Abstract
Abstract The demand for bioenergy has increased the interest in short‐rotation woody crops ( SRWCs ) in temperate zones. With increased litter input and ceased annual soil cultivation, SRWC plantations may become soil carbon sinks for climate change mitigation. A chronosequence of 26 paired plots was used to study the potential for increasing soil organic carbon ( SOC ) under SRWC willow and poplar after conversion from cropland ( CR ) on well‐drained soils. We estimated SOC stocks in SRWC stands and adjacent CR and related the difference to time since conversion, energy crop species, SOC stock of the adjacent CR (proxy for initial SOC of SRWC ) and the fine soil percentage (<63 μm) ( FS ). Soil cores to 40 cm depth were sampled and separated by layers of fixed depths (0–5, 5–10, 10–15, 15–25 and 25–40 cm). Additionally, soils were sampled from soil pits by genetic horizons to 100 cm depth. Comparisons of SOC stocks by equivalent soil masses showed that mean SOC stocks in SRWC were 1.7 times higher than those of CR in the top 5 cm of the soil ( P < 0.001). The differences between SRWC and CR remained significant for the plough layer (0–25 cm) by a factor of 1.2 ( P = 0.003), while no changes were detectable for the 0–40 cm ( P = 0.32), or for the entire 0–100 cm soil layer ( P = 0.29). The SOC stock ratio, that is the ratio of SOC stock in SRWC relative to CR , did not change significantly with time since conversion, although there was a tendency to an increase over time for the top 40 cm ( P = 0.09). The SOC stock ratio was negatively correlated to SOC in CR and FS percentage, but there was no significant difference between willow and poplar at any depth. Our results suggest that SOC stocks in the plough layer increase after conversion to SRWC .
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Claims 8
Claim · model-written summary
Mean SOC stocks in SRWC were 1.7 times higher than in cropland in the top 5 cm of soil.
- Treatment
- conversion from croplande1
- Outcome
- SOC stockse2
- Direction
- highere2
- Value
- 1.7 timese2
- Qualifier
- top 5 cm of the soile2
- Comparator
- CRe2
Populus
SalixOrganisms pictured · Representative pictures of the matched species, not figures from the paper.
Verbatim
e1“under SRWC willow and poplar after conversion from cropland”
e2“mean SOC stocks in SRWC were 1.7 times higher than those of CR in the top 5 cm of the soil”
Claim · model-written summary
SOC stocks in the plough layer were higher in SRWC than in cropland by a factor of 1.2.
- Treatment
- conversion from croplande1
- Outcome
- differences between SRWC and CRe2
- Direction
- higherinferrede3
- Value
- 1.2e3
- Qualifier
- plough layere2
- Comparator
- CRe2
Organisms pictured · Representative pictures of the matched species, not figures from the paper.
Verbatim
e1“under SRWC willow and poplar after conversion from cropland”
e2“The differences between SRWC and CR remained significant for the plough layer”
e3“by a factor of 1.2”
Claim · model-written summary
No change in SOC stocks was detectable for the 0–40 cm soil layer after conversion to SRWC.
- Treatment
- conversion from croplande1
- Outcome
- changese2
- Direction
- no changese2
- Qualifier
- for the 0–40 cme2
- Comparator
- CRe3
Organisms pictured · Representative pictures of the matched species, not figures from the paper.
Verbatim
e1“under SRWC willow and poplar after conversion from cropland”
e2“while no changes were detectable for the 0–40 cm”
e3“The differences between SRWC and CR remained significant for the plough layer”
Claim · model-written summary
No change in SOC stocks was detectable for the entire 0–100 cm soil layer after conversion to SRWC.
- Treatment
- conversion from croplande1
- Outcome
- changese2
- Direction
- no changese2
- Qualifier
- entire 0–100 cm soil layere3
- Comparator
- CRe4
Organisms pictured · Representative pictures of the matched species, not figures from the paper.
Verbatim
e1“under SRWC willow and poplar after conversion from cropland”
e2“while no changes were detectable for the 0–40 cm”
e3“or for the entire 0–100 cm soil layer”
e4“The differences between SRWC and CR remained significant for the plough layer”
Claim · model-written summary
The SOC stock ratio of SRWC to cropland did not change significantly with time since conversion.
Organisms pictured · Representative pictures of the matched species, not figures from the paper.
Verbatim
e1“under SRWC willow and poplar after conversion from cropland”
e2“The SOC stock ratio, that is the ratio of SOC stock in SRWC relative to CR”
e3“did not change significantly with time since conversion”
Claim · model-written summary
The SOC stock ratio tended to increase over time in the top 40 cm, without statistical significance.
- Treatment
- conversion from croplande1
- Outcome
- SOC stock ratioe2
- Direction
- increasee3
- Qualifier
- for the top 40 cme3
Organisms pictured · Representative pictures of the matched species, not figures from the paper.
Verbatim
e1“under SRWC willow and poplar after conversion from cropland”
e2“The SOC stock ratio, that is the ratio of SOC stock in SRWC relative to CR”
e3“there was a tendency to an increase over time for the top 40 cm”
Claim · model-written summary
The SOC stock ratio was negatively correlated with SOC in cropland and with fine soil percentage.
- Treatment
- conversion from croplande1
- Outcome
- SOC stock ratioe2
- Direction
- negativelye2
- Qualifier
- SOC in CR and FS percentagee2
Organisms pictured · Representative pictures of the matched species, not figures from the paper.
Verbatim
e1“under SRWC willow and poplar after conversion from cropland”
e2“The SOC stock ratio was negatively correlated to SOC in CR and FS percentage”
Claim · model-written summary
Willow and poplar did not differ significantly in SOC stock ratio at any depth.
Organisms pictured · Representative pictures of the matched species, not figures from the paper.
Verbatim
e1“under SRWC willow and poplar after conversion from cropland”
e2“there was no significant difference between willow and poplar at any depth”