scholarly journals Biodiversity indexes in relation to soil properties in upland fir forests (Abietetum albae)

2017 ◽  
Vol 78 (2) ◽  
pp. 120-128
Author(s):  
Jarosław Lasota ◽  
Małgorzata Wiecheć ◽  
Ewa Błońska ◽  
Stanisław Brożek

Abstract The aim of this study was to present the relationship between soil properties and biodiversity indexes in upland fir (Abies alba) forest associations (Abietetum albae). Our study was conducted in six areas representing the growth conditions of upland fir forests and the research plots were located in the Roztoczański and Świętokrzyski National Parks as well as Przedbórz, Radomsko, Piotrków and Janów lubelski Forest District. on every plot, the topography was described, soil cores were examined and samples for laboratory analysis were taken. the following characteristics were determined for the soil samples: ph, c, n, ca, Mg, na and K content, particle size, exchangeable acidity, aluminum content and hydrolytic acidity. additionally, enzyme activity in the soil samples (urease and dehydrogenase) was measured. in each test area, the stand characteristics were measured (diameter at breast height and height), floristic characteristics were described and the biodiversity indexes (Shannon, Simpson and Margalef indexes) were calculated. Different soil types (gleysols, Brunic arenosols, gleyic Podzols and hyperdistric cambisols) were recorded for the investigated forest stands and the soils were categorized according to soil texture, c content, enzyme activity and different humus types (moder-mor, moder, moder-mull). the upland mixed coniferous forest sites were characterized by lower biodiversity indexes (2.6 shannon index; 0.72 simpson index; 4.9 Margalef index) while the upland mixed broadleaf forest sites showed higher indexes (3.3 Shannon index; 0.87 Simpson index; 9.4 Margalef index). The site index obtained for the fir stands confirmed these results.

Author(s):  
Allison Neil

Soil properties are strongly influenced by the composition of the surrounding vegetation. We investigated soil properties of three ecosystems; a coniferous forest, a deciduous forest and an agricultural grassland, to determine the impact of land use change on soil properties. Disturbances such as deforestation followed by cultivation can severely alter soil properties, including losses of soil carbon. We collected nine 40 cm cores from three ecosystem types on the Roebuck Farm, north of Perth Village, Ontario, Canada. Dominant species in each ecosystem included hemlock and white pine in the coniferous forest; sugar maple, birch and beech in the deciduous forest; grasses, legumes and herbs in the grassland. Soil pH varied little between the three ecosystems and over depth. Soils under grassland vegetation had the highest bulk density, especially near the surface. The forest sites showed higher cation exchange capacity and soil moisture than the grassland; these differences largely resulted from higher organic matter levels in the surface forest soils. Vertical distribution of organic matter varied greatly amongst the three ecosystems. In the forest, more of the organic matter was located near the surface, while in the grassland organic matter concentrations varied little with depth. The results suggest that changes in land cover and land use alters litter inputs and nutrient cycling rates, modifying soil physical and chemical properties. Our results further suggest that conversion of forest into agricultural land in this area can lead to a decline in soil carbon storage.


1972 ◽  
Vol 52 (3) ◽  
pp. 427-438 ◽  
Author(s):  
A. J. MacLEAN ◽  
R. L. HALSTEAD ◽  
B. J. FINN

Liming of six acid soil samples in an incubation experiment with rates to raise the soil pH to 6.0 or above eliminated Al soluble in 0.01 M CaCl2, reduced soluble Mn and Zn, increased NO3-N markedly, and at the highest pH increased the amounts of NaHCO3-soluble P in some of the soils. In corresponding pot experiments, liming increased the yield of alfalfa and in three of the soils the yield of barley also. Liming reduced the concentrations of the metals in the plants and at the highest pH tended to increase the P content of the plants. Liming to a pH of about 5.3 eliminated or greatly reduced soluble Al and the soils were base saturated as measured by the replacement of Al, Ca, and Mg by a neutral salt. There was some evidence that liming to reduce soluble Al and possibly Mn was beneficial for plant growth. Gypsum increased the concentrations of Al, Mn, and Zn in 0.01 M CaCl2 extracts of the soils whereas phosphate reduced them. The changes in the Mn content of the plants following these treatments were in agreement with the amounts of Mn in the CaCl2 extracts.


2015 ◽  
Vol 7 (12) ◽  
pp. 72 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kabal S. Gill ◽  
Sukhdev S. Malhi ◽  
Newton Z. Lupwayi

<p>Wood ash may be used to mitigate soil acidity and improve crop production. We compared effects of wood ash and recommended fertilizers on soil properties of a Gray Luivsol, crop yields and contribution margins in southeast Peace, Alberta, Canada. The CHK (no fertilizer, inoculation or wood ash), FRT (recommended fertilizers or inoculation), ASH (wood ash rate to supply amounts of phosphorus equivalent to the FRT treatment); and ASH+N (same as ASH + N fertilizer or inoculation) treatments were applied in 2006 and 2007. Their effects were studied from 2006 to 2014. Wood ash had all the essential plant nutrients, except nitrogen. Soil samples collected in 2007, 2008 and 2013 had or tended to have higher pH, P, K, Ca, Ca:Mg ratio, S, Cu, Zn and B levels for the ASH and ASH+N treatments than the CHK and FRT treatments. In the 2006 and 2007, the seed yields were ASH+N &gt; FRT &gt; ASH &gt; CHK. The seed yields in 2008, 2010, 2012, 2013 and 2014 were greater from both the wood ash treatments than other treatments. Extra contribution margin from the ASH+N over the FRT treatment was $751/ha, i.e. $97 Mg<sup>-1</sup> of applied wood ash. Overall, wood ash reduced fertilizer expenditure and improved seed yield, contribution margin and soil properties, with residual effects observed up to seven years and likely for few more years.</p>


