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Author(s):
Cindy E. Prescott, Anya Reid, Shu Yao Wu, Marie-Charlotte Nilsson
Year Published:

Cataloging Information

Topic(s):
Fire & Climate
Carbon Sequestration

NRFSN number: 16459
Record updated:

Mechanical site preparation is assumed to reduce soil C stocks by increasing the rate at which the displaced organic material decomposes, but the evidence is equivocal. We measured rates of C loss of forest-floor material in mesh bags either placed on the surface or buried in the mineral soil at four sites in different regional climates in British Columbia. During the 3-year incubation, buried forest-floor material lost between 5% and 15% more C mass than material on the surface, with the greatest difference occurring at the site with the lowest annual precipitation. Studies of the long-term fate of buried and surface humus are needed to understand the net effects of site preparation on soil C stocks.

Citation

Prescott CE, Reid A, Wu SY, Nilsson MC. 2017. Decomposition rates of surface and buried forest-floor material. Can. J. For. Res. 47, p. 1140–1144. dx.doi.org/10.1139/cjfr-2016-0533

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