Spatial variation in soil carbon in the organic layer of managed boreal forest soil—implications for sampling design

We studied within-site spatial variation of the carbon stock in the organic layer of boreal forest soil. A total of 1,006 soil samples were taken in ten forest stands (five Scots pine stands and five Norway spruce stands). Our results indicate that the spatial autocorrelation disappears at a distanc...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Environmental monitoring and assessment 2009-11, Vol.158 (1-4), p.67-76
Main Authors: Muukkonen, Petteri, Häkkinen, Margareeta, Mäkipää, Raisa
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Animal, plant and microbial ecology
Applied ecology
Applied sciences
Atmospheric Protection/Air Quality Control/Air Pollution
Biological and medical sciences
Boreal forests
Carbon
Carbon - analysis
Carbon sequestration
Climate Change
Coniferous forests
Earth and Environmental Science
Ecology
Ecotoxicology
Ecotoxicology, biological effects of pollution
Environment
Environmental Management
Environmental monitoring
Environmental Monitoring - methods
Exact sciences and technology
Forest soils
Forests
Fundamental and applied biological sciences. Psychology
kriging
Monitoring/Environmental Analysis
Organic horizon
Picea abies
Pine trees
Pinus sylvestris
Plant growth
Pollution
Sample size
Sampling design
Soil - analysis
Soil contaminants
Soil fertility
soil sampling
Studies
Topography
Trees
Variogram
Vegetation
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Summary:We studied within-site spatial variation of the carbon stock in the organic layer of boreal forest soil. A total of 1,006 soil samples were taken in ten forest stands (five Scots pine stands and five Norway spruce stands). Our results indicate that the spatial autocorrelation disappears at a distance of 75-225 cm. This spatial autocorrelation should be taken into account in the sampling design by locating the sampling points at adequate intervals. With a sample size of over 20-30 samples per site, additional soil samples do not notably improve the precision of the site mean estimate. An adequate sample size is dependent on the purpose of sampling and on the site-specific soil variation. Our results on the dependence between sample size and precision of the mean estimates can be applied in designing efficient soil monitoring in boreal coniferous forests.
ISSN:0167-6369
1573-2959
DOI:10.1007/s10661-008-0565-2