TY - JOUR

T1 - Benchmark values for forest soil carbon stocks in Europe

T2 - Results from a large scale forest soil survey

AU - De Vos, Bruno

AU - Cools, Nathalie

AU - Ilvesniemi, Hannu

AU - Vesterdal, Lars

AU - Vanguelova, Elena

AU - Carnicelli, Stefano

PY - 2015

Y1 - 2015

N2 - Soil organic carbon (SOC) stocks in forest floors and in mineral and peat forest soils were estimated at the European scale. The assessment was based on measured C concentration, bulk density, coarse fragments and effective soil depth data originating from 4914 plots in 22 EU countries belonging to the UN/ECE ICP Forests 16 × 16 km Level I network. Plots were sampled and analysed according to harmonized methods during the 2nd European Forest Soil Condition Survey. Using continuous carbon density depth functions, we estimated SOC stocks to 30-cm and 1-m depth, and stratified these stocks according to 22 WRB Reference Soil Groups (RSGs) and 8 humus forms to provide European scale benchmark values. Average SOC stocks amounted to 22.1 t C ha− 1 in forest floors, 108 t C ha− 1 in mineral soils and 578 t C ha− 1 in peat soils, to 1 m depth. Relative to 1-m stocks, the vertical SOC distribution confirmed global patterns reported for forest soils: ~ 50% of SOC was stored in the upper 20 cm, and ~ 55–65% in the upper 30 cm of soil. Assuming 163 Mha of European forest cover and by using various scaling up procedures, we estimated total stocks at 3.50–3.94 Gt C in forest floors and 21.4–22.7 Gt C in mineral and peat soils down to 1-m, which is ~ 40% more than commonly published. The most useful predictors and stratifiers for C stocks were humus form and tree species for the forest floor, RSG for mineral soils and parent material for peat soils.

AB - Soil organic carbon (SOC) stocks in forest floors and in mineral and peat forest soils were estimated at the European scale. The assessment was based on measured C concentration, bulk density, coarse fragments and effective soil depth data originating from 4914 plots in 22 EU countries belonging to the UN/ECE ICP Forests 16 × 16 km Level I network. Plots were sampled and analysed according to harmonized methods during the 2nd European Forest Soil Condition Survey. Using continuous carbon density depth functions, we estimated SOC stocks to 30-cm and 1-m depth, and stratified these stocks according to 22 WRB Reference Soil Groups (RSGs) and 8 humus forms to provide European scale benchmark values. Average SOC stocks amounted to 22.1 t C ha− 1 in forest floors, 108 t C ha− 1 in mineral soils and 578 t C ha− 1 in peat soils, to 1 m depth. Relative to 1-m stocks, the vertical SOC distribution confirmed global patterns reported for forest soils: ~ 50% of SOC was stored in the upper 20 cm, and ~ 55–65% in the upper 30 cm of soil. Assuming 163 Mha of European forest cover and by using various scaling up procedures, we estimated total stocks at 3.50–3.94 Gt C in forest floors and 21.4–22.7 Gt C in mineral and peat soils down to 1-m, which is ~ 40% more than commonly published. The most useful predictors and stratifiers for C stocks were humus form and tree species for the forest floor, RSG for mineral soils and parent material for peat soils.

UR - https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0016706115000798

U2 - 10.1016/j.geoderma.2015.03.008

DO - 10.1016/j.geoderma.2015.03.008

M3 - Journal article

VL - 251-252

SP - 33

EP - 46

JO - Geoderma

JF - Geoderma

SN - 0016-7061

ER -