Forest management reduces soil carbon sequestration potential in European temperate forests
The result's identifiers
Result code in IS VaVaI
<a href="https://www.isvavai.cz/riv?ss=detail&h=RIV%2F86652079%3A_____%2F25%3A00617142" target="_blank" >RIV/86652079:_____/25:00617142 - isvavai.cz</a>
Alternative codes found
RIV/60460709:41320/25:102572
Result on the web
<a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0378112725000015" target="_blank" >https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0378112725000015</a>
DOI - Digital Object Identifier
<a href="http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.foreco.2025.122493" target="_blank" >10.1016/j.foreco.2025.122493</a>
Alternative languages
Result language
angličtina
Original language name
Forest management reduces soil carbon sequestration potential in European temperate forests
Original language description
In recent years, the carbon (C) balance of temperate forests has been the focus of growing research interest, as even European temperate forests have shown potential to serve as effective CO2 sinks. However, almost all the attention has predominantly focused on the aboveground biomass of the trees, while C accumulated in forest soils has largely been neglected. This study provides a comparative quantitative assessment of total soil C stored in the forest soils subjected to varying degrees of human influence, highlighting their role in the overall carbon budget in the temperate forests of Central Europe. We found that soil C stocks in unmanaged forests, with likely low or no human influence in the past, generally exceed those in adjacent managed forests. However, some unmanaged forests, despite being protected for several decades, had lower soil C stocks than adjacent managed forests, likely due to severe historical human exploitation. Soil C stocks (down to 40 cm of mineral topsoil) in managed forests ranged from 1117 g/m2 to 2058 g/m2, while in unmanaged forests, they ranged from 774 g/m2 to 3490 g/m2. Among different soil horizons, fermentation and humification (FH), and 0-10 cm, 10-20 cm, and 20-40 cm of mineral soil, the upper mineral soil layer (0-10 cm) contributed most to C stocks (32 % to 47 %). In conclusion, forests that have remained unmanaged with little to no historical human impact tend to store significantly more soil C than recently managed forests. These findings highlight the significant role of unmanaged forests in soil carbon sequestration, underscoring the need to consider soil C in forest management strategies.
Czech name
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Czech description
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Classification
Type
J<sub>imp</sub> - Article in a specialist periodical, which is included in the Web of Science database
CEP classification
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OECD FORD branch
40102 - Forestry
Result continuities
Project
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Continuities
I - Institucionalni podpora na dlouhodoby koncepcni rozvoj vyzkumne organizace
Others
Publication year
2025
Confidentiality
S - Úplné a pravdivé údaje o projektu nepodléhají ochraně podle zvláštních právních předpisů
Data specific for result type
Name of the periodical
Forest Ecology and Management
ISSN
0378-1127
e-ISSN
1872-7042
Volume of the periodical
578
Issue of the periodical within the volume
FEB
Country of publishing house
NL - THE KINGDOM OF THE NETHERLANDS
Number of pages
8
Pages from-to
122493
UT code for WoS article
001399428700001
EID of the result in the Scopus database
2-s2.0-85214588630