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Robinia pseudoacacia L. is a pioneer tree species which grows under a wide range of edaphic and climatic conditions. It is native from North America and its original range is a climatic region classified as humid to sub-humid, with a mean annual precipitation of 1.020 to 1.830 mm. However, in Central Europe the species has proven to be relatively drought tolerant in comparison to other temperate deciduous tree species. In the State of Brandenburg (Germany) for instance, with a continental climate and annual precipitation below 600 mm, the species has been successfully cropped for wood production for more than 250 years. The tree notably grows also in post-mining recultivated sites where soil water availability is limited and in spring and summer drought can occur. The importance of the species has increased over the lasts decades, after the CO2 reduction policy spread across the world, just as did the need for further sources for renewable energy. Therefore, due to its adaptability to water constraints, its fast growing and resprouting rate, together with the ability of nitrogen fixation, black locust could become a key species for short-rotation plantation on marginal land. Several studies have been already carried out to quantify the production and water use efficiency of the black locust. However, the effect of water scarcity on biomass production and the plant’s response to drought stress has still to be examined. In ourinvestigation we aim to evaluate the growth performance and the ecophysiological response of black locust to water limitation. The study of the soil-plant-atmosphere system for the evaluation of the relation between water availability, atmospheric evaporative demand and plant water status is critical to identify the ecophysiological adaptation and growth response in relation to different edaphic and climatic conditions. Different irrigation regimes and cycles of drought were chosen, to test the plant’s performance in a lysimeter experiment for the duration of two vegetation periods, under semi-controlled environmental conditions. The results obtained from studies were satisfactory. We assessed the drought tolerance and resilience of black locust, together with its water use efficiency. Both at whole-plant and leaf level the link between the soil water retention, plant water status and growth rate has been elucidated and the intertwined relation between primary production, transpiration, CO2 uptake and water limitation, together with the evaporative atmospheric demand, has been clarified.
Since the 1920s, more than 80.000 ha of land have been affected by lignite opencast mining activities in the Lusatia region (Eastern Germany), resulting in the evolution of large post-mining landscapes with substrates poor in humus and nutrients. As a consequence, the current conventional crop production on these post-mining areas is restricted. Against this background, the increasing demand for woody biomass for bioenergy, and thus the cultivation of fast growing trees for woody biomass production, could represent a promising option to enhance the productivity of land reclaimed from mining. Accordingly, considerable research has been carried out over the last two decades on reclamation technology, in addition to attempts to improve the soil quality through the use of different fast growing tree species in the Lusatia lignite region. Through such studies, it has been shown that it is possible to cultivate a sustainable supply of bioenergy wood through the use of black locust (Robinia pseudoacacia L.) trees, even under the unfavourable growth conditions of the marginal post mining areas. Since this knowledge is mainly based on studies of monocultural plantations (SRC), in 2007 a short rotation alley cropping system (SRACS) was established in the reclaimed lignite mining site “Welzow-Süd” with the purpose of obtaining fresh insight. The present paper evaluates the positive impacts of agroforestry land-use in terms of soil fertility, agricultural crop production, and soil protection against wind erosion based on the results of several years of examination made in this degraded area.
