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Die Agroforstwirtschaft, also die kombinierte Nutzung von Bäumen und Feldfrüchten auf einer landwirtschaftlichen Fläche, gewinnt vor dem Hintergrund der steigenden Holznachfrage sowie diverser ökologischer Vorteilswirkungen auch in Deutschland
zunehmend an Bedeutung. Verglichen mit den bereits bekannten Umweltleistungen, wie etwa einer erhöhten Biodiversität sowie dem Schutz vor Winderosion, ist der potenzielle Einfluss der Gehölzstreifen auf das Wachstum bzw. die Nährstoffversorgung von angrenzenden Feldfrüchten in Agroforstsystemen noch weitestgehend ungeklärt. Zur Quantifizierung dieser möglichen Interaktion wurden im Jahr 2013 auf einem etwa 40 ha großen Agroforst-Versuchsstandort nahe der Stadt Forst (Lausitz) umfangreiche Nährstoff- und Ertragsuntersuchungen durchgeführt.
Microbial communities are essential for a range of soil functions and adjust to soil development, environmental conditions and pollution level by community structure, abundance and activity. At desolated landfills of coal combustion waste (CCW) that were un-covered and covered with shallow soil material layers, soil microbial indicators were estimated for both the ecological and eco-toxicological evaluation. The young CCW sites with pH values of 9.5 and substantial coal-derived organic carbon showed significant microbial biomass content and nitrogen mineralization rates. At the 0 to 15 year old landfills, the microbial biomass content and activities increased significantly with age. However, large spatial variations occurred due to the variation of the cover material thickness, the degree of ash-aging and the tillage practices. Carbon dioxide was even sequestered at young CCW sites as indicated during laboratory incubation with an open apparatus purging continuously ambient air. In accordance, the respiratory quotient went down to 0.03 mol CO2 evolution rate per mol O2 uptake rate, indicating that the CO2 evolution rate is limited as an overall quality indicator. Within 15 years, these ‘Technosols’ showed pH values of 7.7 and decalcified while changes in microbial biomass content and activity rates were mainly related to N availability. We concluded that the available As, B, Cr and Ni pollution at CCW sites seemed largely immobilised by organic matter and alkalinity and therefore did not to inhibit the microbial colonisation and development of high microbial activity within 15 years. However, the ash disposals pose a contamination risk by wind erosion and a future risk to human or environmental health when toxic metals will be released in soil at low pH values, low organic matter and low antagonistic ion contents.
The constructed catchment Chicken Creek was established in 2005 as an experimental landscape laboratory for ecosystem research. The 6 ha area with clearly defined horizontal as well as vertical boundary conditions was left for natural primary succession. All Critical Zone elements are represented at this site, which allows the study of most processes occurring at the interface of bio-, pedo-, geo- and hydrosphere. It provides outstanding opportunities for investigating interactions and feedbacks between different co-evolving compartments. The catchment has been extensively instrumented since 2005. Data are recorded with a high spatial and temporal resolution and include hydrological, geomorphological, pedological, limnological as well as biological parameters in order to detect transition states of the ecosystem. In contrast to other Critical Zone Observatories, this site offers the unique situation of an early stage ecosystem with highly dynamic properties. The first years of development were characterized by a fast formation of geomorphological structures due to massive erosion of the initially non-vegetated surface. Hydrological processes led to the establishment of a local groundwater body within 5 years. In the following years the influence of biological structures like vegetation patterns gained increasing importance. Feedbacks between developing vegetation and e.g. hydrological features became more and more apparent. As a result, different phases of ecosystem development have been distinguished.
The total space of traits covered by the members of plant communities is an important parameter of ecosystem functioning and complexity. We trace the variability of trait space during early plant succession and ask how trait space co-varies with phylogenetic community structure and soil conditions. Particularly, we are interested in the small-scale variability in trait space and the influence of biotic and abiotic filters. We use data on species richness and soil conditions from the first 7 years of initial succession of an artificial catchment in north-eastern Germany. Total functional attribute diversity serves as a proxy to total trait space.
Total trait space steadily increased during succession. We observed high small-scale variability in total trait space that was positively correlated with species richness and phylogenetic segregation and negatively correlated with total plant cover. Trait space increased with soil carbonate content, while pH and the fraction of sandy material behaved indifferently. Our results indicate that during early succession, habitat filtering processes gain importance leading to a lesser increase in trait space than expected from the increase in species richness alone.
