Effect of size and surrounding forest vegetation on chemical properties of soil in forest gaps

doi:10.3832/ifor0940-007

Effect of size and surrounding forest vegetation on chemical properties of soil in forest gaps

iForest - Biogeosciences and Forestry, Volume 8, Issue 1, Pages 67-72 (2015)
doi: https://doi.org/10.3832/ifor0940-007
Published: Jun 04, 2014 - Copyright © 2015 SISEF

Research Articles

PDF Version

Full Text

Citation

Geo-mapping

Forest gaps have different microclimatic conditions as compared to the surrounding areas, depending on gap size and surrounding forest types and affecting the biological, chemical, physical, and hydrological processes in the forest openings. The objective of this study was to determine the effect of forest gap size and surrounding forest cover type (beech or mixed stands) on the soil of forest opening by analyzing several soil chemical soil properties (pH, electrical conductivity - EC, organic matter - OM, and nutrient content). The study was conducted in the Yuvacik watershed in Izmit (Turkey) and a total of 31 forest gaps of different size (1.44-37.33 ha) and elevations (848-1169 m a.s.l.) were studied. Gaps were divided into three groups with size 0-5 ha, 5-15 ha, and >15 ha. Results showed that forest gap size significantly affected all the investigated chemical properties of the soil, except for soil pH. As gap size increased, sodium (Na⁺) concentration in the soil decreased from 22.72 to 19.57 mg L^-1 while potassium (K⁺) and magnesium (Mg⁺²) concentrations increased from 83.88 to 134.62 mg L^-1 and from 59.46 to 123.96 mg L^-1, respectively. Medium-sized gap soils had the lowest OM content, as well as the lowest calcium (Ca⁺²) and nitrogen (N⁺³) concentrations. Surrounding forest types significantly influenced soil chemical properties in the openings, except for EC, N⁺³, and phosphorus (P-PO₄^-3). Soils in the gaps surrounded by mixed forest had significantly lower pH but higher OM content, K⁺, Na⁺, Ca⁺², and Mg⁺²concentrations than soils in beech forest gaps.

Keywords

Forest Openings, Forest Ranges, Plant Nutrients, Soil Chemistry, Forest Soils

Authors’ address

(1)

Faculty of Forestry, Department of Watershed Management, Düzce University, 81620 Düzce (Turkey)

(2)

Faculty of Forestry, Department of Watershed Management, Istanbul University, 34473 Bahçeköy, Istanbul (Turkey)

Corresponding author

Mehmet Özcan
mehmetozcan@duzce.edu.tr

Citation

Özcan M, Gökbulak F (2015). Effect of size and surrounding forest vegetation on chemical properties of soil in forest gaps. iForest 8: 67-72. - doi: 10.3832/ifor0940-007

Academic Editor

Giustino Tonon

Paper history

Received: Dec 20, 2012
Accepted: Feb 15, 2014

First online: Jun 04, 2014
Publication Date: Feb 02, 2015
Publication Time: 3.63 months

Open Access

This article is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-Non Commercial 4.0 International (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to the Creative Commons license, and indicate if changes were made.

Breakdown by View Type

(Waiting for server response...)

Article Usage

Total Article Views: 44361
(from publication date up to now)

Breakdown by View Type
HTML Page Views: 37841
Abstract Page Views: 1821
PDF Downloads: 3717
Citation/Reference Downloads: 20
XML Downloads: 962

Web Metrics
Days since publication: 3615
Overall contacts: 44361
Avg. contacts per week: 85.90

Article Citations

Article citations are based on data periodically collected from the Clarivate Web of Science web site
(last update: Feb 2023)

Total number of cites (since 2015): 7
Average cites per year: 0.78

(no Plumx Metrics available for this paper)

Publication Metrics

by Dimensions ^©

Articles citing this article

List of the papers citing this article based on CrossRef Cited-by.

(1)

Alfredsson H, Condron LM, Clarholm M, Davis MR (1998)
Changes in soil acidity and organic matter following the establishment of conifers on former grasslandin New Zealand. Forest Ecology and Management 112: 245-252.
CrossRef | Gscholar

(2)

APHA-AWWA-WPCF (1975)
Standard methods for the examination of water and wastewater (14th edn). American Public Health Association-American Water Works Association-Water Pollution Control Federation, Washington, DC, USA, pp. 1193.
Gscholar

(3)

Alan M, Ekiz H (2001)
A vegetation survey in forest range of Küredagi-Bala. Ankara University Faculty of Agriculture, Journal of Agricultural Science 4: 62-69. [in Turkish with English abstract]
Gscholar

(4)

