The impact of increasing spruce plantation area on the carbon balance of forests in Western Norway (BalanC)
End: oct 2023
Start: mar 2016
Project participants
Jørn-Frode Nordbakken Tonje Ingeborg Økland Teresa Gómez de la Bárcena Ryan Bright Gro Hylen Sunil Mundra Håvard Kauserud Morten Simonsen Carlo Leandro Aall| Status | Concluded |
| Start - end date | 01.03.2016 - 01.10.2023 |
| Project manager | O. Janne Kjønaas |
| Total budget | 9998000 |
Publications in the project
Authors
O. Janne KjønaasAbstract
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Purpose: Laser diffraction (LD) for determination of particle size distribution (PSD) of the fine earth fraction appeared in the 1990s, partly substituting the Sieving and Sedimentation Method (SSM). Whereas previous comparison between the two methods predominantly encompasses agricultural soils, less attention has been given to forest soils, including pre-treatment requirements related to their highly variable contents of carbon and Alox+ Feox. In this small collaborative learning study we compared (1) national SSM results with one type/protocol of LD analysis (Coulter), (2) LD measurements performed on three different LD instruments / laboratories, and (3) the replication error for LD Coulter analysis of predominantly sandy and loamy forest soils. Methods: We used forest soil samples from Denmark, Norway and Lithuania and their respective national SSM protocols / results. LD analyses were performed on Malvern Mastersizer 2000, Sympatec HELOS version 1999, and Coulter LS230, located at University of Copenhagen, Aarhus University and Helsinki University, respectively. The protocols differed between laboratories, including the use of external ultrasonication prior to LD analysis. Results: The clay and silt fractions content (<20 μm) from the LD analysis were not comparable with SSM results, with differences ranging from −0.5 to 22.3 percentage points (pp) for clay. Preliminary results from loamy samples with spodic material suggested inconsistent effects of external ultrasonication to disperse aggregates. The comparison between the three LD instruments showed a range in the clay and silt fractions content of 1.9–5.3 and 6.2–8.1 pp, respectively. Differences may be related to the instruments, protocols, and content of a given particle size fraction. The replication error of the Coulter LD protocol was found to be <3 pp in sandy soils, but up to 10 pp in loamy soils. Conclusion: Differences in the clay fraction results partly affected the classification of soil types. The fast replication of the LD analysis enables more quality control of results. The pedological evaluation of non-silicate constituents and optional pre-treatment steps (e.g., soil organic matter or sesquioxides) remains the same for LD and SSM. For comparison of results, detailed descriptions of the analytical protocol including pre-treatments are needed irrespective of instrument and theoretical approach.
Authors
Sunil Mundra Håvard Kauserud Tonje Ingeborg Økland Jørn-Frode Nordbakken Yngvild Eidissen Ransedokken O. Janne KjønaasAbstract
The replacement of native birch with Norway spruce has been initiated in Norway to increase long-term carbon storage in forests. However, there is limited knowledge on the impacts that aboveground changes will have on the belowground microbiota. We examined which effects a tree species shift from birch to spruce stands has on belowground microbial communities, soil fungal biomass and relationships with vegetation biomass and soil organic carbon (SOC). Replacement of birch with spruce negatively influenced soil bacterial and fungal richness and strongly altered microbial community composition in the forest floor layer, most strikingly for fungi. Tree species-mediated variation in soil properties was a major factor explaining variation in bacterial communities. For fungi, both soil chemistry and understorey vegetation were important community structuring factors, particularly for ectomycorrhizal fungi. The relative abundance of ectomycorrhizal fungi and the ectomycorrhizal : saprotrophic fungal ratio were higher in spruce compared to birch stands, particularly in the deeper mineral soil layers, and vice versa for saprotrophs. The positive relationship between ergosterol (fungal biomass) and SOC stock in the forest floor layer suggests higher carbon sequestration potential in spruce forest soil, alternatively, that the larger carbon stock leads to an increase in soil fungal biomass.
