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Publications

NIBIOs employees contribute to several hundred scientific articles and research reports every year. You can browse or search in our collection which contains references and links to these publications as well as other research and dissemination activities. The collection is continously updated with new and historical material.

2018

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Abstract

Tree species change has been suggested as one of the government policies to mitigate climate change in Nor-way with the aim to increase the annual uptake of CO2 and the long-term storage of carbon (C) in forests. The strategy includes replacing native, deciduous species with fast-growing species, mainly Norway spruce. A shift in tree species is expected to affect the pools and fluxes of C in the stand as well as the microbial community. As part of the BalanC project, we assess C storage related to shift in tree species cover in western Norway and whether a corresponding shift in soil microbial communities are happening. The study aim at integrating results on soil respiration, C mineralization, soil stability, diversity of bacteria, fungi and micro-eukaryotes, soil nutrient pools, litter inputs and edaphic factors at the stand level in order to identify key drivers for changes in the soil C stocks. Fifteen paired plots of native birch and planted Norway spruce at five locations were sampled. Prelimi-nary results suggests a redistribution of C from the mineral soil to the forest floor in the spruce stands, with minor changes in the total soil C pools over the 45-60 years since the tree species change. The in situ soil respi-ration and heterothropic respiration, as well as C mineralization rates, were higher in birch than in spruce stands. Differences in C mineralization rates attenuate with depth between forest types. The microbial com-munities of the three organismal groups were all strongly structured along the vertical depth.