Effects of stand conversion by thinning and underplanting on water and element fluxes of a pine ecosystem (P. sylvestris L.) on lignite mine spoil

doi:10.1016/j.foreco.2005.03.038

Forest Ecology and Management

Volume 212, Issues 1–3, 1 July 2005, Pages 214-220

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.foreco.2005.03.038 Get rights and content

Abstract

Not site conform and overstocked Scots pine monocultures (Pinus sylvestris L.) on mine spoils in the Lusatian Lignite District (Germany) should be transformed into mixed deciduous forests by thinning and subsequent underplanting. But the effects of stand conversion on ecosystem dynamics continue to be poorly understood. Therefore, in a case study of a 66-year-old Scots pine stand (Pinus sylvestris L.) on Quaternary sand, the ecosystem water and element fluxes of a conversion and a moderately thinned reference plot were measured.

Reduction of stand basal area from 34 to 20 m² ha⁻¹ decreased interception of annual bulk precipitation (729 mm) from 38 to 30%. In contrast, evapotranspiration remained almost constant, due to additional transpiration of the underplanted trees and ground vegetation. Thus, deep percolation increased from 121 to 164 mm year⁻¹.

Both measurement plots were characterized by considerable Ca and SO₄–S leaching (up to 1.5 and 2.0 kmol ha⁻¹ year⁻¹, respectively). However, stand conversion had no major effect on the element budgets; despite higher soil water fluxes, element output by seepage water was quite unchanged. The stand still acted as almost complete sink for growth-limiting nutrients such as N and P with an annual storage of 1.7–2.1 and 0.023–0.026 kmol ha⁻¹, respectively. Nutrient cycling was not decoupled as the minimal N fluxes in 20 cm soil depth indicate.

Introduction

Over decades, mine spoils in the Lusatian Lignite District were mainly afforested with Scots pine (Pinus sylvestris L.), which shows a good initial survival (Preußner and Kilias, 1992). Upgrowing stands are quite productive, but in the long term, this choice of pioneer species undervalues the site potential in most cases. Moreover, it leads to unstable stands, due to the high stress-susceptibility of overstocked monocultures (Knoche, 2001). That is why, today afforestations are carried out mainly with suitable deciduous species like sessile oak or lime being in good agreement with the natural vegetation of the region. To accelerate vegetation change, mixed forests are also established by strong thinning of 40–80-year-old pine stands, and subsequent, underplanting with hardwood trees.

However, thinning and underplanting triggers multiple ecological effects. Especially its impact on water and element turnover is poorly understood. Likely, the reduction of stand biomass increases deep percolation, reinforcing element leaching from the soil (Satterlund and Adams, 1992). Furthermore, opening up of the canopy can induce decoupling of nutrient cycling (Prescott, 2002). For example, elevated N mineralization rates have been reported after thinning by Parsons et al. (1994) and Bäumler and Zech (1998) due to stimulation of humus decomposition. This interference may be crucial for ecosystem stability, since the accumulation of growth-limiting nutrients like nitrogen and phosphorous is a key process for successfull afforestations of mine spoils (Knoche et al., 2002).

The purpose of the present study was to find out, whether thinning and underplanting have an effect on the water and element fluxes. Is stand conversion acceptable from the point of ecosystem stability or will it lead to a destabilization of the stands? This will go against the major target of forest reclamation, which is establishing long-term stable and productive mixed forests (Preußner, 1998).

Section snippets

Site, stand and methods

The water and element fluxes of a quite typical strip mine planting were investigated during the initial stage of stand conversion. Monitoring site Drochow is a 66-year-old Pinus sylvestris (L.) stand without understorey on Quaternary mine sand (reference plot). As Table 1 points out, stocking is characterized by high stem number (780 stem ha⁻¹) and stand biomass (330 m³ ha⁻¹ compact wood). After lowering basal area by single-tree thinning from 38 m² ha⁻¹ to 27 m² ha⁻¹ in 1997, a so-called conversion

Water fluxes

Although half of the trees were taken out by thinning, which means a reduction of stand density of 40%, interception decreased only from 38 to 31% of annual bulk precipitation (Table 2). Apparently, opening of the canopy facilitates the moistening of the crowns and allows a more rapid evaporation of the intercepted water. At the same time, the strong reduction of leaf area index increased evapotranspiration of the ecosystem by 4%. Obviously, transpiration of the ground vegetation and

Conclusions

Investigations in a 66-year-old mine spoil planting (P. sylvestris L.) characterize the ecological situation 5 years after initiating stand conversion. In the early stage of stand transformation, deep percolation increased at a consequence of reduced interception from 17 to 23% of annual bulk precipitation. However, it is likely, that with establishing of the underplantings soil water fluxes will decrease again, especially in periods of low precipitation which are quite typical for the region.