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Authors
Brunon Malicki Luis Morgado Jenni Nordén Marit Frederikke Markussen Bjorbækmo Olav Skarpaas O. Janne Kjønaas Bjørn Norden Håvard KauserudAbstract
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Forest management is an important tool for GHG mitigation by representing three carbon pools: living biomass, forest soil, and wood-based products. Additionally, increasing attention has been given to the potential for wood products to substitute fossil-intensive products as a climate mitigation strategy. The goal of this paper is to analyse the theoretical GHG effects of fully replacing four common non-wood products with wood-based products of ‘low’ and ‘high’ technology options that have a similar functionality: (1) Spruce particle board substituting polyurethane (PU) foam insulation board; (2) spruce cross-laminated timber beam (CLT) substituting steel beam; (3) birch energy wood substituting electric heating; and (4) birch plywood substituting plaster board. The analysis was based on forestry in Western Norway as a case study, where forests typically consist of naturally generated birch and expanding areas of planted Norway spruce. In this study we compare wood products derived from paired stands of Norway spruce and downy birch. The analysis showed that spruce gave a higher theoretical substitution effect relative to birch for the selected pairs of woody and non-woody products. CLT substituting steel beam gave the highest substitution effect, approximately 15% higher than particle board substituting PU foam board. The theoretical substitution effect in mass units of carbon per kg wood product for the two spruce wood products was approximately 17 times higher relative to substituting Norwegian hydro energy-based electric heating, whereas plywood substituting plaster board may in fact increase GHG emissions. As the gross emissions were relatively similar for the birch plywood and the spruce particle board, the major substitution effect was related to the avoided emission of the non-woody product rather than to the tree species per se. The paper concludes that the choice of product to be substituted was the key factor that determined the final substitution effects. Furthermore, the study showed that transportation was the single most important factor that affected the emissions between planting and delivery of the timber at production gate. The analysis enables informed decisions related to CO2-emissions at the various steps from tree planting to wood conversion, and underline the importance of informed decision related to the choice of substitution products.
Authors
O. Janne KjønaasAbstract
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Authors
Sunil Mundra O. Janne Kjønaas Luis Morgado Anders Kristian Krabberød Yngvild Ransedokken Håvard KauserudAbstract
Soil depth represents a strong physiochemical gradient that greatly affects soil-dwelling microorganisms. Fungal communities are typically structured by soil depth, but how other microorganisms are structured is less known. Here, we tested whether depth-dependent variation in soil chemistry affects the distribution and co-occurrence patterns of soil microbial communities. This was investigated by DNA metabarcoding in conjunction with network analyses of bacteria, fungi, as well as other micro-eukaryotes, sampled in four different soil depths in Norwegian birch forests. Strong compositional turnover in microbial assemblages with soil depth was detected for all organismal groups. Significantly greater microbial diversity and fungal biomass appeared in the nutrient-rich organic layer, with sharp decrease towards the less nutrient-rich mineral zones. The proportions of copiotrophic bacteria, Arthropoda and Apicomplexa were markedly higher in the organic layer, while patterns were opposite for oligotrophic bacteria, Cercozoa, Ascomycota and ectomycorrhizal fungi. Network analyses indicated more intensive inter-kingdom co-occurrence patterns in the upper mineral layer (0–5 cm) compared to the above organic and the lower mineral soil, signifying substantial influence of soil depth on biotic interactions. This study supports the view that different microbial groups are adapted to different forest soil strata, with varying level of interactions along the depth gradient.