Arunachalam A, Arunachalam K (2000)
Influence of gap size and soil properties on microbial biomass in a subtropical humid forest of north-east India. Plant and Soil 223: 185-193.
CrossRef | Gscholar

(5)

Augusto L, Bonnaud P, Ranger J (1998)
Impact of tree species on forest soil acidification. Forest Ecology and Management 105: 67-78.
CrossRef | Gscholar

(6)

Babalik A (2008)
Range vegetation characteristics and their variation in relation with some soil properties and topographic factors in Isparta region. PhD thesis, Süleyman Demirel University, Institute of Science, Isparta, Turkey, pp. 164. [In Turkish with English abstract]
Gscholar

(7)

Bartsch N (2000)
Element release in Beech (Fagus sylvatica L.) forest gaps. Water, Air, and Soil Pollution 122: 3-16.
CrossRef | Gscholar

(8)

Bilgili A (2007)
Determination of vegetation and forage quality in forest gap rangelands of Sarikamis. Master thesis, Atatürk University, Institute of Science, Erzurum, Turkey, pp. 67. [in Turkish with English abstract]
Gscholar

(9)

Carlson DW, Groot A (1997)
Microclimate of clear-cut, forest interior, and small openings in trembling aspen forest. Agricultural and Forest Meteorology 87: 313-329.
CrossRef | Gscholar

(10)

Chunyu Z, Xiuhai Z (2007)
Soil properties in forest gaps and under canopy in broad-leaved Pinus koraiensis forests in Changbai Mountainous Region China. Frontiers of Forestry in China 2 (1): 60-65.
Gscholar

(11)

Fernald A, Gökbulak F, Ramirez H, Van Leeuwen D (2009)
Soil moisture and temperature responses to tree thinning in central New Mexico. In: Proceedings of the “62nd Society for Range Management Annual Meeting”. Albuquerque (New Mexico, USA) 8-12 February 2009. Society for Range Management, Albuquerque, New Mexico, USA, pp. 06-3.
Gscholar

(12)

Frost WE, Edinger SB (1991)
Effects of tree canopies on soil characteristics of annual rangeland. Journal of Range Management 44 (3): 286-288.
CrossRef | Gscholar

(13)

Galhidy L, Mihok B, Hagyo A, Rajkai K, Standovar T (2006)
Effects of gap size and associated changes in light and soil moisture on the understory vegetation of Hungarian beech forest. Plant Ecology 183: 133-145.
CrossRef | Gscholar

(14)

Gökbulak F, Özcan M (2008)
Hydro-physical properties of soils developed from different parent materials. Geoderma 145: 376-380.
CrossRef | Gscholar

(15)

Hagen-Thorn A, Callesen I, Armolaitis K, Nihlgard B (2004)
The impact of six European tree species on the chemistry of mineral top soil in forest plantations on former agricultural land. Forest Ecology and Management 195: 373-384.
CrossRef | Gscholar

(16)

Haghverdi K, Kiadaliri H, Sagheb-Talebi K, Kooch Y (2012)
Variability of plant diversity and soil features following gap creation in Caspian beech forests of Iran. Annals of Biological Research 3 (9): 4622-4635.
Online | Gscholar

(17)

Jackson ML (1958)
Soil chemical analysis. Prentice Hall Inc., Englewood Cliffs, NJ, USA, pp. 521.
Gscholar

(18)

Kooch Y, Hosseini SM, Mohammadi J, Hojjati SM (2010)
The effects of gap disturbance on soil chemical and biochemical properties in a mixed beech-hornbeam forest of Iran. Ecologica Balkanica 2:39-56.
Gscholar

(19)

Kooch Y, Hosseini SM, Zaccone C, Jalilvand H, Hojjati SM (2012)
Soil organic carbon sequestration as affected by afforestation: the Darab Kola forest (north of Iran) case study. Journal of Environmental Monitoring 14:2438-2446.
CrossRef | Gscholar

(20)

Ministry of Forestry (1994)
Seminar on the foundation principles of forest soil laboratories and laboratory techniques. Eskisehir (Turkey) 4-8 April 1994. Eskisehir Forest Soil Laboratory Directorate, Eskisehir, Turkey, pp. 216. [in Turkish]
Gscholar

(21)

Morecroft MD, Taylor ME, Oliver HR (1998)
Air and soil microclimates of deciduous woodland compared to an open site. Agricultural and Forest Meteorology 90: 141-156.
CrossRef | Gscholar

(22)

Muscolo A, Sidari M, Mercurio R (2007)
Influence of gap size on organic matter decomposition microbial biomass and nutrient cycle in Calabrian pine (Pinus laricio Poiret.) stands. Forest Ecology and Management 242: 412-418.
CrossRef | Gscholar

(23)

