Fire-derived charcoal causes loss of forest humus.
Fire is a global driver of carbon storage and converts a substantial proportion of plant biomass to black carbon (for example, charcoal), which remains in the soil for thousands of years. Black carbon is therefore often proposed as an important long-term sink of soil carbon. We ran a 10-year experiment in each of three boreal forest stands to show that fire-derived charcoal promotes loss of forest humus and that this is associated with enhancement of microbial activity by charcoal. This result shows that charcoal-induced losses of belowground carbon in forests can partially offset the benefits of charcoal as a long-term carbon sink.
Wardle
David A
DA
Department of Forest Ecology and Management, Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences, SE901-83 Umeå, Sweden. david.wardle@svek.slu.se
Nilsson
Marie-Charlotte
MC
Zackrisson
Olle
O
D018533:Biomass; D002606:Charcoal / Q000737:chemistry; D017753:Ecosystem; D005390:Fires; D012987:Soil; D012988:Soil Microbiology; D053260:Soot / Q000737:chemistry; D013548:Sweden; D014197:Trees
D012987:Soil; D053260:Soot; D002606:Charcoal