Understanding of soil carbon dynamics after establishment of alley-cropping systems is crucial for mitigation of greenhouse gas CO2. This study investigates soil CO2 flux in an alley-cropping system composed of black locust (Robinia pseudoacacia L.) and poplar (Max 1) tree strips and adjacent to them crop strips (Lupinus/ Solarigol). Soil CO2 flux was measured monthly over the March – November 2012 period, using a LI-COR LI-8100A automated device. Simultaneously with CO2 flux measurements, soil and air temperature, soil moisture, microbial C and hot water-extractable carbon (HWC) were determined for soils collected nearby each measurement collar. Root biomass was measured to a depth of 15 cm. In all sampling areas, soil CO2 flux increased from May to July, showing a significant positive correlation with air and soil temperature, which can be a reflection of increase in photosynthetic activity over the warm summer months. The relationships between soil moisture and CO2 flux showed positive correlation only for the warm period (May - October), indicating enhancing role of soil moisture on microbial mineralization and root respiration. CO2 flux values varied between sampling areas at different vegetation periods, with significantly higher values in trees over the summer. This could be attributed to the higher photosynthetic activity and higher root density in trees coppices compared to crops. In autumn, after seeding catch crop mix Solarigol, CO2 flux was significantly higher in crops compared to trees, which could be related to soil tillage prior to seeding of crops, as well as to the higher photosynthetic activity of newly seeded crops at the period of rapid plant growth. Despite a seasonal variation in CO2 flux between sampling areas, aaverage CO2 flux values observed over March – November period did not differ significantly between sampling areas, showing 2.5, 3.2, and 2.9 μmol m-2 s-1 values for black locust, poplar and crops, respectively. A greater C loss with soil respiration under trees in summer period may be compensated by greater C assimilation and storage in woody biomass, and the greater respiration from crop strips after tillage in autumn.
The production of energy wood on arable land increased in Germany during the last years. Black locust (Robinia pseudoacacia L.) is a suitable tree species in order to ensure substantial woody biomass yields on agricultural sites in eastern Germany. Arranged in hedge structures (alley cropping) positive effects on wind velocity and hence on soil erosion can be expected for the whole agricultural production area.
Results of field measurements carried out in several alley cropping sites located in eastern Germany show that wind velocity can be reduced by more than 50 %, even though tree hedgerows were not higher than four meters. Here, the reduction of wind speed was dependent on the distance to woody crops, the width of the crop alleys and the orientation of hedgerows. As a result of wind speeds reduction the potential of soil erosion by wind decreases considerably. The risk of wind erosion is even nearly negligible for 24 m wide or smaller crop alleys.
The establishment of short rotation hedgerows could contribute to an enhanced protection against wind erosion and thus to an ecological and possible long-term economic appreciation of agricultural sites. Aside from erosion control, further advantages such as a lower evaporation rate, and thus a crop yield increase, may be connected to the establishment of such agroforestry systems. Against the background of the increasing demand for woody biomass for bioenergy, the cultivation of fast growing trees on agricultural sites can furthermore result in an additional incomefor farmers. This is a prerequisite for the spread of this kind of agroforestry in Germany, because a comparable large share of an unprotected field has to be planted with trees in order to ensure an efficient windbreak.
During early plant succession, the phylogenetic structure of a community changes in response to important environmental filters and emerging species interactions. We traced the development of temperate-zone plant communities during the first 7 years of primary succession on catchment soils to explore patterns of initial species assembly. We found pronounced small-scale differences in the phylogenetic composition of neighbouring plant assemblages and a large-scale trend towards phylogenetic evenness. This small-scale variability appears to be mediated by soil properties,
particularly carbonate content. Therefore, abiotic environmental conditions might counteract or even supersede the effects of interspecific competition among closely related species, which are usually predicted to exhibit patterns of phylogenetic evenness. We conclude that theories
on phylogenetic community composition need to incorporate effects of small-scale variability of environmental factors.
Within the context of severely disturbed landscapes with little or no ecological memory, such as post-mining
landscapes, we propose a simple framework that explains the catchment evolution as a result of competing feedbacks influenced by the initial conditions and the atmospheric drivers such as rainfall intermittency and intensity. The first stage of the evolution is dominated by abiotic feedbacks triggered by rainfall and subsequent fluid flow causing particle mobilisation on the surface and in the subsurface leading to flow concentration or in some instances to densification of surface and subsurface substrates. Subsequently, abiotic-biotic feedbacks start to compete in the sense that biological activity generally stabilizes substrate by preventing particle mobilisation
and hence contribute to converting the substrate to a habitat. We suggest that these competing feedbacks may
generate alternative stable states in particular under semi-arid and arid climatic conditions, while in temperate
often energy limited environments biological process “outcompete” abiotic processes leading to a stable state, in particular from the water balance point of view for comparable geomorphic situations.