Authors
O. Janne Kjønaas Teresa Gómez de la Bárcena Gro Hylen Jørn-Frode Nordbakken Tonje Ingeborg ØklandAbstract
To increase the annual uptake of CO2 as well as the long-term storage of carbon (C) in forests, the Norwegian government consider large-scale replacements of native, deciduous forests with faster-growing species like Norway spruce. To assess the effects of tree species change on ecosystem C and nitrogen (N) stocks and soil chemistry, we used a paired plot approach including stands of native downy birch and planted 45 – 60-year-old Norway spruce. The birch stands were used as reference for the assessment of differences following the tree species change. We found significantly higher C and N stocks in living tree biomass in the spruce stands, whereas no significant differences were found for dead wood. The cover of understory species groups, and the C and N stocks of the aboveground understory vegetation was significantly higher in the birch stands. The tree species change did not affect the soil organic carbon (SOC) stock down to 1 m soil depth; however, the significantly higher stock in the forest floor of the spruce stands suggested a re-distribution of SOC within the profile. There was a significant positive correlation between the SOC stock down to 30 cm soil depth and the total ecosystem C stock for the birch stands, and a negative correlation for the spruce stands. Significant effects of tree species change were found for C and N concentrations, C/N, exchangeable acidity, base saturation, and exchangeable Ca, K, Mg, Na, S, and Fe in the organic horizon or the upper mineral soil layer. The total ecosystem C stock ranged between 197 and 277 Mg ha-1 for the birch stands, and 297 and 387 Mg ha-1 for the spruce stands. The ecosystem C accumulation varied between 32 and 142 Mg ha-1 over the past 45-60 years, whereas the net ecosystem C capture was considerably lower and potentially negative. Our results suggest that the potential to meet the governments’ targets to increase C sequestration depend on the C debt incurred from the removed birch stands, the rotation length, and potentially also the susceptibility of the different stand types to future risk factors related to climate change.
Authors
O. Janne Kjønaas Teresa Gómez de la Bárcena Gro Hylen Jørn-Frode Nordbakken Tonje Ingeborg Økland Håvard Kauserud Sunil MundraAbstract
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Authors
O. Janne Kjønaas Ryan Bright Gro Hylen Teresa Gómez de la Bárcena Tonje Ingeborg Økland Jørn-Frode Nordbakken Mette Hansen Sunil Mundra Håvard Kauserud Morten Simonsen Carlo AallAbstract
No abstract has been registered
Authors
O. Janne Kjønaas Teresa Gómez de la Bárcena Ryan Bright Mette Hansen Gro Hylen Håvard Kauserud Sunil Mundra Jørn-Frode Nordbakken Morten Simonsen Tonje Ingeborg Økland Carlo AallAbstract
No abstract has been registered
Authors
O. Janne KjønaasAbstract
No abstract has been registered
Authors
O. Janne Kjønaas Teresa Gómez de la Bárcena Ryan Bright Mette Hansen Gro Hylen Håvard Kauserud Sunil Mundra Jørn-Frode Nordbakken Morten Simonsen Tonje Ingeborg Økland Carlo AallAbstract
No abstract has been registered
Authors
O. Janne KjønaasAbstract
No abstract has been registered
Authors
O. Janne Kjønaas Teresa Gómez de la Bárcena Ryan Bright Mette Hanssen Gro Hylen Håvard Kauserud Tonje Ingeborg Økland Mundra Sunil Jørn-Frode Nordbakken Carlo AallAbstract
No abstract has been registered
Authors
O. Janne Kjønaas Teresa Gómez de la Bárcena Hansen Mette Sunil Mundra Håvard Kauserud Gro Hylen Tonje Ingeborg Økland Jørn-Frode NordbakkenAbstract
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Surface albedo is an important physical attribute of the climate system and satellite retrievals are useful for understanding how it varies in time and space. Surface albedo is sensitive to land cover and structure, which can vary considerably within the area comprising the effective spatial resolution of the satellite-based retrieval. This is particularly true for MODIS products and for topographically complex regions, such as Norway, which makes it difficult to separate the environmental drivers (e.g., temperature and snow) from those related to land cover and vegetation structure. In the present study, we employ high resolution datasets of Norwegian land cover and structure to spectrally unmix MODIS surface albedo retrievals (MCD43A3 v6) to study how surface albedo varies with land cover and structure. Such insights are useful for constraining land cover-dependent albedo parameterizations in models employed for regional climate or hydrological research and for developing new empirical models. At the scale of individual land cover types, we found that the monthly surface albedo can be predicted at a high accuracy when given additional information about forest structure, snow cover, and near surface air temperature. Such predictions can provide useful empirical benchmarks for climate model predictions made at the land cover level, which is critical for instilling greater confidence in the albedo-related climate impacts of anthropogenic land use/land cover change (LULCC).
