Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

Effect of gap size and forest type on mineral nitrogen forms under different soil properties

  • Original Paper
  • Published:
Journal of Forestry Research Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

Gaps play a key role in forest ecosystem development and result from either natural processes or targeted forest management activities. The aim of this study was to investigate the interrelationships of soil properties in each of three forest types and two treatments, and to identify factors that influence levels of soil mineral nitrogen forms. The relation between mineral nitrogen and factors of soil parameters and stand type (European beech, Norway spruce, mixed stand) categories were investigated. The spruce forest type stored significant nitrogen in both mineral forms of nitrogen. Moreover, there was a significant linear dependence between N–NO3− (nitrate anion) concentrations and cation exchange capacity (CEC) parameters such as base cation contents (S-CEC) and potential ureolytic activities (UreasePot), as well as between N–NH4+ (ammonium cation) concentrations and both hydrolytic acidities (Ha-CEC) and ureolytic activities. The dependence of N–NO3− concentrations on S-CEC contents and UreasePot was negative, especially in adjacent stand. The dependence of N–NH4+ concentrations on Ha-CEC and UreasePot was week in the beech and mixed forest types while it was significantly positive in the spruce forest type.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Fig. 1
Fig. 2
Fig. 3
Fig. 4

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  • Alvear M, Rosas A, Rouanet JL, Borie F (2005) Effects of three soil tillage systems on some biological activities in an Ultisol from southern Chile. Soil Tillage Res 82:195–202

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Aragão LE (2012) Environmental science: the rainforest’s water pump. Nature 489:217–218

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Armas C, Kikvidze Z, Pugnaire FI (2009) Abiotic conditions, neighbour interactions, and the distribution of Stipa tenacissima in a semiarid mountain range. J Arid Environ 73:1084–1089

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Brêthes A, Brun JJ, Jabiol B, Ponge J, Toutain F (1995) Classification of forest humus forms: a French proposal. Annal des Scien forest 52:535–546

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Brunet J, Fritz Ö, Richnau G (2010) Biodiversity in European beech forests—a review with recommendations for sustainable forest management. Ecol Bull 53:77–94

    Google Scholar 

  • D’Oliveira MVN, Ribas LA (2011) Forest regeneration in artificial gaps twelve years after canopy opening in Acre State Western Amazon. For Ecol Manag 261:1722–1731

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Ferreira De Lima RA (2005) Gap size measurement: the proposal of a new field method. For Ecol Manag 214:413–419

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Gálhidy L, Mihók B, Hagyó A, Rajkai K, Standovár T (2006) Effects of gap size and associated changes in light and soil moisture on the understorey vegetation of a Hungarian beech forest. Plant Ecol 183:133–145

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Gobat JM, Aragno M, Matthey W (2010) Le sol vivant, Bases de pédologie-Biologie des sols, 3rd edn. Presses polytechniques et universitaires, Romandes, p 817

    Google Scholar 

  • Gömöryova E, Vass D, Pichlera V, Gömöry D (2009) Effect of alginite amendment on microbial activity and soil water content in forest soils. Biologia 64:585–588

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Guntinas ME, Leiros MC, Trasar-Cepedaand C, Gil-Sotres F (2012) Effects of moisture and temperature on net soil nitrogen mineralization: a laboratory study. Eur J Soil Biol 48:73–80

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Hart SC, Nason G, Myroldand DD, Perry DA (1994) Dynamics of gross nitrogen transformations in an old-growth forest: the carbon connection. Ecology 75:880–891

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • He Z, Liu J, Wu C, Zheng S, Hong W, Suand Ch, Wu S (2012) Effects of forest gaps on some microclimate variables in Castanopsis kawakamii natural forest. J Mount Sci 9:706–714

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • He Z, Liu J, Su S, Zheng S, Xu D, Wu Z, Wang JLM (2015) Effects of Forest gaps on soil properties in Castanopsis kawakamii nature forest. PLoS ONE 10:1–10

    CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Hniličková H, Kuklová M, Hnilička F, Kukla J (2016) Effect of altitude and age of stands on physiological response of three dominant plants in forests of the Western Carpathians. Plant Soil Environ 62:341–347

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Holik L, Kučera A, Rejšek K, Rosíková J, Vranová V (2016) Effect of salicylic acid on protease and urease activity in soils under Norway spruce pure stands. J Soil Sci Plant Nutr 16:1075–1086

    CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Hortal S, Bastida F, Moreno JL, Armas C, García C, Pugnaire FI (2015) Benefactor and allelopathic shrub species have different effects on the soil microbial community along an environmental severity gradient. Soil Biol Biochem 88:48–57

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • IUSS Working Group WRB (2015) World reference base for soil resources 2014, update 2015 international soil classification system for naming soil and creating legends for soil maps. World Soil Res report no. 106. FAO, Rome

  • Kandeler E, Gerber H (1988) Short-term assay of soil urease activity using colorimetric determination of ammonium. Biol Fertil Soils 6:68–72

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Kučera A, Holik L, Marosz K, Martinik A, Vavricek D (2013) Changes in forms of available nitrogen and respiration in soil of beech forest as a reaction to a deforestation resulting from wind storm. Acta Univ Agric Silvic Mendel Brun 61:107–113

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Li X, Wen Y, Zhang J, Liu L, Jin L, Yan T, Wang Y (2017) The effect of low-temperature event on the survival and growth of Juglans mandshurica seedlings within forest gaps. J For Res 29:943–951

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Lityński T, Jurkowska H, Gorlach E (1976) Chemical and agriculture analysis. PWN, Warszawa, pp 129–132