Muscolo A, Sidari M, Bagnato S, Mallamaci C, Mercurio R (2010)
Gap size effects on above-and below-ground processes in a silver fir stand. European Journal of Forest Research 129: 355-365.
CrossRef | Gscholar

(24)

Özcan M (2010)
Range vegetation characteristics of sub-alpine forest range in Yuvacik watershed, Izmit. PhD thesis, Istanbul University, Institute of Science, Istanbul, Turkey, pp. 160. [In Turkish with English abstract]
Gscholar

(25)

Özyuvaci N (1999)
Meteorology and climatology. Istanbul University publication number no. 4196, Faculty of Forestry publication number no. 460, Dilek offset matbaacilik, Istanbul, Turkey, pp. 369. [In Turkish]
Gscholar

(26)

Prescott C (2002)
The influence of the forest canopy on nutrient cycling. Tree Physiology 22: 1193-1200.
CrossRef | Gscholar

(27)

Renaud V, Rebetez M (2009)
Comparison between open-site and below-canopy climatic conditions in Switzerland during the exceptionally hot summer of 2003. Agricultural and Forest Meteorology 149: 873-880.
CrossRef | Gscholar

(28)

Rezaei AS, Gilkes RJ (2005)
The effects of landscape attributes and plant community on soil chemical properties in rangelands. Geoderma 125: 167-176.
CrossRef | Gscholar

(29)

Rhoades CC, Miller SP, Shea MM (2004)
Soil properties and soil N dynamics of prairie-like forest openings and surrounding forests in Kentucky’s Knobs Region. The American Midland Naturalist 152 (1): 1-11.
CrossRef | Gscholar

(30)

Ritter E (2005)
Litter decomposition and nitrogen mineralization in newly formed gaps in a Danish beech (Fagus sylvatica) forest. Soil Biology and Biochemistry 37: 1237-1247.
CrossRef | Gscholar

(31)

Ritter E, Dalsgaard L, Einhorn KS (2005)
Light, temperature and soil moisture regimes following gap formation in semi-natural beech-dominated forest in Denmark. Forest Ecology and Management 206: 15-33.
CrossRef | Gscholar

(32)

Sariyildiz T, Anderson JM, Kucuk M (2005)
Effects of tree species and topography on soil chemistry, litter quality, and decomposition in Northeast Turkey. Soil Biology and Biochemistry 37: 1695-1706.
CrossRef | Gscholar

(33)

Scharenbroch BC, Bockheim JG (2007)
Impacts of forest gaps on soil properties and processes in old growth northern hardwood-hemlock forest. Plant Soil 294: 219-233.
CrossRef | Gscholar

(34)

SERA-IEG-6*1 (1995)
Soil testing and plant analysis (Mitchell CC, Everest JW eds). Southern Regional Fact Sheet, Dept. Agronomy & Soils, Auburn University, AL, USA.
Gscholar

(35)

Tekeli S, Mengül Z (1991)
Effect of topography on the botanical composition and yield in forest rangelands. In: Proceedings of the “2^nd Congress on Pasture-rangeland and forage plants”. Ege University (Izmir, Turkey) 28-31 May 1991,pp. 139-149. [In Turkish]
Gscholar

(36)

Thiel AL, Perakis SS (2009)
Nitrogen dynamics across silvicultural canopy gaps in young forests of western Oregon. Forest Ecology and Management 258: 273-287.
CrossRef | Gscholar

(37)

Turk TD, Schmidt MG, Roberts NJ (2008)
The influence of bigleaf maple on forest floor and mineral properties in a coniferous forest in coastal British Columbia. Forest Ecology and Management 255: 1874-1882.
CrossRef | Gscholar

(38)

Uluocak N (1974)
Quantitative botanical analyses of range vegetation in the vicinity of Kirklareli and some site factors affecting its composition. PhD thesis, Istanbul University, Faculty of Forestry, Istanbul, Turkey, pp. 132. [in Turkish with English abstract]
Gscholar

(39)

Vesterdal L, Schmidt IK, Callesen I, Nilsson LO, Gundersen P (2008)
Carbon and nitrogen in forest floor and mineral soil under six common European tree species. Forest Ecology and Management 255: 35-48.
CrossRef | Gscholar

(40)

Wang QK, Wang SL (2007)
Soil organic matter under different forest types in Southern China. Geoderma 142: 349-356.
CrossRef | Gscholar

(41)

Zar JH (1996)
Biostatistical analysis (3rd edn). Prentice Hall, Upper Saddle River, New Jersey, USA, pp. 662.
Gscholar

iForest - Biogeosciences and Forestry

Contents

Search

Journal Info

Journal Subjects and Fields

For Authors

For Reviewers

For Readers

SISEF Publishing

Search iForest Contents