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Authors
O. Janne Kjønaas Teresa Gómez de la Bárcena Ryan Bright Mette Hansen Gro Hylen Håvard Kauserud Sunil Mundra Jørn-Frode Nordbakken Tonje Ingeborg Økland Carlo AallAbstract
No abstract has been registered
Authors
O. Janne Kjønaas Teresa Gómez de la Bárcena Ryan Bright Mette Hansen Gro Hylen Håvard Kauserud Sunil Mundra Jørn-Frode Nordbakken Tonje Ingeborg Økland Carlo AallAbstract
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O. Janne Kjønaas Gro Hylen Ryan Bright Jørn-Frode Nordbakken Tonje Ingeborg Økland Teresa G. Bárcena Carlo AallAbstract
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Authors
O. Janne Kjønaas Sunil Mundra Teresa Gómez de la Bárcena Mette Hansen Gro Hylen Håvard KauserudAbstract
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Authors
O. Janne Kjønaas Sunil Mundra Teresa Gómez de la Bárcena Mette Hansen Gro Hylen Håvard KauserudAbstract
Tree species change has been suggested as one of the government policies to mitigate climate change in Nor-way with the aim to increase the annual uptake of CO2 and the long-term storage of carbon (C) in forests. The strategy includes replacing native, deciduous species with fast-growing species, mainly Norway spruce. A shift in tree species is expected to affect the pools and fluxes of C in the stand as well as the microbial community. As part of the BalanC project, we assess C storage related to shift in tree species cover in western Norway and whether a corresponding shift in soil microbial communities are happening. The study aim at integrating results on soil respiration, C mineralization, soil stability, diversity of bacteria, fungi and micro-eukaryotes, soil nutrient pools, litter inputs and edaphic factors at the stand level in order to identify key drivers for changes in the soil C stocks. Fifteen paired plots of native birch and planted Norway spruce at five locations were sampled. Prelimi-nary results suggests a redistribution of C from the mineral soil to the forest floor in the spruce stands, with minor changes in the total soil C pools over the 45-60 years since the tree species change. The in situ soil respi-ration and heterothropic respiration, as well as C mineralization rates, were higher in birch than in spruce stands. Differences in C mineralization rates attenuate with depth between forest types. The microbial com-munities of the three organismal groups were all strongly structured along the vertical depth.
Abstract
The boreal forest is a key ecosystem for global C sequestration and storage. Microorganisms in soil have crucial functions in regulating these processes. Fungi are typically sharply structured with soil depth, but we largely lack such information for other microorganism, including bacteria and other micro-eukaryotes. To improve our knowledge of how different microorganisms are structured vertically and how they might interact, we investi-gated the communities of bacteria, fungi and micro-eukaryotes in four different soil horizons in natural birch forests in Western Norway. The communities of all three organismal groups were strongly structured along the vertical depth. Our results support the hypothesis that natural decrease in nutrient availability and pH differ-ences between organic and mineral horizons affect the distribution of soil microorganisms. Proteobacteria, Actinobacteria and Planctomycetes dominated in the uppermost organic layer while Acidobacteria and Firmicu-tes in mineral layers. Proportionally, fungi dominated in mineral layers whereas other micro-eukaryotes (Meta-zoa, Apicomplexa, Conosa, Ochrophyta and Chlorophyta) in organic layers. Ascomycota were relatively more abundant in mineral layers compared to Basidiomycota and Cryptomycota. Nematoda, Annelida and Arthropo-da showed decreasing trends with depth. Furthermore, different optima in the depth distribution of ectomy-corrhizal and saprotrophic genera was observed, supporting the view that different genera are adapted to different niches along the soil depth gradient. Network analyses will be used to infer tentative biotic interac-tions between the microbial groups and how this varies with soil depth.
