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A special issue of Applied Sciences (ISSN 2076-3417). This special issue belongs to the section "Earth Sciences".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (30 September 2022) | Viewed by 31338

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Dr. Stefan Fleck

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Guest Editor

Northwest German Forest Research Institute, 37079 Goettingen, Germany
Interests: forest soils; soil nitrogen; soil water content; soil water retention; soil acidity; soil carbon; forest canopy; leaf area index; evapotranspiration; photosynthesis; fire risk assessment; biodiversity; TLS

Special Issue Information

Dear colleagues,

Forest Soil Monitoring has never been as important as in our time, where severe disturbances due to climate change and air pollution are altering the preconditions for forest growth and wood production, nutrient recycling, carbon storage, water regulation, forest biodiversity, and many other ecosystem services. Forest soils provide the basis for these ecosystem services and are at the same time a long-term archive for the effects of forest ecosystem turnover processes. The state of forest soils is therefore affected by changing abiotic and biotic conditions. We need to know to what extent they will continue their support for ecosystem services in a changing world, what their current state is, and what kind of changes we may have to expect in forest ecosystems. The answer to such questions needs to make use of proper techniques to exploit the wealth of information gathered in the long-term data series of forest soil and ecosystem monitoring projects, since observations of forest development in the past are the key to understand their present and future.

The Special Issue on “Forest Soil Monitoring” of the journal Applied Sciences aims to attract a wide range of novel contributions from forest soil and ecosystem monitoring, including topics like:

Observed and modeled dynamics in forest soils;
Forest water relations;
Carbon storage in forest ecosystems;
Forests and the nitrogen cycle;
Heavy metals in forests;
Stability of forest soil properties;
Forest stability and resilience;
Forest growth under changing conditions;
Forest biodiversity;
Forest ecosystem functioning;
Methodological aspects of forest monitoring.

Contributions in these fields and adjacent topics are very welcome.

Dr. Stefan Fleck
Guest Editor

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Published Papers (10 papers)

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Research

20 pages, 3604 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Long Term Trends of Base Cation Budgets of Forests in the UK to Inform Sustainable Harvesting Practices

by Elena Vanguelova, Sue Benham and Tom Nisbet

Appl. Sci. 2022, 12(5), 2411; https://doi.org/10.3390/app12052411 - 25 Feb 2022

Cited by 2 | Viewed by 1808

Abstract

There is growing concern in the UK that available base cation pools in soil are declining due to the combined effects of acid deposition and forest harvesting. To help inform the issue, elemental mass balances for calcium (Ca), magnesium (Mg) and potassium (K) were calculated using more than 10-years (10–24 years) of data from the UK’s ICP Forest Intensive Monitoring Network (Level II) of plots, covering a range of soil types and three tree species—oak, Scots pine and Sitka spruce. Out of the ten sites investigated, small negative Ca balances were observed at three sites and negative K balances on two sites, all on acid geology and nutrient poor soils, which were previously heavily acidified due to acid deposition. There is sufficient Ca and K in the soil exchangeable pool to sustain forest growth on these sites, however, if the present rate of Ca and K loss continues forest health and productivity are likely to be threatened within a few forest rotations. Magnesium showed a positive balance at all but one site, partly sustained by marine deposition. Base cation budgets were significantly (p < 0.01) positively related to soil exchangeable cations and soil base saturation status. Six of the sites showed an increasingly statistically significant positive cation balance with time, attributed to a decline in leaching linked to recovery from acidification. This included the three sites with negative Ca balance, although Ca remained in deficit. One site (Alice Holt) exhibited a decreasing cation balance, driven by a continued significant decline in base cation deposition thought to be related to pollutant emission control. The results were used to simulate the impact of different forest biomass harvesting scenarios involving the removal of brown (extracted after needle drop) or green (extracted before needle drop) brash. Podzols and deep peats were found to be the most vulnerable to brash harvesting causing Ca and K imbalance, but problems also occurred on brown earths. Impacts were greatest for the extraction of green brash from higher productivity stands. Base cation balance calculations remain highly uncertain due to the restricted nature of available measurements and wide variation of some estimates, particularly inputs from mineral weathering. More data are required to check and improve model predictions to better guide forest harvesting practice and ensure sustainable forest management. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Forest Soil Monitoring)

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38 pages, 4434 KiB

Open AccessFeature PaperArticle

Accurate Measurements of Forest Soil Water Content Using FDR Sensors Require Empirical In Situ (Re)Calibration

by Bruno De Vos, Nathalie Cools, Arne Verstraeten and Johan Neirynck

Appl. Sci. 2021, 11(24), 11620; https://doi.org/10.3390/app112411620 - 7 Dec 2021

