148
Views
0
CrossRef citations to date
0
Altmetric
Research Article

Do eucalypt plantations on Ferrosols in north-west Tasmania contain more or less soil carbon than native forests on the same soil type?

, &
Pages 81-88 | Received 04 Jan 2022, Accepted 21 Jun 2022, Published online: 15 Jul 2022
 

ABSTRACT

Although studies in mainland states of Australia and overseas show that the conversion of native forests to plantations can reduce carbon (C) stocks in soils, no studies have been undertaken in Tasmania to assess how plantations affect soil C stocks. To address this knowledge gap, we compared soil C concentrations and C stocks to 30 cm depth in native ‘mixed’ eucalypt forests and adjacent Eucalyptus nitens plantations on Ferrosols in north-west Tasmania, using a factorial sampling strategy. Mean soil C and nitrogen (N) concentrations were significantly lower in plantations than in mixed forests; however, because the soils in plantations had higher bulk density, mean soil C stocks under the two treatments (114 Mg ha−1 and 116 Mg ha−1, respectively) were not significantly different. It is concluded that machine removal of 5–6 cm of topsoil into windrows during land clearing for plantations would be sufficient to explain why C concentrations were lower in plantations than in mixed forests and that, apart from this physical effect of land preparation, 17–21 years of plantation growth on Ferrosols in north-west Tasmania has not significantly affected soil C stocks in mineral soil. This result can be partly explained by the ability of Ferrosols to form stable complexes between organic matter, sesquioxides and clays.

Acknowledgements

We are grateful to Forico Pty Ltd for providing access to the study sites; forester Mr Wray Watts for assistance in selecting paired study sites and providing information on their land-use history; Dr Richard Doyle and the University of Tasmania for use of laboratory facilities for soil preparation; and the Environmental Chemistry Laboratory, Landcare Research/Manaaki Whenua, Palmerston North, New Zealand, for undertaking C and N analyses. We thank two anonymous reviewers and the journal editors for constructive suggestions for improving the submitted manuscript.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Additional information

Funding

This study was funded by the Board of the Forest Practices Authority, Tasmania.

Log in via your institution

Log in to Taylor & Francis Online

PDF download + Online access

  • 48 hours access to article PDF & online version
  • Article PDF can be downloaded
  • Article PDF can be printed
USD 61.00 Add to cart

Issue Purchase

  • 30 days online access to complete issue
  • Article PDFs can be downloaded
  • Article PDFs can be printed
USD 251.00 Add to cart

* Local tax will be added as applicable

Related Research

People also read lists articles that other readers of this article have read.

Recommended articles lists articles that we recommend and is powered by our AI driven recommendation engine.

Cited by lists all citing articles based on Crossref citations.
Articles with the Crossref icon will open in a new tab.