Journal Article

PreJuSER-17569

http://join2-wiki.gsi.de/foswiki/pub/Main/Artwork/join2_logo100x88.png Long-term effects of clear-cutting and selective cutting on soil methane fluxes in a temperate spruce forest in southern Germany

Wu, X. ; Brüggemann, N.FZJ* ; Gasche, R. ; Papen, H. ; Willibald, G. ; Butterbach-Bahl, K.

2011
Elsevier Science Amsterdam [u.a.]

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Please use a persistent id in citations: doi:10.1016/j.envpol.2011.06.025

Abstract: Based on multi-year measurements of CH(4) exchange in sub-daily resolution we show that clear-cutting of a forest in Southern Germany increased soil temperature and moisture and decreased CH(4) uptake. CH(4) uptake in the first year after clear-cutting (-4.5 ± 0.2 μg C m(-2) h(-1)) was three times lower than during the pre-harvest period (-14.2 ± 1.3 μg C m(-2) h(-1)). In contrast, selective cutting did not significantly reduce CH(4) uptake. Annual mean uptake rates were -1.18 kg C ha(-1) yr(-1) (spruce control), -1.16 kg C ha(-1) yr(-1) (selective cut site) and -0.44 kg C ha(-1) yr(-1) (clear-cut site), respectively. Substantial seasonal and inter-annual variations in CH(4) fluxes were observed as a result of significant variability of weather conditions, demonstrating the need for long-term measurements. Our findings imply that a stepwise selective cutting instead of clear-cutting may contribute to mitigating global warming by maintaining a high CH(4) uptake capacity of the soil.

Keyword(s): Air Pollutants: analysis (MeSH) ; Air Pollution: statistics & numerical data (MeSH) ; Ecosystem (MeSH) ; Environmental Monitoring (MeSH) ; Forestry: methods (MeSH) ; Germany (MeSH) ; Methane: analysis (MeSH) ; Picea (MeSH) ; Seasons (MeSH) ; Soil: chemistry (MeSH) ; Time (MeSH) ; Trees (MeSH) ; Weather (MeSH) ; Air Pollutants ; Soil ; Methane ; J ; Methane (auto) ; Clear-cutting (auto) ; Selective cutting (auto) ; Soil temperature (auto) ; WFPS (auto) ; Inter-annual variability (auto)

Note: This research was supported by the Helmholtz Association of German Research Centers in the framework of the program-oriented funding (POF) period 2004-2008 and by the Integrated Project NitroEurope IP, funded by the European Commission. We thank Benjamin Wolf (IMK-IFU) for his support with vector machine modeling and Prof. Bojie Fu (State Key Laboratory of Urban and Regional Ecology, Beijing, China) for critical reading and valuable discussions. One of the authors, Xing Wu, would like to thank the Helmholtz Association of German Research Centers and the China Scholarship Council (CSC) for providing financial support within the Junior Scientists Exchange Program. We also thank the two anonymous reviewers whose comments greatly improved the clarity and depth of the manuscript.

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Contributing Institute(s):

1. Agrosphäre (IBG-3)

Research Program(s):

1. Terrestrische Umwelt (P24)

Appears in the scientific report 2011

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