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Do young trees contribute to soil labile carbon and nitrogen recovery?

  • SOILS, SEC 1 • SOIL ORGANIC MATTER DYNAMICS AND NUTRIENT CYCLING • RESEARCH ARTICLE
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Abstract

Purpose

This study aimed to evaluate the effects of tree cover (tree plots (Acacia disparrima and Eucalyptus crebra) vs. non-tree plots) on soil labile carbon (C) and nitrogen (N) recovery in revegetation trials, without and with topsoil removal, 3 years following tree planting.

Materials and methods

Soil total C (TC) and total N (TN), hot-water-extractable organic C (HWEOC), hot-water-extractable total N (HWETN), microbial biomass (MB) and potentially mineralisable N (PMN) were measured.

Results and discussion

Where topsoil had not been removed, soil TN, HWEOC, HWETN and PMN were significantly higher in the tree-covered plots compared to non-tree-covered plots. In contrast, tree cover did not significantly increase soil labile C and N when topsoil had been removed. Both leguminous and non-leguminous species (A. disparrima and E. crebra) had similar effects on soil labile C and N. Tree cover did not accelerate C and N recovery at their early stage of establishment when topsoil had been removed. Therefore, our finding suggests that topsoil-removed plots may need more than 3 years to replenish soil C and N to their initial levels. There was also a clear indication of C and N depletion in the topsoil in areas not covered by trees even though the topsoil had not been removed.

Conclusions

Altogether, these results demonstrate the importance of longer-term monitoring of revegetation areas to be able to assess its success in improving soil quality.

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Acknowledgments

The authors are grateful for the financial support and assistance of Powerlink QLD through the provision of a full-time research scholarship and for making available the long-term research site. The authors would also like to acknowledge Professor Helen Wallace for her advice on the statistical analysis of the data. We also thank Mr. Geoffrey Lambert for his laboratory assistance. SHB was supported by CRN fund to undertake this study.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Environmental Futures Research Institute, Griffith Natural Sciences, Griffith University, Nathan, Brisbane, Queensland, 4111, Australia

    Shahla Hosseini Bai, Timothy J. Blumfield & Frédérique Reverchon

  2. Faculty of Science, Health, Education and Engineering, University of the Sunshine Coast, Maroochydore DC, Queensland, 4558, Australia

    Shahla Hosseini Bai

  3. Instituto de Ecología, A.C., Carretera Antigua a Coatepec, CP 91000, Xalapa, Veracruz, Mexico

    Frédérique Reverchon

  4. Environmental Futures Research Institute, School of Environment, Griffith University, Nathan, Brisbane, Queensland, 4111, Australia

    Sevda Amini

Authors
  1. Shahla Hosseini Bai
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  2. Timothy J. Blumfield
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  3. Frédérique Reverchon
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  4. Sevda Amini
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Correspondence to Shahla Hosseini Bai.

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Responsible Editor: Juxiu Liu

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Hosseini Bai, S., Blumfield, T.J., Reverchon, F. et al. Do young trees contribute to soil labile carbon and nitrogen recovery?. J Soils Sediments 15, 503–509 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11368-014-1028-8

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11368-014-1028-8

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