The cultivation of fast growing trees on agricultural sites is an area undergoing a growth in interest due to the rising demand for woody biomass as a source of bioenergy. Short rotation alley cropping systems (SRACS) represent a promising possibility to combine annual crops for food, fodder or bioenergy with woody plants for biomass production, doing so through an integration of hedgerows of fast growing trees into conventional agricultural sites. Against such developments, the question has arisen as to what extent hedgerows in SRACS can act as an effective windbreak despite their management-related low height of only a few meters. On the basis of multiannual recorded wind velocity data in high resolution at two sites in Germany, it could be shown that the wind speed on crop alleys was reduced significantly by such hedgerows. At the central point of 24 m wide crop alleys, the wind speed decreased on an annual average basis by more than 50 % when compared to the wind speeds of open field. The overall amount of reduction was strongly dependent on the location within the crop alleys, the height of trees, the distance between two hedgerows, and their orientation. In reflection upon these results, it was concluded that the establishment of SRACS could lead to enhanced soil protection against wind erosion and thus to ecological and economic benefits for agricultural sites.
Organic matter from biological soil crusts induces the initial formation of sandy temperate soils
(2014)
Different development stages of algae-dominated and moss-dominated biological soil crusts (BSCs) were sampled on a natural sand dune (b17 years old) and on an experimental sand dune (b8 years old) along a catena, including gradients of vegetation cover, location on the slope, as well as composition and thickness of BSC organisms in northeastern Germany. The accumulation of BSC-derived organic carbon (OC)was determined for bulk materials and fractions less than 63 μm. The OC composition was characterized by solid-state 13C NMR spectroscopy and the carbohydrate-C signature. 14C contents were determined to assess the origin and dynamics of OC. From the radiocarbon contents, two OC pools were differentiated: recent BSC-derived and lignite-derived “old” OC. Downward movement of OC into the underlying substratewas found only undermoss-dominated BSCs at the old sand dune. BSC-derived OC was mainly composed of carbohydrate-C and, to a lesser extent, alkyl C and N-alkyl C, with considerably higher contributions of alkyl C in the young dune, indicating differences in the composition of extracellular polymeric substances produced by the BSCs with age. This is consistent with higher proportions of water-soluble OC of moss-dominated BSCs at the old dune, which is leached in the underlying substrate and initiates soil formation. Because of the channeling effect of mosses, OC depth translocation along with suspended colloidal substances contribute to OC accumulation in substrates.
The knowledge about element leaching and biogeochemical cycles during initial stages of soil development is very limited. Therefore, we studied the effects of parent material characteristics and plant litter addition on element leaching from young sandy soils in a microcosm experiment. Our objective was to evaluate the function of young soils as a source and/or sink for nutrients during initial pedogenesis and to identify main processes which are involved in the initial development of biogeochemical cycles. The main research questions were: (1) How do differences in parent material characteristics affect nutrient leaching?; and (2) How is nutrient leaching of young soils influenced by litter addition of different plant functional groups (e.g., legume and grass species)? Combined treatments of two minimally weathered parent materials (pure sand and loamy sand) with plant litter of two plant species (Lotus corniculatus L. and Calamagrostis epigejos L.) were investigated in a soil column experiment. In addition, control columns with parent material or plant litter only were included. Carbonate weathering as a main source for calcium leaching was induced by the moderately acidic irrigation solution used in the experiment. It was 7.5 fold greater for the loamy sand parent material compared to the pure sand despite lower carbonate contents in the loamy sand. Leaching of K was very low for both parent materials but greater for the loamy sand parent material, likely due to transfer processes from fixed to exchangeable potassium forms in the clay minerals of the loamy sand. Plant litter addition generally increased leaching losses. Carbonate dissolution was intensified by both plant litter types, especially by L. corniculatus, very likely due to H+ released during nitrification of N released from plant litter and an increase in partial pressure of CO2 from microbial respiration. In contrast, K was largely retained in the soils, probably due to fixation by clay minerals and microbial immobilization. Only the pure sand treated with L. corniculatus litter leached K, resulting in 4–6 fold greater leaching losses compared to all other treatments. Nitrogen released from L. corniculatus litter was almost completely nitrified and was nearly doubled as compared to that from C. epigejos,
resulting in greater N leaching. The results of our study allow identifying the general function and processes of vegetation patches in young ecosystems formed as a result of initial parent material characteristics and invading vegetation with respect to litter decomposition, soil solution composition, nutrient retention and leaching, and effects on the soil mineral phase. These patterns are not mere additive effects of parent materials plus plant litter, but reflect differences in biogeochemical process intensities and could result in an increasing heterogeneity of soil properties, nutrient availability, and element leaching fluxes with time.
