SOM control: Controls on soil organic matter in Swiss forest soils: The impact of forest productivity, land-use history, climate and physico-chemical stabilization Frank Hagedorn, Urs Gimmi, Esther Thürig, Lorenz Walthert Swiss Federal Institute of Forest, Snow and Landscape Research WSL
SOM: Key component of soils -Sink and source of greenhouse gases -Nutrient source -Driver for biodiversity -Retention of pollutants -Controls on water storage and soil stability
SOM control Litter decomposition Organic matter stabilization Historical land-use Forest management Climate (MAT, MAP) Physico- chemical soil properties Litter input
SOM control SOM models SOM = f (litter inputs and climate) e.g. YASSO07; Tuomi et al., 2009; Ecol. Modelling Experimental findings SOM = f (stabilization) e.g. Kramer et al Global Change Biology CO 2
SOM control Schmidt et al., Nature (2011) : In the long term or at a global scale, mechanisms of SOM stabilization and destabilization are currently not embedded in models
SOM control Impact of (1) Forest productivity and tree species composition (2) Land-use (history) (3) Climate: temperature and precipitation (4) Physico-chemical parameters controlling SOM stabilization Aim Identify the drivers of SOM storage in forest soils of Switzerland
SOM control: Approach SOM stocks Organic layer Mineral soil SOM quality Climate Litter input Potential Drivers SOM vulnerability Swiss-SOM projects Historic land-use Land management Physico- chemical soil properties Data analysis Residual analysis Linear mixed models Multiple regression Path analysis ….. SOM Model WSL data base
WSL soil data base Pedothek at WSL: Archived soil samples from 1300 soil profiles
WSL soil data base Soil Parameter Number of soil profiles (6 horizons on average) Corg, Nitrogen, C/N ratio 1350 Exchangeable cations (1 M NH4Cl) 1150 Fe + Al oxides250 Texture1300 Density250 measured /700 by pedo-transfer Stone content250 measured / 1100 by field survey Organic layer thickness, C-pool1350 Vegetation survey (Braun-Blanquet) soil profiles
Reconstruction of historical land-use Dufour original survey maps (~1850)Modern topographic map Siegfried maps (~1900, 1950) All digitized at WSL
Identifcation of SOM drivers - Forest productivity, tree species: National forest inventory (NFI) - Land management: historic and actual plans - Climate (MAT, MAP): Interpolated across Switzerland - SOM modelling: Apply SOM model driven by litter inputs and climate (e.g. YASSO07) Analysis of residuals Improved modelling in cooperation within SwissSOM
Synergies within SwissSOM SOM Fate S. Abiven & P. Niklaus SOM vulnerability SOM sentinels T. Eglington Molecular & 14C analysis SOM control F. Hagedorn et al. Field and archived soils
SOM control: implementation 1.Improve the Swiss Greenhouse Gas Inventory Close collaboration with rapporteurs at BAFU 2.Vulgarize results 3.Make data and result available 4.Organize summer school with SwissSOM for students, practicioners, and policy makers
SOM control: the team PhD, N.N. Dr. Frank Hagedorn: Leader Research Group Biogeochemistry WSL Project leader; SOM control Dr. Esther Thürig: Leader Research Group Forest Resources and Functions, WSL National Forest Inventory Dr. Urs Gimmi, Landscape Ecology, WSL Historical land-use Lorenz Walthert: Soil Functions and Soil Protection, WSL WSL soil data base PD Pascal Niklaus: University of Zurich PhD supervision; statistical advice; SOM modelling
Milestones Task Month Completing data bank Measuring additional soil profiles 1 3. Estimation of forest productivity 1 4. Reconstruction of historical land- use Statistical analysis Modelling soil C dynamics Link with other SOM projects 8. Link Land-mapping/GIS-projects 9. Writing of publications and thesis 123 SOM control: Milestones
SOM control: Selection of candidate Advertisement by Human Resources WSL, Colleagues PhD candidate: Good background in statistics, R, Soil science
Thank you!