Abstract
We evaluated how litter raking removed basic nutrients from forest soils by simulating this historical silvicultural practice on two spruce stands (Picea abies) in the Czech Republic. Experimental litter raking depleted the soil pool of exchangeable base cation nutrients (Ca2+, Mg2+ and K+) by up to 31% after the first litter raking in 2003. A second litter raking in the following year further reduced the soil pool by up to 16%, and the third litter raking in 2005 reduced the pool by up to 6% more. These losses of base cations were substantially greater than their annual input into the forest soil (estimated as from total atmospheric deposition and mineral weathering) as well as their annual runoff. The concentration of Mg and Ca in spruce needless decreased considerably within 3 years from the beginning of the experiment. In addition, the observed litter chemistry was used to estimate historical nutrient removal from litter raking by applying them to historical records of litter removal rates. According to these calculations, the annual loss of total Ca, Mg and K from spruce stands would be from 40% to 100% of its present annual input into the soil, and from 50% to 190% of annual runoff. On the basis of previous results estimated by geochemical modeling, we found that the loss of base cations due to litter raking was similar to their leaching due to acid deposition. We conclude that long-term removal of litter as widely practiced throughout the 19th century in Central Europe may have been responsible for a loss of base cations equivalent to that caused by acid deposition during the 20th century.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Anger L (1929) Methods of litter raking and their harmful effect in view of foresters. In: Konšel J (ed) Forest humus and its economical importance. Agricultural Tasks of the Czechoslovak Academy of Agriculture 18, pp 30–38 (in Czech)
Bredemeier M (1988) Forest canopy transformation of atmospheric deposition. Water Air Soil Pollut 40:121–138
Bürgi M (1998) Habitat alterations caused by long-term changes in forest use in northeastern Switzerland. In: Kirby KJ, Watkins C (eds) The ecological history of European forests. CAB, Walingford, pp 203–212
Cosby BJ, Ferrier RC, Jenkins A, Wright RF (2001) Modelling the effects of acidic deposition: refinements, adjustments and inclusion of nitrogen dynamics in the MAGIC model. Hydrol Earth Syst Sci 5:499–517
Dambrine E, Kinkor V, Jehlicka J, Gelhaye D (1993) Fluxes of dissolved mineral elements through a forest ecosystem submitted to extremely high atmospheric pollution inputs (Czech Republic). Ann Sci For 50:147–157
Ebermayer E (1876) Die gesamte Lehre der Waldstreu, mit Rücksicht auf die chemische Statik des Waldbaues. Springer, Berlin (in German)
Farrell EP, Führer E, Ryan D, Andersson F, Hüttl R, Piussi P (2000) European forest ecosystems: building the future on the legacy of the past. For Ecol Manage 132:5–20
Glatzel G (1990) The nitrogen status of Austrian forest ecosystems as influenced by atmospheric deposition, biomass harvesting and lateral organomass exchange. Plant Soil 128:67–74
Glatzel G (1991) The impact of historic land use and modern forestry on nutrient relations of Central European forest ecosystems. Fertil Res 27:1–8
Hintze JL (2001) NCSS—statistical system for Windows. Kaysville
Hruška J, Krám P (1994) Aluminium chemistry of the root-zone of forest soil affected by acid deposition at the Lysina catchment, Czech Republic. Ecol Eng 3:5–16
Hruška J, Krám P (2003) Modelling long-term changes in stream water and soil chemistry in catchments with contrasting vulnerability to acidification (Lysina and Pluhuv Bor, Czech Republic). Hydrol Earth Syst Sci 7:525–539
Hruška J, Cudlín P, Krám P (2001) Relationship between Norway spruce status and soil water base cations/aluminium ratios in the Czech Republic. Water Air Soil Pollut 130:983–988
Hruška J, Moldan F, Krám P (2002) Recovery from acidification in Central Europe—observed and predicted changes in soil and streamwater chemistry in the Lysina catchment, Czech Republic. Environ Pollut 120:261–274
Hunter I, Schuck A (2002) Increasing forest growth in Europe—possible causes and implications for sustainable forest management. Plant Biosyst 136:133–141
Huntington TG, Ryan DF, Hamburg SP (1988) Estimating soil nitrogen and carbon pool in a Northern Hardwood forest ecosystem. Soil Sci Soc Am J 52:1162–1167
Hüttl RF, Schaaf W (1995) Nutrient supply of forest soils in relation to management and site history. Plant Soil 169:31–41
Jandl R (1998) Modeling processes in forest soils—problems, simplifications and caveats. Ecol Eng 10:33–51
Johann E (2004) Landscape changes in the history of the Austrian alpine regions: ecological development and the perception of human responsibility. In: Honnay O, Verheyen K, Bossuyt B, Hermy M (eds) Forest biodiversity: lessons from history for conservation. CAB, Wallingford, pp 27–40
Johnson DW, Lindberg SE (eds) (1992) Atmospheric deposition and forest nutrient cycling. Ecological Studies 91. Springer, New York, p 707