Cited by 4 | Viewed by 3371

Abstract

Monitoring volumetric soil water content (θ_v) is the key for assessing water availability and nutrient fluxes. This study evaluated the empirical accuracy of θ_v measurements using standard and in situ calibrated frequency domain reflectometers (FDR) with gravimetric water content and bulk density measurements of 1512 samples gathered from 15 profiles across 5 ICP Forests level II intensive monitoring plots. The predicted θ_v, calibrated with standard functions, predominantly underestimated the real water content. The measurement error exceeded the threshold of 0.03 m³ m⁻³ in 93% of all soil layers. Layer specific calibration removed bias and reduced the overall prediction error with a factor up to 2.8. A simple linear regression often provided the best calibration model; temperature correction was helpful in specific cases. To adequately remove bias in our study plots, a calibration dataset of up to 24 monthly observations was required for topsoils (whereas 12 observations sufficed for subsoils). Based on estimated precision errors, 3 sensors per soil layer proved to be sufficient, while up to 16 sensors are needed to meet the required accuracy in organic topsoils. Validating FDR sensor outputs using in situ gravimetric measurements is essential for quality control and assurance of long term θ_v monitoring and for improving site specific instrumentalization. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Forest Soil Monitoring)

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18 pages, 4031 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Water Budgets of Managed Forests in Northeast Germany under Climate Change—Results from a Model Study on Forest Monitoring Sites

by Daniel Ziche, Winfried Riek, Alexander Russ, Rainer Hentschel and Jan Martin

Appl. Sci. 2021, 11(5), 2403; https://doi.org/10.3390/app11052403 - 8 Mar 2021

Cited by 4 | Viewed by 2665

Abstract

To develop measures to reduce the vulnerability of forests to drought, it is necessary to estimate specific water balances in sites and to estimate their development with climate change scenarios. We quantified the water balance of seven forest monitoring sites in northeast Germany for the historical time period 1961–2019, and for climate change projections for the time period 2010–2100. We used the LWF-BROOK90 hydrological model forced with historical data, and bias-adjusted data from two models of the fifth phase of the Coupled Model Intercomparison Project (CMIP5) downscaled with regional climate models under the representative concentration pathways (RCPs) 2.6 and 8.5. Site-specific monitoring data were used to give a realistic model input and to calibrate and validate the model. The results revealed significant trends (evapotranspiration, dry days (actual/potential transpiration < 0.7)) toward drier conditions within the historical time period and demonstrate the extreme conditions of 2018 and 2019. Under RCP8.5, both models simulate an increase in evapotranspiration and dry days. The response of precipitation to climate change is ambiguous, with increasing precipitation with one model. Under RCP2.6, both models do not reveal an increase in drought in 2071–2100 compared to 1990–2019. The current temperature increase fits RCP8.5 simulations, suggesting that this scenario is more realistic than RCP2.6. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Forest Soil Monitoring)

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13 pages, 2678 KiB

Open AccessArticle

by Junliang Zou and Bruce Osborne

Appl. Sci. 2021, 11(5), 2139; https://doi.org/10.3390/app11052139 - 28 Feb 2021

Cited by 3 | Viewed by 2060

Abstract

The importance of labile soil carbon (C) and nitrogen (N) in soil biogeochemical processes is now well recognized. However, the quantification of labile soil C and N in soils and the assessment of their contribution to ecosystem C and N budgets is often constrained by limited information on spatial variability. To address this, we examined spatial variability in dissolved organic carbon (DOC) and dissolved total nitrogen (DTN) in a Sitka spruce forest in central Ireland. The results showed moderate variations in the concentrations of DOC and DTN based on the mean, minimum, and maximum, as well as the coefficients of variation. Residual values of DOC and DTN were shown to have moderate spatial autocorrelations, and the nugget sill ratios were 0.09% and 0.10%, respectively. Distribution maps revealed that both DOC and DTN concentrations in the study area decreased from the southeast. The variability of both DOC and DTN increased as the sampling area expanded and could be well parameterized as a power function of the sampling area. The cokriging technique performed better than the ordinary kriging for predictions of DOC and DTN, which are highly correlated. This study provides a statistically based assessment of spatial variations in DOC and DTN and identifies the sampling effort required for their accurate quantification, leading to improved assessments of forest ecosystem C and N budgets. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Forest Soil Monitoring)

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19 pages, 6995 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Baseline Subsoil CO₂ Gas Measurements and Micrometeorological Monitoring: Above Canopy Turbulence Effects on the Subsoil CO₂ Dynamics in Temperate Deciduous Forest

by Didi Adisaputro, Philippe De Donato, Laurent Saint-Andre, Odile Barres, Catherine Galy, Gilles Nourrisson, Médéric Piedevache and Marion Derrien