    Google Scholar 

  • Mayer M, Matthews B, Rosinger C, Sandén H, Godbold DL, Katzensteiner K (2017) Tree regeneration retards decomposition in a temperate mountain soil after forest gap disturbance. Soil Biol Biochem 115:490–498

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Muscolo A, Sidari M, Mercurio R (2007a) Gap size effects on above- and below-ground processes in a silver fir stand. Eur J For Res 126:59–65

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Muscolo A, Sidari M, Mercurio R (2007b) Influence of gap size on organic matter decomposition, microbial biomass and nutrient cycle in Calabrian pine (Pinus laricio, Poiret) stands. For Ecol Manag 242:412–418

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Muscolo A, Bagnato S, Sidari M, Mercurio R (2014) A review of the roles of forest canopy gaps. J For Res 25:725–736

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Muscolo A, Settineri G, Attinà E (2015) Early warning indicators of changes in soil ecosystem functioning. Ecol Ind 48:542–549

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Oksanen J, Blanchet FG, Kindt R, Legendre P, Minchin PR, O’Hara RB, Simpson GL, Solymos P, Stevens MHH, Wagner H (2016) Package 'vegan', community ecology package. R package version 2.3-5. https://cran.r-project.org/web/packages/vegan/vegan.pdf

  • Olajuyigbe S, Tobin B, Saunders M, Nieuwenhuis M (2012) Forest thinning and soil respiration in a Sitka spruce forest in Ireland. Agric For Meteorol 157:86–95

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Pang X, Hu B, Bao W, TdeO Vargas, Tian G (2016) Effect of thinning-induced gap size on soil CO2 efflux in a reforested spruce forest in the eastern Tibetan Plateau. Agric For Meteorol 220:1–9

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Parsons WFJ, Knight DH, Miller SL (1994) Root gap dynamics in lodgepole pine forest: nitrogen transformations in gaps of different size. Ecol Appl 4:354–362

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Prescott CE, Hope GD, Blevins LL (2003) Effect of gap size on litter decomposition and soil nitrate concentrations in a high-elevation spruce-fir forest. Can J For Res 33:2210–2220

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Rejsek K, Formanek P, Pavelka M (2008) Estimation of protease activity in soils at low temperatures by casein amendment and with substitution of buffer by demineralized water. Amino Acids 35:411–417

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Ritter E, Bjørnlund L (2005) Nitrogen availability and nematode populations in soil and litter after gap formation in a semi-natural beech-dominated forest. Appl Soil Ecol 28:175–189

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Setiawan NN, Vanhellemont M, de Schrijver A, Schelfhout SB, Verheyen LK (2016) Mixing effects on litter decomposition rates in a young tree diversity experiment. Acta Oecol 70:79–86

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Settineri G, Mallamaci C, Mitrović M, Sidari M, Muscolo A (2018) Effects of different thinning intensities on soil carbon storage in Pinus laricio forest of Apennine South Italy. Eur J For Res 137:131–141

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • van Groenigen JW, Huygens D, Boeckx P, Kuyper TW, Lubbers IM, Rütting T, Groffman PM (2015) The soil N cycle: new insights and key challenges. Soil 1:235–256

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Wickham H, Chang W (2016) Package `ggplot2’, an implementation of the grammar of graphics. R package version 2.1.0. https://cran.r-project.org/web/packages/ggplot2/ggplot2.pdf

  • Xu Z, Yu G, Zhang X, Ge J, He N, Wang Q, Wang D (2015) The variations in soil microbial communities, enzyme activities and their relationships with soil organic matter decomposition along the northern slope of Changbai Mountain. Appl Soil Ecol 86:19–29

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Zbiral J, Honsa I (2010) Soil analysis, soil survey laboratory methods manual, vol 1. Central Institute for Supervising and Testing in Agriculture, Brno, p 290

    Google Scholar 

  • Zhang Q, Zak JC (1995) Effects of gap size on litter decomposition and microbial activity in a subtropical forest. Ecology 76:2196–2204

    Article  Google Scholar 

Download references

Acknowledgements

This work was supported by the Faculty of Forestry and Wood Technology, Mendel University, Brno (IGA Mendelu in Brno “GAPS” 84/2013; IGA Mendelu in Brno LDF_PSV_2017006), and the Ministry of Agriculture of the Czech Republic (QJ1320050) and (MZe RO418).

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Geology and Pedology, Mendel University in Brno, Zemědělská 3, 61300, Brno, Czech Republic

    Aleš Kučera & Jan Petříček

  2. Crop Research Institute, Drnovská 507/73, 161 06, Praha 6 – Ruzyně, Czech Republic

    Ladislav Holik

  3. Institute for Research in Sustainable Forest Management, University of Valladolid, Palencia, Castille and León, Spain

    Elena Muñoz Cerro

Authors
  1. Aleš Kučera
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Ladislav Holik
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. Elena Muñoz Cerro
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  4. Jan Petříček
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Ladislav Holik.

Additional information

Project funding: This work was supported by the Faculty of Forestry and Wood Technology, Mendel University, Brno (IGA Mendelu in Brno “GAPS” 84/2013; IGA Mendelu in Brno LDF_PSV_2017006), and the Ministry of Agriculture of the Czech Republic (QJ1320050) and (MZe RO418).

The online version is available at http://www.springerlink.com

Corresponding editor: Chai Ruihai.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this article

Kučera, A., Holik, L., Cerro, E.M. et al. Effect of gap size and forest type on mineral nitrogen forms under different soil properties. J. For. Res. 31, 375–386 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11676-018-0822-3

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11676-018-0822-3

Keywords

Search

Navigation