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Size and spatial structure of the soil and lacustrine charcoal pool across a boreal forest watershed

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  20 January 2017

Mikael Ohlson ,
Isabella Kasin ,
Anveig Nordtug Wist  and
Anne E. Bjune
Mikael Ohlson*
Affiliation:
Department of Ecology and Natural Resource Management, Norwegian University of Life Sciences, P.O. Box 5003, NO-1432 Ås, Norway
Isabella Kasin
Affiliation:
Department of Ecology and Natural Resource Management, Norwegian University of Life Sciences, P.O. Box 5003, NO-1432 Ås, Norway
Anveig Nordtug Wist
Affiliation:
Department of Ecology and Natural Resource Management, Norwegian University of Life Sciences, P.O. Box 5003, NO-1432 Ås, Norway
Anne E. Bjune
Affiliation:
Uni Climate, Allégaten 55, NO-5007 Bergen, Norway Bjerknes Centre for Climate Research, Allégaten 55, NO-5007 Bergen, Norway
*
*Corresponding author. E-mail address:mikael.ohlson@umb.no (M. Ohlson).
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Abstract

Forest fires convert a proportion of the burning vegetation into charcoal that is stored in forest soils and lake sediments. In this paper we use a geostatistical approach to present a detailed analysis of the size of the charcoal pool and its spatial variation in a boreal forest watershed including its lake sediment. The amount of soil charcoal averaged 179 g/m2 and ranged from 0 to 3600 g/m2 in the watershed. There was an extreme variation in the size of the charcoal pool over fine (cm) spatial scales. For example, the amount of charcoal in the soil could range from 34 to 1646 g/m2 within a distance of 10 cm. Individually dated soil charcoal particles had radiocarbon ages that varied from 630 to 2930 cal yr BP. The lake sediment began accumulating at 10,600 cal yr BP and charcoal accumulation has been practically continuous ever since then, with the largest peak occurring at 6900 cal yr BP. The lake sediment contained more charcoal, 360 g/m2, than the average for forest soil. We interpret this as an indication of a relatively rapid degradation of charcoal in boreal forest soils.

Keywords

Charcoal degradationCharcoal massFire historyNorway spruceScots pineSoil charcoalWildfire
Type
Original Articles
Information
Quaternary Research , Volume 80 , Issue 3 , November 2013 , pp. 417 - 424
Copyright
University of Washington

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