Author(s):  
Kent McKnight ◽  
Kimball Harper ◽  
Karl McKnight

The primary overall objective of inventorying the macrofungi growing in and around Grand Teton and Yellowstone National Parks was partially achieved with the published checklist (McKnight 1982) and additions from the 1982 Research Center Annual Report (McKnight, Harper, & McKnight 1984). The intensive collecting of the 1982 fruiting season including a 12-week phenological study at 11 selected sites left many species unidentified and numerous others observed but not collected, or with inadequately annotated collections made. Litter and soil moisture data for the 11 study stands are also given in the 1982 annual report cited above, as well as data on 15 overstory and understory vegetation and soil parameters. Field studies in the Parks during the summer of 1983 concentrated on (1) identification of chlorophyllous and vascular plants at the 11 sites selected for concentrated study in 1982; (2) quantitative estimates of chlorophyllous plant cover and height; (3) estimates of site quality; (4) collections of composite soil samples; and (5) additional records of macrofungi for the Parks with supporting data in the form of photographs, drawings, and annotations.


2017 ◽  
Vol 1 (1) ◽  
pp. 89-94
Author(s):  
Sherwan Kafoor

Asnawa soils contain high amounts of iron oxides. These minerals apply much influence on different soil properties, of which the most observable is colour. The objective of this study was to conclude if colour of soils measured by visual methods can be parameterized to quantify soil Fe oxides. The examined area was divided to three zones (zone A, zone B and zone C) according to their colour intensity. Forty soil samples were examined for their colour and iron oxide contents. Their colour were ranged between 5YR (H) 2.5 (V/C) to 5YR (H) 5/8 (V/C). The average values of free Fe oxide in the soils of the three zones were 52.1%, 36.8% and 15.9% respectively. A new formula was derived to measure colour intensity. A highly significant correlation was found between colour intensity and concentrations of Fe oxides in the examined soils.


2017 ◽  
Vol 14 (14) ◽  
pp. 3445-3459 ◽  
Author(s):  
Carole Bastianelli ◽  
Adam A. Ali ◽  
Julien Beguin ◽  
Yves Bergeron ◽  
Pierre Grondin ◽  
...  

Abstract. At the northernmost extent of the managed forest in Quebec, Canada, the boreal forest is currently undergoing an ecological transition between two forest ecosystems. Open lichen woodlands (LW) are spreading southward at the expense of more productive closed-canopy black spruce–moss forests (MF). The objective of this study was to investigate whether soil properties could distinguish MF from LW in the transition zone where both ecosystem types coexist. This study brings out clear evidence that differences in vegetation cover can lead to significant variations in soil physical and geochemical properties.Here, we showed that soil carbon, exchangeable cations, and iron and aluminium crystallinity vary between boreal closed-canopy forests and open lichen woodlands, likely attributed to variations in soil microclimatic conditions. All the soils studied were typical podzolic soil profiles evolved from glacial till deposits that shared a similar texture of the C layer. However, soil humus and the B layer varied in thickness and chemistry between the two forest ecosystems at the pedon scale. Multivariate analyses of variance were used to evaluate how soil properties could help distinguish the two types at the site scale. MF humus (FH horizons horizons composing the O layer) showed significantly higher concentrations of organic carbon and nitrogen and of the main exchangeable base cations (Ca, Mg) than LW soils. The B horizon of LW sites held higher concentrations of total Al and Fe oxides and particularly greater concentrations of inorganic amorphous Fe oxides than MF mineral soils, while showing a thinner B layer. Overall, our results show that MF store three times more organic carbon in their soils (B+FH horizons, roots apart) than LW. We suggest that variations in soil properties between MF and LW are linked to a cascade of events involving the impacts of natural disturbances such as wildfires on forest regeneration that determines the vegetation structure (stand density) and composition (ground cover type) and their subsequent consequences on soil environmental parameters (moisture, radiation rate, redox conditions, etc.). Our data underline significant differences in soil biogeochemistry under different forest ecosystems and reveal the importance of interactions in the soil–vegetation–climate system for the determination of soil composition.


2010 ◽  
Vol 56 (No. 1) ◽  
pp. 18-27 ◽  
Author(s):  
M. Nawrot ◽  
M. Jakubowski ◽  
W. Pazdrowski ◽  
K. Kaźmierczak ◽  
M. Szymański

The paper presents an attempt to determine conducting area (CA), relative conducting area (CA.k<sup>–1</sup>) and mean ring conducting area (CAar) on discs cut at breast height from stems of larch trees growing in fresh mixed coniferous forest and fresh mixed forest sites, representing four age classes and the main crop according to Kraft’s classification. The value of CA increases with an improvement of the social class of tree position in the community, while no such dependences were found for the value of (CA.k<sup>–1</sup>). The parameter CAar, except for one case in age class IV in the fresh mixed coniferous forest site, increases with an improvement of the position a tree takes in the community and differentiates more markedly under the conditions of fresh mixed forest sites. Relative conducting area (CA.k<sup>–1</sup>) decreases markedly with an increase in the age of trees, which is confirmed by high values of the coefficient of determination. Moreover, the significance of differences between individual trees in the main crop according to Kraft and forest site types was tested in terms of the values of CAar. Calculated values may be used to describe the relationships between conducting area and the size of the assimilating organ more precisely than the total sapwood zone.


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