Restoration 
Plantations and tree crop commodities 
Enhanced nutrition and food security 
Biodiversity, safeguarding and conservation 
Nationally determined contributions 
Bioenergy and biomaterials 
Blue carbon and peatlands 
Climate change adaptation 
Landscape governance 
Gender 
Silvopastoral systems 
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Agroecology 
Livelihood trajectory modelling and assessment 
Inclusive finance and business models 
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Public and private commitments to zero deforestation 
Orphan tree crops 
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Sentinel landscapes 
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Seeds and seedlings delivery systems 
Smallholder tree-crop commodities 
Historically, large areas of forest in Europe were managed as coppice woodland to produce wood-based fuel for the smelting industry. We hypothesized that this practice produced a legacy effect on current forest ecosystem properties. Specifically we hypothesized that the historical form of coppicing may have produced a legacy of elevated stocks of soil organic carbon (SOC), nutrients, and black carbon (BC) in soil as fire was routinely used in coppiced woodland to clear land. We further hypothesized that these changes in soil properties would result in increased biodiversity. To test these hypotheses, we sampled the surface soil (0-5, 5-10 and 10-20 cm) from a chronosequence of forest sites found in the Siegerland (Germany) that had been coppiced and burned 1, 2, 3.5, 6, 8, 11 and 17 years before present. Mature beech and spruce forests (i.e. >60 years) were also sampled as reference sites: to provide a hint of what might occur in the absence of human intervention. We measured stocks of SOC, BC, NO3-N, P, K, Mg, as well as cation exchange and water holding capacity, and we mapped plant composition to calculate species richness and evenness. The results showed that coppicing in combination with burning soil and litter improved soil nutrient availability, enhanced biodiversity and increased SOC stocks. The SOC stocks and biodiversity were increased by a factor of three relative to those in the mature beech and spruce forests. The present study shows that traditional coppicing practice may facilitate net C accrual rates of 20 t ha-1 year-1 and maintain high biodiversity, indicating that aspects of traditional practice could be applied in current forest management to foster biodiversity and to mitigate climate change.
Authors:
Borchard, N.; Adolphs, T.; Beulshausen, F.; Ladd, B.; Gießelmann, U.C.; Hegenberg, D.; Möseler, B.M.; Amelung, W.
Subjects:
charcoal, carbon, soil organic carbon, soil organic matter, biodiversity
Publication type:
ISI, Journal Article, Publication
Year:
2017
ISSN:
1757-1707
