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Anders Lindroth

Professor

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Short-term effects of thinning, clear-cutting and stump harvesting on methane exchange in a boreal forest

Author

  • Elin Sundqvist
  • Patrik Vestin
  • Patrick Crill
  • Tryggve Persson
  • Anders Lindroth

Summary, in English

Forest management practices can alter soil conditions,

affecting the consumption and production processes

that control soil methane (CH4) exchange. We studied the

short-term effects of thinning, clear-cutting and stump harvesting

on the CH4 exchange between soil and atmosphere at

a boreal forest site in central Sweden, using an undisturbed

plot as the control. Chambers in combination with a highprecision

laser gas analyser were used for continuous measurements.

Both the undisturbed plot and the thinned plot

were net sinks of CH4, whereas the clear-cut plot and the

stump harvested plot were net CH4 sources. The CH4 uptake

at the thinned plot was reduced in comparison to the undisturbed

plot. The shift from sink to source at the clear-cut and

stump harvested plots was probably due to a rise in the water

table and an increase in soil moisture, leading to lower

gas diffusivity and more reduced conditions, which favour

CH4 production by archea. Reduced evapotranspiration after

harvesting leads to wetter soils, decreased CH4 consumption

and increased CH4 production, and should be accounted for

in the CH4 budget of managed forests.

Department/s

  • Dept of Physical Geography and Ecosystem Science
  • eSSENCE: The e-Science Collaboration
  • BECC: Biodiversity and Ecosystem services in a Changing Climate

Publishing year

2014

Language

English

Pages

6095-6105

Publication/Series

Biogeosciences

Volume

11

Issue

21

Document type

Journal article

Publisher

Copernicus GmbH

Topic

  • Physical Geography

Status

Published

ISBN/ISSN/Other

  • ISSN: 1726-4189