Ivars Kļaviņš, Arta Bārdule, Zane Lībiete, Dagnija Lazdiņa, Andis Lazdiņš. (2019). Impact of biomass harvesting on nitrogen concentration in the soil solution in hemiboreal woody ecosystems. Silva Fennica vol. 53 no. 4 article id 10016. https://doi.org/10.14214/sf.10016

Keywords: nitrogen concentration; stump harvesting; whole-tree harvesting; soil solution; hemiboreal forest; short-rotation coppice

Highlights: Soil solution nitrogen concentrations in whole-tree harvesting sites are higher in sites of medium to high fertility than in sites of low fertility; In whole-tree harvesting and stem-only harvesting sites, soil solution nitrogen concentrations are highest 2 to 3 years after harvesting; The risks of nitrogen leaching immediately after harvesting are higher in traditional forestry systems compared to short-rotation cropping.

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Considering the increasing use of wood biomass for energy and the related intensification of forest management, the impacts of different intensities of biomass harvesting on nutrient leaching risks must be better understood. Different nitrogen forms in the soil solution were monitored for 3 to 6 years after harvesting in hemiboreal forests in Latvia to evaluate the impacts of different biomass harvesting regimes on local nitrogen leaching risks, which potentially increase eutrophication in surface waters. In forestland dominated by Scots pine Pinus sylvestris L. or Norway spruce Picea abies L. (Karst.), the soil solution was sampled in: (i) stem-only harvesting (SOH), (ii) whole‐tree harvesting, with only slash removed (WTH), and (iii) whole‐tree harvesting, with both slash and stumps harvested (WTH + SB), subplots. In agricultural land, sampling was performed in an initially fertilised hybrid aspen (Populus tremula L.× P. tremuloides Michx.) short-rotation coppice (SRC), where above-ground biomass was harvested. In forestland, soil solution N (nitrogen) concentrations were highest in the second and third year after harvesting. Mean annual values in WTH subplots of medium to high fertility sites exceeded the mean values in SOH subplots and control subplots (mature stand where no harvesting was performed) for the entire study period; the opposite trend was observed for the low-fertility site. Biomass harvesting in the hybrid aspen SRC only slightly affected NO₃^–-N (nitrate nitrogen) and NH₄⁺-N (ammonium nitrogen) concentrations in the soil solution within 3 years after harvesting, but a significant decrease in the TN (total nitrogen) concentration in the soil solution was found in plots with additional N fertilisation performed once initially.

Kļaviņš, Latvian State Forest Research Institute “Silava”, 111 Rigas Str., LV 2169, Salaspils, Latvia; University of Latvia, Raiņa blvd 19-125, LV 1586, Riga, Latvia E-mail: ivars.klavins@silava.lv
Bārdule, Latvian State Forest Research Institute “Silava”, 111 Rigas Str., LV 2169, Salaspils, Latvia; University of Latvia, Raiņa blvd 19-125, LV 1586, Riga, Latvia E-mail: arta.bardule@silava.lv
Lībiete, Latvian State Forest Research Institute “Silava”, 111 Rigas Str., LV 2169, Salaspils, Latvia E-mail: zane.libiete@silava.lv
Lazdiņa, Latvian State Forest Research Institute “Silava”, 111 Rigas Str., LV 2169, Salaspils, Latvia E-mail: dagnija.lazdina@silava.lv
Lazdiņš, Latvian State Forest Research Institute “Silava”, 111 Rigas Str., LV 2169, Salaspils, Latvia E-mail: andis.lazdins@silava.lv

article id 1265, category Research article

Eva Ring, Lars Högbom, Hans-Örjan Nohrstedt, Staffan Jacobson. (2015). Soil and soil-water chemistry below different amounts of logging residues at two harvested forest sites in Sweden. Silva Fennica vol. 49 no. 4 article id 1265. https://doi.org/10.14214/sf.1265

Keywords: clearcutting; final felling; bio fuel; conifer; fuel-adapted felling; nutrient; soil solution

Highlights: Soil-water chemistry, ground vegetation cover and water flux were affected by the amounts of logging residues stored on the ground after harvest; A strong response on soil-water chemistry was recorded at only one of the two sites; At the site showing a weak response, less residue remained after seven years in the treatments giving the most pronounced effects.

Abstract | Full text in HTML | Full text in PDF | Author Info

Logging residues (LR), i.e. tops, branches, and needles, are increasingly being harvested for energy production in Fennoscandia. These residues are temporarily piled on site awaiting transport. This study was undertaken to investigate effects on the soil and soil-water chemistry below different amounts of LR at two recently harvested coniferous sites in Sweden. Seven treatments were included and the studied amounts of LR ranged from no LR left on the ground to four times the estimated LR amount of the harvested stands. Two treatments included eight times the estimated LR amount of the harvested stands but here the LR were removed after 7 or 20 weeks. Soil-water samples were collected during the first six or seven growing seasons. Effects of treatment were detected in the soil water for 11 chemical variables at the northern site, and for the NO₃^- and Cl^- concentrations at the southern site. The strongest response was generally found in the treatment with four times the estimated LR amount, for which the highest concentrations were recorded in most cases. In the first three seasons, the water flux through the LR decreased with an increasing amount of residue. Effects on the exchangeable store of Ca²⁺ in the mor layer and the upper 20 cm of the mineral soil was detected at both sites. At the northern site, the weight of the remaining LR, ground vegetation and all other material above the mor layer in the treatments with two and four times the estimated LR amount was roughly twice the corresponding weights at the southern site seven years after treatment. Although strong effects on the soil-solution chemistry were detected at one of the study sites, in the treatments corresponding to two and four times the estimated logging residue amount, the effect on the leaching from an entire regeneration area is likely to be relatively small given the percentage of the area hosting these logging residue amounts (ca. 20% after stem-only harvesting and 9% after fuel-adapted felling).

Ring, Skogforsk, Uppsala Science Park, SE-751 83 Uppsala, Sweden E-mail: eva.ring@skogforsk.se
Högbom, Skogforsk, Uppsala Science Park, SE-751 83 Uppsala, Sweden E-mail: lars.hogbom@skogforsk.se
Nohrstedt, Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences, Department of Soil and Environment, P.O. Box 7014, SE-750 07 Uppsala, Sweden E-mail: hans-orjan.nohrstedt@slu.se
Jacobson, Skogforsk, Uppsala Science Park, SE-751 83 Uppsala, Sweden E-mail: staffan.jacobson@skogforsk.se

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