Short rotation coppice (SRC) is seen as a successful management system, which in addition to energy wood production may enhance soil carbon sequestration. The objective of this study was to investigate total, labile and stable soil carbon fractions at SRCs composed of poplar clones Max 1 (Populus nigra x P. maximowiczii), Muhle Larsen (Populus Trichocarpa), and black locust (Robinia pseudoacacia L.). Study was conducted at three SRC sites (Allendorf, Dornburg, and Forst) varying in age (1–4 years old), soil texture and climatic characteristics, in Germany. Composite soil samples collected at SRCs from 0 to 3; 0–10; 10–30; and 30–60 cm depth layers were compared with soils collected from adjacent crop strips. Samples were analysed for total organic carbon (TOC), hot-water extractable carbon (HWC), and organic carbon (OC) at 250–2,000; 53–250; and\53 lm soil-size aggregates. Total OC stocks in 0–60 cm soil layer were the highest at the site with the heaviest texture, Dornburg, followed by Forst and Allendorf, comprising 92–107; 59–74; and 53–64 Mg ha-1, respectively. Although no significant differences in the total OC stocks between SRCs and adjacent crops were found for the 0–60 cm layer, a significantly (p\0.05) higher TOC, HWC, OC at macroaggregates (250–2,000 lm), and the amount of macro-aggregates were found in the top 0–3 cm layer in all SRC sites (except the youngest poplar SRC in Forst) compared to adjacent crop strips. A greater macro-aggregate formation in SRCs related to the lower soil disturbance compared to the tilled crops, revealed a potential of SRC for C sequestration, as C occluded within soil aggregates has a slower decomposition rates and longer residence time.
In Central Europe, short rotation coppice systems for the production of woody biomass come increasingly into focus as these wood plantations offer an opportunity to sustainably produce biomass for energy production and to sequester substantial amounts of CO2 within the plantations and the soils at the same time. In this study, a modeling analysis of the C cycle of a poplar (Populus suaveolens Fisch. x Populus trichocarpa Torr. et Gray cv Androscoggin) and a black locust (Robinia pseudoacacia L.) SRC is presented. The calculations were performed with the bookkeeping C-model shortcar. The calculated estimates of C accumulation within the biomass, the litter layer, and the soil were validated against field data and published results from a selection of scientific studies. For the SRC on reclaimed mine sites a high C sequestration potential was found which amounted in the reference scenario over a period of 36 years to an accumulated net biome production of about 65 Mg C ha-1 for R. pseudoacacia and about 9 Mg C ha-1 for poplar, while the latter clearly suffered from the harsh growth conditions at the reclamation sites. Summarizing, the results suggested a high potential of SRC for C sequestration and C emission mitigation, especially on marginal sites.
Short-rotation forestry and agroforestry systems have the potential to become an ecologically valuable and economically profitable land use alternative on marginal lands. Therefore, our project focuses on determining the water demand for biomass production of black locust in the Lusatia region (Eastern Germany). The area is characterized by relative low annual rainfall (560-600 mm/yr) and drought periods during spring and summer. Black locust (Robinia pseudoacacia L.) is planted in short rotation plantations as well as in agroforestry systems at reclaimed post-mining sites of the opencast mining area “Welzow Süd” and on a conventionally managed field near the town Forst (both study sites are located about 120 km to the south of Berlin). Due to mining activities the ground water table in “Welzow-Süd” is below 100 m, while on the field site in Forst the ground water table is about 2 m below the soil surface. Because of the water accessibility directly affecting the yield, it is crucial to identify the spatial variation of the soil water availability and its influence on black locust growth. The main question of this study is how the drought periods affect black locust’s growth and recovery and about the drought mitigation effect obtainable by an accessible water table. The growth rate is being estimated monthly by measuring the maximum height and the trunk diameter at 10 and 130 cm. Furthermore, several trees are equipped with dendrometers to record their diameter increment in daily intervals. The pre-dawn water potential for selected trees is evaluated periodically to quantify plant water stress and relate it to the growth pattern. Water availability and microclimatic condition are monitored continuously. At the end of the vegetation period, information gathered from the field will be used to develop a growth model to link the soil water availability and plant water status with the growth rate of the trees.