Carbon, nitrogen, C/N ratio and their stand heterogeneity in the soil of Norway spruce stands

Abstract

This work is aimed to determine the effect of thinning of young spruce stands in Moravian-Silesian Beskids Mts. on concentrations and relative stand heterogeneity of Cox , Nt and C/N in soil. Concentrations of Cox and Nt were significantly higher in individual horizons of forest humus floor. The thinning did not influence significantly (P > 0.05) concentrations of Cox, Nt and C/N ratio in particular soil horizons, with the exception of C/N ration in E horizon. Relative stand heterogeneity of the studied soil properties was mostly higher in soil of dense forest stand. The values of relative stand heterogeneity for individual horizons ranged from 3.1 to 61.9 % in case of Cox, from 4.9 to 55.2 % for Nt and from 5.3 to 42.5 % for C/N ratio. Results of this work are useful to predict stand heterogeneity of soil biochemical properties which are known to correlate with especially Cox in soil on studied plots, especially soil respiration and enzymatic activities.