Appl. Sci. 2021, 11(4), 1753; https://doi.org/10.3390/app11041753 - 18 Feb 2021

Cited by 3 | Viewed by 3022

Abstract

Accurate and continuous measurement of the subsoil CO₂ is critical to better understand the terrestrial and atmosphere gas transfer process. This work aims to develop and field test a specific flow system to continuously measure the soil gas concentration (χc) and understand its main physical drivers. Hourly data measured in situ were collected through two dedicated wells at 1 m and 6 m depth coupled with micrometeorological measurement. Our study shows that χc at -1 m was at the lowest in winter and highest in summer. Meanwhile, the seasonal variation of χc at -6m is somewhat unclear. While it is inevitable that temperature plays a significant role, this factor related to biological activity cannot fully explain the variation. The decrease in χc at both depths in summer coincides with an increase of friction velocity, especially during dry periods with R² of 0.68, which shows strong empirical evidence that wind turbulence plays a significant role in driving the deep soil CO₂. A monitoring strategy for gas measurement combining borehole and micrometeorological measurement offers excellent long-term monitoring possibilities to derive the vertical distribution of CO₂ and better understand the main physical drivers of gas exchange. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Forest Soil Monitoring)

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22 pages, 2065 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Concentrations of Inorganic and Organic Pollutants in Forest Soils as an Archive of Anthropogenic Inputs in the State of Brandenburg, Germany

by Winfried Riek, Alexander Russ and Marc Marx

Appl. Sci. 2021, 11(3), 1189; https://doi.org/10.3390/app11031189 - 28 Jan 2021

Cited by 4 | Viewed by 2572

Abstract

An important component of the National Forest Soils Inventory (NFSI) is the investigation of inorganic and organic pollutants. Forests are able to filter out large quantities of these substances from the atmosphere and incorporate them into the soil for a long time. The aim of this study was the integrative evaluation of organic and inorganic pollutant concentrations in forest soils in the state of Brandenburg, Germany. With the help of principle component analysis, the pollutant concentrations can essentially be explained by three significant environmental components, which explain 76% of the total variance of all pollutants examined within the scope of the NFSI. The first component characterizes the extent of the atmospheric pollution caused by flue gases and fly ash from lignite combustion in the 1970s and 1980s and is mainly charged by the organic pollutants HCB and PAH, and the elements arsenic and chromium. This component shows positive relation to both spatially interpolated calcium-deposition data from the 1980s (as an indicator for the dust emission from coal combustion) and crown defoliation data of pine stands from the forest condition survey in the early 1990s. The depositions of zinc and cadmium from industrial sources, vehicle traffic and the use of fertilizers in agriculture mainly characterize the second principle component. The use of the pesticides DDT and lindane in the early 1980s and the associated pollutants input into the forest soils are expressed by the third component. In expanding the term archiving function of soils, the results illustrate their particular importance for the long-term archiving of anthropogenic inputs and the associated potential stress factors for forests. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Forest Soil Monitoring)

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14 pages, 989 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Long Term Effects of Forest Liming on the Acid-Base Budget

by Martin Greve, Joachim Block, Gebhard Schüler and Willy Werner

Appl. Sci. 2021, 11(3), 955; https://doi.org/10.3390/app11030955 - 21 Jan 2021

Cited by 2 | Viewed by 2077

Abstract

In Rhineland-Palatinate (Germany), a high percentage of the forest area is located on poor soils with low buffering capacity. Extensive liming applications were performed to compensate for the negative consequences of acid deposition. In 1988, three experimental sites with untreated control plots and different liming treatments were established in coniferous stands to investigate the effectiveness of liming on acidification and its effect on forest ecosystems. Measuring deposition and seepage waters for 24 years allowed for calculating long-term acid-base budgets. The original approach was expanded by data from a detailed sampling of the forest stand and mineral weathering rates. Without liming, the acid load exceeded the buffer capacity by base cation release from silicate weathering during the whole observation period. As a result, there was a high release of aluminum. After liming seepage water output of organic anions, nitrate and sulfate increased in some cases, leading to a higher acid load. However, the carbonates of dolomitic limestone compensated for a higher acid load, resulting in less aluminum released compared to the control plots. Until sulfate output by seepage water declines and nitrogen emissions are reduced, liming and restricted biomass harvesting are required for forest stands on base poor soils to prevent further acidification, decline of nutrient stocks, and the destruction of clay minerals. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Forest Soil Monitoring)

