Soil carbon storage responses to expanding pinyon–juniper populations in southern Utah

Over the past several decades, the expansion and thickening of woodlands in the western United States has caused a range of ecological changes. Woody expansion often leads to increases in soil organic matter (SOM) pools with implications for both biogeochemical cycling and ecological responses to management strategies aimed at restoration of rangeland ecosystems. Here we directly measure C and N stocks and use simple non-steady-state models to quantify the dynamics of soil C accumulation under and around trees of varied ages in southern Utah woodlands. In the two pinyon-juniper forests of Grand Staircase Escalante National Monument studied here, we found approximately 3 kg C/m2 and approximately 0.12 kg N/m2 larger...

Categories: Publication; Types: Citation, Journal Citation; Tags: Ecological Applications, Grand Staircase Escalante National Monument, USA, Utah, arid, All tags... carbon, grazing, nitrogen, pinyon–juniper forest, soil, woody encroachment, Fewer tags