Converse pathways of soil evolution caused by tree uprooting: A synthesis from three regions with varying soil formation processes
| Authors | |
|---|---|
| Year of publication | 2018 |
| Type | Article in Periodical |
| Magazine / Source | Catena |
| MU Faculty or unit | |
| Citation | |
| Doi | http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.catena.2017.09.032 |
| Field | Paedology |
| Keywords | Soil disturbance; Chronofunctions; Pedogenesis; Podzols; Cambisols; Ecosystem feedbacks |
| Description | Post-disturbance pedogenetic pathways were characterized in three landscapes representing different degrees of weathering and leaching. Tree uprooting has been the main form of disturbance in all three landscapes. We hypothesized that the pedogenetic effect of trees due to uprooting is mainly governed by the regional degree of pedogenesis, which in turn affects soil and landscape evolution. The three regions were characterized by a chronosequence of treethrow pit-mound pairs, from fresh to almost leveled forms. Two sequences originated from the Czech Republic, one on Haplic Cambisols and one on Entic Podzols. The third and the oldest chronosequence, in Michigan, USA, was on Albic Podzols (dating back to 4080 BCE). We analyzed 38 chemical and physical soil properties for 700 samples from 42 pit-mound pairs in these regions. Ordination and regression techniques allowed us to evaluate the effect of sample depth, microsite (pit, mound, and undisturbed control position), and age of the soils formed after uprooting. Depth was the most significant variable in all regions (p < 0.001), followed by microsite location, and then age (time since disturbance). The significance of these variables decreased with increasing weathering and leaching intensity. The results suggest that intense pedogenesis, as at the Michigan site, decreases the poly genetic impacts of uprooting on soil development pathways. On Haplic Cambisols, disturbances increased the local variability of pedogenic processes by changing melanization and hydromorphic processes, as well as by mineral alteration. Conversely, on Albic Podzols, we found comparative chemical uniformity in post-uprooting pedogenesis between microsites, despite rapid podzolization in pits and slower podzolization on mounds. The general chemical convergence of pedogenesis in these landscapes towards vertically-dominated podzolization may limit divergence of pedogenic pathways after a disturbance. The formation and translocation of labile organic matter-sesquioxide complexes in the uppermost podzolic horizons in Entic Podzols was a key threshold, in that it changed the pedochemical, ecological and biogeomorphic role of the treethrow features in the soil and landscape evolution. Although treethrow pits were accumulation sites for soil elements in Haplic Cambisols and Entic Podzols, they were microsites of intense leaching and elemental loss in Albic Podzols. |
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