Forest ecosystems cover about a third of the world's land area and are considered one of the largest carbon sinks (about 80% of aboveground C). Less is said about forest soils, which are almost completely conditioned by the existence of forests. They contain approximately 70 % of the world's total soil carbon reserves. It is therefore not surprising that at a time of climate change, synonymous with the fight against carbon in the atmosphere, studies are being supported on possible pathways for carbon from the celestial heights back to Earth. Researchers from the Faculty of Forestry and Wood Sciences at the CULS on the slopes of the Orlické Mountains found ideal conditions for one of them.
The expulsion of Sudeten Germans from the borderland meant not only a change in the ethnic composition of the local population, but also its absolute decline. As a result, there has been a change in the landscape in many places. Most of the meadows became forests, many fields became meadows, or forests. This served as a basis for comparing carbon stocks in intensively farmed and forested areas.
Soil analyses have shown that even in such young forest soils, the soil carbon content has increased almost tenfold in a few decades. The growing forest based on agriculture land can bind up to a tonne of carbon per year until a steady state is reached, which in the foothills and mountain areas can amount to 50-150 t / ha of raw humus with about 50 % carbon content. Not to mention the enrichment of mineral soil horizons. For comparison – a ton of carbon will release a car into the atmosphere after driving about 20,000 km.
The results of this research, which are comparable to similar studies abroad, confirm that targeted but also responsible landscape management can lead to a reduction in the impact of climate change on society. However, the question remains whether this will be enough.
prof. Ing. Vilém Podrázský, CSc.
He graduated from the Faculty of Forestry at the then University of Applied Sciences in Brno. At the Department of Forestry, Faculty of Forestry and Wood Sciences, CULS in Prague, he deals with forestry ecology and pedology.
Prepared by: Jiří Lehejček