Carbon and nutrient contents in the miscellaneous fraction of litterfall under different thinning intensities in a semiarid Pinus halepensis afforestation

doi:10.3832/ifor2907-012

Carbon and nutrient contents in the miscellaneous fraction of litterfall under different thinning intensities in a semiarid Pinus halepensis afforestation

Carmen Segura⁽¹⁾ , Emilia Fernández-Ondoño⁽¹⁾, M Noelia Jiménez⁽²⁾, Francisco B Navarro⁽³⁾

iForest - Biogeosciences and Forestry, Volume 12, Issue 4, Pages 375-382 (2019)
doi: https://doi.org/10.3832/ifor2907-012
Published: Jul 12, 2019 - Copyright © 2019 SISEF

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Litterfall evaluation and the effects caused by forestry practices provide valuable information on nutrient-cycle dynamics in managed forests. So far, most of the studies have focused on leaf-fall, omitting other litterfall fractions that can be also relevant for forest and soil modelling in a global change context. With this aim the miscellaneous fraction was quantified in a Pinus halepensis afforestation in the semiarid SE of Spain five years after four different thinning regimes were applied (T75: 75% of mean basal area removed; T60: 60%; T48: 48%; and T0: no thinning). Concentrations and pools (kg ha^-1) of carbon and nutrients in the miscellanea fraction were monthly analysed for C and N (June 2010-May 2013), and for P, K, Na, Ca, Mg, Fe, Zn, and Mn (June 2011-May 2013). No differences in concentrations of carbon and nutrients were found among treatments with the exception of N, which showed significant differences between T75 and T60 plots. For pools, a high variability was found over time with maximum C and N pools found during spring, likely reflecting the influence of Thaumetopoea pityocampa attacks. Thinning affected C, N, Mn, and Zn pools in 2011-2012 period, and P, K, Ca, Mg, Mn, Fe, and Zn pools in 2012-2013. Significant differences were mainly found between the most intensive treatment (T75) and unthinned plots (T0). The percentage of annual mean C and nutrient pools in miscellanea showed the importance of its monitoring, with pools that represented from 43.0% to 57.9% of the total litterfall for C (278.81-746.01 kg ha^-1 yr^-1), N (4.18-10.44 kg ha^-1 yr^-1), and P (0.37-1.43 kg ha^-1 yr^-1). Our results stress the high relevance of miscellany monitoring in order to gain a better understanding of nutrient cycles in forest ecosystems.

Keywords

Mediterranean Region, Aleppo Pine, Micro- and Macronutrient Concentrations, Nutrient Dynamics, C Inputs, Pine Processionary

Authors’ address

(1)

0000-0003-4797-506X
0000-0002-3530-9302
Department of Soil Science and Agricultural Chemistry, Faculty of Science, University of Granada, C/Severo Ochoa s/n, 18071 Granada (Spain)

(2)

0000-0002-0266-2660
Department of Botany, Faculty of Pharmacy, University of Granada, Campus de Cartuja, 18071 Granada (Spain)

(3)

Area of Agriculture and Environment, Institute of Agricultural Research and Training of Andalusia (IFAPA), Government of Andalusia, Camino de Purchil s/n, 18004 Granada (Spain)

Corresponding author

Carmen Segura
carmensq@correo.ugr.es

Citation

Segura C, Fernández-Ondoño E, Jiménez MN, Navarro FB (2019). Carbon and nutrient contents in the miscellaneous fraction of litterfall under different thinning intensities in a semiarid Pinus halepensis afforestation. iForest 12: 375-382. - doi: 10.3832/ifor2907-012

Academic Editor

Giorgio Alberti

Paper history

Received: Jun 27, 2018
Accepted: May 02, 2019

First online: Jul 12, 2019
Publication Date: Aug 31, 2019
Publication Time: 2.37 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.

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