Articles | Volume 9, issue 2
https://doi.org/10.5194/soil-9-609-2023
https://doi.org/10.5194/soil-9-609-2023
Original research article
 | 
07 Dec 2023
Original research article |  | 07 Dec 2023

Soil organic carbon stocks did not change after 130 years of afforestation on a former Swiss Alpine pasture

Tatjana C. Speckert, Jeannine Suremann, Konstantin Gavazov, Maria J. Santos, Frank Hagedorn, and Guido L. B. Wiesenberg

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Cited articles

Bárcena, T. G., Kiær, L. P., Vesterdal, L., Stefánsdóttir, H. M., Gundersen, P., and Sigurdsson, B. D.: Soil carbon stock change following afforestation in Northern Europe: A meta-analysis, Glob. Change Biol., 20, 2393–2405, https://doi.org/10.1111/gcb.12576, 2014. 
Bastin, J. F., Finegold, Y., Garcia, C., Mollicone, D., Rezende, M., Routh, D., Zohner, C. M., and Crowther, T. W.: The global tree restoration potential, Science, 365, 76–79, https://doi.org/10.1126/science.aax0848, 2019. 
Brändli, U. B., Abegg, M., and Allgaier Leuch, B.: Schweizerisches Landesforstinventar, Ergebnisse der vierten Erhebung 2009–2017, Birmensdorf: Eidgenöss Forschanstalt WSL, 341 pp., 2020. 
Bettoni, M., Maerker, M., Sacchi, R., Bosino, A., Conedera, M., Simoncelli, L., and Vogel, S.: What makes soil landscape robust? Landscape sensitivity towards land use changes in a Swiss southern Alpine valley, Sci. Total Environ., 858, 159779, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.scitotenv.2022.159779, 2023. 
Budge, K., Leifeld, J., Hiltbrunner, E., and Fuhrer, J.: Alpine grassland soils contain large proportion of labile carbon but indicate long turnover times, Biogeosciences, 8, 1911–1923, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-8-1911-2011, 2011. 
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Short summary
Soil organic carbon (SOC) is key player in the global carbon cycle. Afforestation on pastures potentially alters organic matter input and SOC sequestration. We investigated the effects of a Picea abies L. afforestation sequence (0 to 130 years) on a former subalpine pasture on SOC stocks and dynamics. We found no difference in the SOC stock after 130 years of afforestation and thus no additional SOC sequestration. SOC composition was altered due to a modified SOC input following afforestation.
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