2024, Issue 214, p. 17-34
Original scientific paper
DOI: 10.5937/topola2414017M
UDC: 674.031.632.2(497.113 Fruška gora)
Management practice effects on biomass and soil carbon stock in European beech (Fagus sylvatica L.) forests on Fruška Gora Mountain, Serbia
Corresponding author:
Abstract
European beech (Fagus sylvatica L.) forests are one of the largest natural renewable reservoirs of stored carbon in Europe, as well as in the Balkans and Serbia. A number of factors have been identified which influence the state of stored carbon, but a unique influence can be expected from the degree of stand preservation and the history of forest management. In the present paper, the influence of the preservation of stands and management methods on the state of ecosystem carbon (biomass carbon and soil carbon) were analyzed in beech forests situated at the Fruška Gora Mountain, Serbia. The research was conducted in three stands that were managed in the past in three different ways: a virgin forest without any management, a high stand and a coppice stand. The stored biomass carbon and soil carbon was estimated using standard methods that have been previously proven useful in Europe for the last decades. Above-ground biomass was also assessed using remote sensing. The results show a significant impact of conservation and management history on the stock of stored biomass carbon and soil carbon, but also on their mutual relationship. This research initiates that moderate management measures and the application of management systems based on the principles of continuous cover forestry (selective and group cutting) are, in addition to their well-known advantages, more efficient in carbon storage than the application of systems with surface management (clear and shelterwood cutting).
Keywords: European beech, carbon, biomass, soil, Fruška Gora Mountain, remote sensing.