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Changes in forest management have been suggested as a government policy to mitigate climate change in Norway. Tree species change is one of the major strategies considered, with the aim to increase the annual uptake of CO2 as well as the long-term storage of carbon (C) in forests. The strategy includes replacing native, deciduous species with fast-growing species, mainly Norway spruce. Forests in western Norway host some of the largest soil C pools in Scandinavia, and may potentially function as a long-term C reservoir as well as a large source of atmospheric CO2 through decomposition. The project BalanC was initiated in 2016 in order to estimate the C storage potential related to tree species in a total of 15 parallel plots of birch and planted Norway spruce at 5 locations in western Norway. In addition to estimates of C stocks in biomass and soils, we investigate soil C processes, soil fungal and earthworm diversity, albedo, and wood product life-cycles. The current presentation focuses on C stocks in soils relative to trees, soil respiration, and soil climate data. Preliminary results indicate that the soil respiration in spruce was 85 % of the respiration in birch, with a span ranging from 55-151%. The preliminary soil temperature and soil moisture data of the spruce stands were 97 and 73%, respectively, of the birch stands, indicating cooler and drier conditions under spruce which may affect decomposition and C accumulation rates. We expect C allocation in the soil to be affected by tree species, with larger C stocks in the forest floor of spruce stands compared to the mineral soil. Consistent differences in the bulk density of soils under each tree species are likely to be observed, pointing out the need to compare soil C stocks based on equal soil mass. The magnitude of the combined C stock in biomass and soil may increase with planting of spruce, however, we also expect an impact on C stability that will affect the overall mitigation effect of this measure.
Authors
Elena Iordanova Vanguelova Eleonora Bonifacio Bruno de Vos Marcel R. Hoosbeek Torsten W. Berger Lars Vesterdal Kȩstutis E. Armolaitis Luisella Celi Lucian Constantin Dincǎ O. Janne Kjønaas Pavel Pavlenda Jukka Pumpanen Ülle Püttsepp Brian Reidy Primož Simončič Brian Tobin Miglena ZhiyanskiAbstract
Spatially explicit knowledge of recent and past soil organic carbon (SOC) stocks in forests will improve our understanding of the effect of human- and non-human-induced changes on forest C fluxes. For SOC accounting, a minimum detectable difference must be defined in order to adequately determine temporal changes and spatial differences in SOC. This requires sufficiently detailed data to predict SOC stocks at appropriate scales within the required accuracy so that only significant changes are accounted for. When designing sampling campaigns, taking into account factors influencing SOC spatial and temporal distribution (such as soil type, topography, climate and vegetation) are needed to optimise sampling depths and numbers of samples, thereby ensuring that samples accurately reflect the distribution of SOC at a site. Furthermore, the appropriate scales related to the research question need to be defined: profile, plot, forests, catchment, national or wider. Scaling up SOC stocks from point sample to landscape unit is challenging, and thus requires reliable baseline data. Knowledge of the associated uncertainties related to SOC measures at each particular scale and how to reduce them is crucial for assessing SOC stocks with the highest possible accuracy at each scale. This review identifies where potential sources of errors and uncertainties related to forest SOC stock estimation occur at five different scales—sample, profile, plot, landscape/regional and European. Recommendations are also provided on how to reduce forest SOC uncertainties and increase efficiency of SOC assessment at each scale.
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Authors
Tonje Ingeborg Økland Jørn-Frode Nordbakken Holger Lange Ingvald Røsberg O. Janne Kjønaas Kjersti Holt Hanssen Nicholas ClarkeAbstract
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