CLIMATE CHANGE MITIGATION POTENTIAL IN SCOTS PINE STANDS ON ARENOSOL

Abstract

Climate change could impact on nutrient availability for forest plants, on forest productivity and on the forest ecosystem stability. Due to that it is important to estimate the climate change mitigation potentials in forest ecosystems, to evaluate the capacity of mineral soil for compensate the lack of nutrients and stabilize soil organic carbon. The complex soil properties assessment was performed in 58-year-old Scots pine (Pinus sylvestris L.) stand in the control and in 2002 fertilized with mineral nitrogen (180 kg N ha^-1) plots. In 2022 three shallow soil profiles were investigated at the study site, where the genetic horizons according to soil granulometric composition and diagnostic properties were identified, the depth of horizons was measured, the soil bulk density, the concentrations of soil organic carbon and mineral nitrogen were determined. It was estimated that soil in Scots pine stand was Haplic Arenosol. In fertilized with mineral nitrogen pine stand plots the Ofh horizon reached an average of 3.2 cm, while in the control reached - 2.1 cm. Mineral soil in fertilized with mineral nitrogen had the lower soil bulk density (on average of 1.27 g cm^-3), while in the control plots soil density increased (on average up to 1.44 g cm^-3). Thus, the fertilization with mineral nitrogen increased the content of organic carbon in the Ofh and AE horizons, and the sorption of soil organic carbon to the illuvial horizon was expressed actively. Meanwhile, the changes in mineral nitrogen content were not significantly ascertained. On the base of estimated results, Scots pine stand due to the stabilized soil organic carbon retains the potential to mitigate the climate change consequences.