, Sita
AU - Hegenberg, Dominik
AU - Möseler, Bodo Maria
AU - Amelung, Wulf
N1 - Funding Information:
This study was funded by the German Federal Institute for Geo-Science and Natural Resources (grant agreement number 206-4500035451 ). Many thanks are owed to Stefan Viereck the head of the forest administration Burgholdinghausen (Germany), for the support during field work, and especially to Adolf Kiener, Anke Lindecke and Minh-Chi Tran-Thi for the help with laboratory analyses and measurements.
PY - 2014/11
Y1 - 2014/11
N2 - The use of charcoal as a soil amendment is currently of great interest to sequester carbon and improve soil fertility, however, studies of sites where charcoal amendments to the soil have been made many years ago are lacking at the moment. In this study we investigated historical charcoal production sites in Germany that have not been in use for >60years, and evaluated the effects of the former charcoal inputs on soil and vegetation parameters relative to those of adjacent, unamended areas. Surface soil samples (0-5, 5-20cm) were taken from five sites located on extremely acidic (Siegerland, pH3.8-4.1) and base rich soils (Eifel, pH4.8-5.3) in species poor (Luzulo-Fagetum) and species rich (Hordelymo-Fagetum) beech forests, respectively. We determined stocks of black carbon (BC) and natural soil organic carbon (SOC=total C minus BC) as well as of soil nutrient stocks (NO3-N, P, K, Mg), cation exchange capacity and water holding capacity, and we mapped plant composition to calculate richness and evenness. The results showed that historical charcoal production sites were enriched with BC and also exhibited increased stocks of natural SOC and total N possibly due to enhanced stabilization of natural SOC by the charcoal. The availability of nitrate-nitrogen, phosphate and potassium was increased when the charcoal was added to the base rich soils and less so when charcoal was added to the extremely acidic soils. Plant biodiversity was not different between the sites of historical charcoal addition and the reference sites. We conclude that charcoal additions may increase soil carbon storage capacity over prolonged periods of time without negatively affecting plant ecological interactions over the long term.
AB - The use of charcoal as a soil amendment is currently of great interest to sequester carbon and improve soil fertility, however, studies of sites where charcoal amendments to the soil have been made many years ago are lacking at the moment. In this study we investigated historical charcoal production sites in Germany that have not been in use for >60years, and evaluated the effects of the former charcoal inputs on soil and vegetation parameters relative to those of adjacent, unamended areas. Surface soil samples (0-5, 5-20cm) were taken from five sites located on extremely acidic (Siegerland, pH3.8-4.1) and base rich soils (Eifel, pH4.8-5.3) in species poor (Luzulo-Fagetum) and species rich (Hordelymo-Fagetum) beech forests, respectively. We determined stocks of black carbon (BC) and natural soil organic carbon (SOC=total C minus BC) as well as of soil nutrient stocks (NO3-N, P, K, Mg), cation exchange capacity and water holding capacity, and we mapped plant composition to calculate richness and evenness. The results showed that historical charcoal production sites were enriched with BC and also exhibited increased stocks of natural SOC and total N possibly due to enhanced stabilization of natural SOC by the charcoal. The availability of nitrate-nitrogen, phosphate and potassium was increased when the charcoal was added to the base rich soils and less so when charcoal was added to the extremely acidic soils. Plant biodiversity was not different between the sites of historical charcoal addition and the reference sites. We conclude that charcoal additions may increase soil carbon storage capacity over prolonged periods of time without negatively affecting plant ecological interactions over the long term.
KW - Black carbon
KW - Charcoal production site
KW - Soil nutrient stock
KW - Soil organic carbon
KW - Species richness and evenness
KW - Temperate beech forest
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=84901499174&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1016/j.geoderma.2014.05.007
DO - 10.1016/j.geoderma.2014.05.007
M3 - Artículo
AN - SCOPUS:84901499174
SN - 0016-7061
VL - 232-234
SP - 236
EP - 242
JO - Geoderma
JF - Geoderma
ER -