Acknowledgements

The present work is part of an integrated study to evaluate conversion of forests in the Lusatian Lignite mining District. The author likes to thank the Federal Ministry for Education and Research (BMBF, Grant No. 0339770) and the Lausitzer und Mitteldeutsche Bergbau-Verwaltungsgesellschaft mbH (LMBV) for financial support. I am very grateful to D. Klem, K. Klem, E. Weber and the reviewers for critical contributions and suggestions.

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Canopy interception loss is a key component of forest hydrological cycle that determine the amount of net rainfall reaching forest floor together with drought/climate stressors affecting dryland forest plantations. A good understanding of the relationship between canopy interception loss and forest management such as thinning is important for improved watershed management and ecological services. In this study, we measured event-based rainfall partitioning for a thinned (TH, with 38% basal area removed) and a control (CT) Robinia pseudoacacia forest plantation during leafed and leafless seasons in 2015 in the semiarid Loess Plateau region in China. Interception loss from both forest plots were simulated using the Revised Gash Analytical Model (RGAM) and the WiMo model. The results showed that observed annual throughfall, stemflow and interception loss were respectively 80.8%, 1.7% and 17.5% of the gross rainfall under CT. The corresponding values under TH were 87.9%, 0.8% and 11.3%, respectively. The RGAM and WiMo models were well calibrated and validated using filed data collected in leafed and leafless seasons. The analyses suggested that models accurately predicated interception loss under both CT and TH conditions and captured seasonal variations in canopy and meteorological parameters. The RGAM model was most sensitive to the ratio of mean evaporation rate to mean rainfall intensity, and canopy storage capacity in leafed season, and to the ratio of mean evaporation rate to mean rainfall intensity in leafless season. Moreover, 37.2% and 42.1% of the interception in leafed season evaporated from the canopy respectively during rainfall event and after rainfall. The corresponding values for leafless season were respectively 49.3% and 22.4%. Overall, the performance of the optimized RGAM and WiMo models were satisfactory with respect to modeling error (−6.9 − −2.9%) and Nash-Sutcliffe model efficiency (0.80–0.94), although that of the optimized RGAM model was slightly superior to WiMo model. The models would facilitate the implementation of water-oriented management in semiarid forest plantations through a more accurate simulation of the impact of thinning on interception loss.
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The same negative trend was recorded for the content of zinc (Zn). The low contents of all these nutrients was probably due to leaching (Knoche, 2005). The decreased content of alkaline cations concomitant with the lowest THB indirectly indicated a low pool of available nitrogen in soil under the P. sylvestris.
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Effects of stand conversion by thinning and underplanting on water and element fluxes of a pine ecosystem (P. sylvestris L.) on lignite mine spoil

Abstract

Introduction

Section snippets

Site, stand and methods

Water fluxes

Conclusions

Acknowledgements

Zum Waldumbau nicht standortgerechter Erstaufforstungen auf Kippenstandorten in Ostsachsen

Forst und Holz

Soil solution chemistry and impact of forest thinning in mountain forests in the Bavarian Alps

For. Ecol. Manage.

Effects of atmospheric deposition, soil pH and acidification on heavy metal contents in soils and vegetation of seminatural ecosystems at Rothamsted Experimental Station, UK

Plant Soil

Pflanzensoziologie—Grundzüge der Vegetationskunde

Development of forest stands in the Lusatian lignite mining district after mineral fertilization adapted to site and tree species

Water Air Soil Pollut.

Langjährige Auswirkungen mineralischer Düngungen in jungen Kiefernbeständen auf Kippsanden

AFZ/Der Wald

Eine rationelle Methode zur Abgrenzung und Kartierung von Flugascheneinträgen in Forstbeständen

Beitr. Forstwirtsch. u. Landsch. ökol.

Coupled heat and mass transfer model for soil–plant–atmosphere systems

Modellierung von Beziehungen zwischen der Emission von N-Spurengasen aus Waldböden und den Vegetationsstrukturen in Kiefernökosystemen des nordostdeutschen Tieflandes

Beitr. Forstwirtsch. u. Landsch. ökol.

Kalkulation von Vorräten und Umsätzen oberirdischer Biomassekompartimente und Nährstoffmengen der Kiefernbestände an Level II-Flächen Brandenburgs

Beitr. Forstwirtsch. u. Landsch. ökol.

Stratigraphic distribution of lignite-derived atmospheric deposits in forest soils of the upper Lusatian region, East Germany

Water Air Soil Pollut.

Entwicklung des N-, P- und K-Umsatzes von Eichenökosystemen auf Kippenstandorten des Lausitzer Braunkohlenreviers

AFZ/Der Wald

Water and element fluxes of red oak ecosystems during stand development on post-mining sites (Lusatian Lignite District)

Water Air Soil Pollut.