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28 pages, 2793 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Three-Dimensional Mapping of Forest Soil Carbon Stocks Using SCORPAN Modelling and Relative Depth Gradients in the North-Eastern Lowlands of Germany

by Alexander Russ, Winfried Riek and Gerd Wessolek

Appl. Sci. 2021, 11(2), 714; https://doi.org/10.3390/app11020714 - 13 Jan 2021

Cited by 4 | Viewed by 3248

Abstract

To cope with the challenges in forest management that are contemporarily caused by climate change, data on current chemical and physical soil properties are more and more necessary. For this purpose, we present a further amalgam of depth functions and SCORPAN modelling to provide data at arbitrary depth layers. In this concept, regionalisation is split up into the modelling of plot totals and the estimation of vertical distributions. The intended benefits by splitting up are: consistency between estimates on plot level and depth layer level, avoidance of artificial depth gradients, straightforward interpretation of covariates in the sense of pedogenetic processes, and circumnavigation of the propagation of uncertainties associated with separation between horizons during field sampling. The methodology was tailored to the circumstances within the north-eastern lowlands and the utilisation of current inventory data of the National Forest Soil Inventory (NFSI) in Brandenburg (Germany). Using the regionalisation of soil organic carbon (SOC) as an example, the application is demonstrated and discussed in detail. The depth to groundwater table and terrain parameters related to the catchment area were the main factors in SOC storage. The use of kriging did not improve the model performance. The relative depth gradients of SOC were especially distinguished by tree species composition and stand age. We suppose that interesting fields of application may be found in scenario-based modelling of SOC and when SOC serves as a basis for hydrological modelling. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Forest Soil Monitoring)

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30 pages, 3967 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Long Term Soil Gas Monitoring as Tool to Understand Soil Processes

by Martin Maier, Valentin Gartiser, Alexander Schengel and Verena Lang

Appl. Sci. 2020, 10(23), 8653; https://doi.org/10.3390/app10238653 - 3 Dec 2020

Cited by 12 | Viewed by 6550

Abstract

Soils provide many functions as they represent a habitat for flora and fauna, supply water, nutrient, and anchorage for plant growth and more. They can also be considered as large bioreactors in which many processes occur that involve the consumption and production of different gas species. Soils can be a source and sink for greenhouse gases. During the last decades this topic attracted special attention. Most studies on soil-atmosphere gas fluxes used chamber methods or micro-meteorological methods. Soil gas fluxes can also be calculated from vertical soil gas profiles which can provide additional insights into the underlying processes. We present a design for sampling and measuring soil gas concentration profiles that was developed to facilitate long term monitoring. Long term monitoring requires minimization of the impact of repeated measurements on the plot and also minimization of the routine workload while the quality of the measurement needs to be maintained continuously high. We used permanently installed gas wells that allowed passive gas sampling at different depths. Soil gas monitoring set ups were installed on 13 plots at 6 forest sites in South West Germany between 1998 and 2010. Until now, soil gas was sampled monthly and analysed for CO₂, N₂O, CH₄, O₂, N₂, Ar, and C₂H₄ using gas chromatography. We present typical time series and profiles of soil gas concentrations and fluxes of a selected site as an example. We discuss the effect of different calculation approaches and conclude that flux estimates of O₂, CO₂ and CH₄ can be considered as highly reliable, whereas N₂O flux estimates include a higher uncertainty. We point out the potential of the data and suggest ideas for future research questions for which soil gas monitoring would provide the ideal data basis. Combining and linking the soil gas data with additional environmental data promises new insights and understanding of soil processes. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Forest Soil Monitoring)

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13 pages, 3178 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Monitoring Microarthropods Assemblages along a pH Gradient in a Forest Soil over a 60 Years’ Time Period

by Yuxi Guo and Henk Siepel

Appl. Sci. 2020, 10(22), 8202; https://doi.org/10.3390/app10228202 - 19 Nov 2020

Cited by 2 | Viewed by 2344

Abstract

In 1959, a small forest lot has been investigated thoroughly by the former Dutch Institute of Applied Biological Research in Nature (ITBON). The site was selected because of the steep gradients found in soil pH and moisture content. We focus here on the pH gradient from 6.7 to 3.2 (pH-KCl) in 1959 over a distance of 20 m (five plots). The decades thereafter N deposition from industry, traffic and especially surrounding agriculture caused an acidification of soils. The highest N deposition values (up to 90 kg N ha⁻¹ a⁻¹) were recorded in the late 1980s, after which N deposition decreased to more moderate, but still elevated levels till now (35 kg N ha⁻¹ a⁻¹). The site was sampled again at the very precise gradient plots in 1987 and 2019. We present our findings on soil microarthropods on this small-scale pH gradient over time and discuss especially the problems we faced with this long-term monitoring taking into account exact sampling, constancy in mode of extraction, constancy in slide preparation, and identification and how to deal with changes in systematics as even a number of species were described new to science meanwhile. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Forest Soil Monitoring)

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