Carbon stocks of soil and vegetation on Danubian floodplains

verfasst von

Arne Cierjacks, Birgit Kleinschmit, Maren Babinsky, Fritz Kleinschroth, Arvid Markert, Markus Menzel, Ulrike Ziechmann, Theresa Schiller, Markus Graf, Friederike Lang

Abstract

Riparian forests are assumed to play a crucial role in the global carbon cycle. However, little data are available on C stocks of floodplains in comparison to other terrestrial ecosystems. In this study, we quantified the C stocks of aboveground biomass and soils of riparian vegetation types at 76 sampling sites in the Donau-Auen National Park in Austria. Based on our results and a remotely sensed vegetation map, we estimated total C stocks. Carbon stocks in soils (up to 354 t ha^-1 within 1 m below surface) were huge compared to other terrestrial ecosystems. As expected, soils of different vegetation types showed different texture with a higher percentage of sandy soils at the softwood sites, while loamy soils prevailed at hardwood sites. Total C stocks of vegetation types were significantly different, but reflect differences in woody plant biomass rather than in soil C stocks. Mature hardwood and cottonwood forests proved to have significantly higher total C stocks (474 and 403 t ha^-1, respectively) than young reforestations (217 t ha^-1) and meadows (212 t ha^-1). The C pools of softwood forests (356 t ha^-1) ranged between those of hardwood/cottonwood forests and of reforestations/meadows. Our study proves the relevance of floodplains as possible C sinks, which should be increasingly taken into account for river management. Furthermore, we conclude that plant-species distribution does not indicate the conditions of sedimentation and soil C sequestration over the time span of interest for the development of soil C stocks.

Externe Organisation(en)

Technische Universität Berlin

Typ

Artikel

Journal

Journal of Plant Nutrition and Soil Science

Band

173

Seiten

644-653

Anzahl der Seiten

10

ISSN

1436-8730

Publikationsdatum

10.2010

Publikationsstatus

Veröffentlicht

Peer-reviewed

Ja

ASJC Scopus Sachgebiete

Bodenkunde, Pflanzenkunde

Ziele für nachhaltige Entwicklung

SDG 15 – Lebensraum Land

Elektronische Version(en)

https://doi.org/10.1002/jpln.200900209 (Zugang: Unbekannt)