Johnson DW, Swank WT, Vose JM (1993) Simulated effects of atmospheric sulfur deposition on nutrient cycling in a mixed deciduous forest. Biogeochemistry 23:169–196
Jonsson U, Rosengren U, Thelin G, Nihlgard B (2003) Acidification-induced chemical changes in coniferous forest soils in southern Sweden 1988–1999. Environ Pollut 123:75–83
Kilian W (1998) Forest site degradation—temporary deviation from the natural site potential. Ecol Eng 10:5–18
Kopáček J, Veselý J (2005) Sulfur and nitrogen emissions in the Czech Republic and Slovakia from 1850 till 2000. Atmos Environ 39:2179–2188
Krám P, Hruška J, Wenner BS, Driscoll CT, Johnson CE (1997) The biogeochemistry of basic cations in two forest catchments with contrasting lithology in the Czech Republic. Biogeochemistry 37:173–202
Kvapil K, Němec A (1929) Chemistry of the forest humus. In: Konšel J (ed) Forest humus and its economical importance. Agricultural Tasks of the Czechoslovak Academy of Agriculture 18, pp 11–13 (in Czech)
Lindberg SE, Lovett GM, Richter DD, Johnson DW (1986) Atmospheric deposition and canopy interactions of major ions in a forest. Science 231:141–145
Mehlich A (1984) Mehlich 3 soil test extractant: a modification of Mehlich 2 extractant. Commun Soil Sci Plant Anal 15:1409–1416
Mulder J, de Wit HA, Boonen HWJ, Bakken LR (2001) Increased levels of aluminium in forest soils: effects on the stores of soil organic carbon. Water Air Soil Pollut 130:989–994
Navrátil T, Kurz D, Krám P, Hofmeister J, Hruška J (2007) Acidification and recovery of soil at a heavily impacted forest catchment (Lysina, Czech Republic)—SAFE modeling and field results. Ecol Modell 205:464–474
Němec A (1930) An effect of litter raking on nitrogen cycle in the forest soils. Lesnická Práce 9:1–25 (in Czech)
Němec A (1933) An effect of litter raking on forest soil and forest tree: biochemical study. Proc Czech Agric Inst, 103:1–99 (in Czech with German summary)
Nožička J (1957) Forest development in Czechoslovakia. SZN, Prague
Olsson BA, Bengtsson J, Lundkvist H (1996) Effects of different forest harvest intensities on the pools of exchangeable cations in coniferous forest soils. For Ecol Manage 84:135–147
Oulehle F, Hruška J (2005) Tree species (Picea abies and Fagus sylvatica) effects on soil water acidification and aluminium chemistry at sites subjected to long-term acidification in the Ore Mts., Czech Republic. J Inorg Biochem 99:1822–1829
Oulehle F, Hofmeister J, Cudlín P, Hruška J (2006) The effect of reduced atmospheric deposition on soil and soil solution chemistry at a site subjected to long-term acidification, Načetín, Czech Republic. Sci Total Environ 370:532–544
Oulehle F, Hofmeister J, Hruška J (2007) Modeling of the long-term effect of tree species (Norway spruce and European beech) on soil acidification in the Ore Mountains. Ecol Modell 204:359–371
Paces T (1985) Sources of acidification in Central Europe estimated from elemental budgets in small basins. Nature 315:31–36
Peterken GF (1996) Natural woodland. Cambridge University Press
Pfeffer A (1948) Litter raking in the forests and forest pasture. Proc Masaryk’s Work Acad 22:1–31 (in Czech)
Rackham O (1998) Savanna in Europe. In: Kirby KJ, Watkins C (eds) The ecological history of European forests. CAB, Walingford, pp 1–24
Schulze ED (1989) Air pollution and forest decline in a spruce (Picea abies) forest. Science 244:776–783
Stuber M, Bürgi M (2002) Agrarische Waldnutzungen in der Schweiz 1800–1950. Nadel- und Laubstreue Schweiz Z Forstwes 153:397–410
van Breemen N, Driscoll CT, Mulder J (1984) Acidic deposition and internal proton sources in acidification of soils and waters. Nature 307:599–604
Zbíral J (1994) Methods of plant biomass analysis. Central Institute for Supervising and Testing in Agriculture, Brno (in Czech)
Acknowledgements
The authors thank the laboratories of the Agency for the Nature Protection and Landscape Conservation of the Czech Republic, laboratories of the Czech Geological Survey as well as F. Buzek, I. Jačková and Z. Válková from the Section of Stable Isotopes of the Czech Geological Survey for analyzing all samples. We thank E. Kalinová, E.P. Farrell (University College Dublin), D. Hardekopf and Kevin Bishop (Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences) for the help with English. Comments from editor Scott Ollinger and two anonymous reviewers significantly improved the manuscript. The research was financially supported by the Grant Agency of the Czech Republic (grant project 526/03/P009) as well as the Czech Geological Survey.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Hofmeister, J., Oulehle, F., Krám, P. et al. Loss of nutrients due to litter raking compared to the effect of acidic deposition in two spruce stands, Czech Republic. Biogeochemistry 88, 139–151 (2008). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10533-008-9201-z
Received:
Accepted:
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10533-008-9201-z