We investigated the initial development of the landscape observatory ’Chicken Creek’, Germany, an artificial
catchment with well known boundary conditions and inner structures (Gerwin et al., 2011). Over a period of nine
years, we observed considerable changes within the site (Elmer et al., 2013). Both internal and external factors could be identified as driving forces for the formation of structures and patterns in the catchment. Over time,
secondary structures and patterns evolved and became more and more important. Invading biota and vegetation
succession initialized feedback mechanisms resulting in pattern and habitat formation as well as in increased differentiation, heterogeneity and complexity that are typical characteristics of ecosystems (Schaaf et al., 2013).
The processes and feedback mechanisms in the initial development of a new landscape may deviate in rates, intensity, and dominance from those known from mature ecosystems. It is therefore crucial to understand these early phases of ecosystem development and to disentangle the increasingly complex interactions between the evolving terrestrial and aquatic, biotic, and abiotic compartments of the system.
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 an unrestricted 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 evolving compartments during ecosystem
development. The catchment is extensively instrumented since 2005 in order to detect transition stages of the
ecosystem. Data recorded with a high spatial and temporal resolution include ydrological, geomorphological,
pedological, limnological as well as biological parameters.
Differences in soil P among silvopasture, grassland, and arable lands have been well established. Nevertheless, most of the reports compare soil properties under long-term sites. Thus, there exists little information on the effect of the conversion of silvopasture to arable or grassland use on soil P pools. The objective of the study was to determine the impact of converting silvopasture system (SP) into arable cropping and grassland system on the distribution of P pools and potential P bioavailability. We compared the following systems: SP system, SP converted to arable cropland (SP-AL), SP converted to grassland (SP-GL), and for comparative purposes, a long-term arable cropland (AL). The P fractionation was performed by a sequential extraction scheme, using acid and alkaline extractants on samples collected from the 0–10 and 10–20 cm soil layers. It was assumed that the large variations in soil-P fractionations are caused by the different management practices associated with land conversion. The results of P fractionation showed a dominance of calcium-bound P, HCl-extractable Pi constituted up to 36% of the soil total P (TP). However, the type of land use did not affect this P fraction. On the other hand, the reduction in labile-Pi and NaOH-Pi fractions observed at the SP-AL site may have led to the decline in readily available P. The soil total organic P (TPo) content was 8% and 17% lower at SP-AL compared to SP and SP-GL site, respectively. Labile organic-P (labile-Po) content was markedly higher at SP site compared to arable soils, and was ≈ 10% of TPo. The NaOH-Po constituted the highest fraction of the organic-P pool (55%–79% of TPo) across all the study systems, and was positively correlated with TPo (p < 0.01). The study indicates that conversion of SP system in temperate regions to arable cropping with conventional tillage seems to result in the reduction of P availability compared to SP, indicating SP as an important land-use practice.
Cross-linked polyacrylates in post-mining substrates: persistence and effects on plant growth
(2014)
Application of hydrophilic polymers composed of cross-linked polyacrylate can improve soil water-holding capacity and accelerate the restoration of post-mining substrates. In this work, we studied the persistence of a polyacrylate polymer incorporated into a soil and its impact on plant nutrients at a reclamation site of former lignite mining in Lusatia (Germany). In contrast to autumn application, the incorporation of the polymer enhanced the sequestration of plant-derived carbon in the soil, which was reflected by a significant increase in the concentration of a lignin marker. Attenuated total reflexion–Fourier transform infrared spectra (ATR-FTIR) and total elemental contents in the applied polymer suggested an intensive cation exchange between the polymer framework and the soil-forming substrate. In addition, there was an enrichment of carbonaceous material, which seems to reduce the swelling and thus the water-holding capacity of the cross-linked polyacrylate. Conversely, this process protected the polymer structure from rapid decomposition.