Annual Carbon and Nitrogen Fluxes in Soils Along the European Forest Transect, Determined Using 14C-Bomb

The production of forest ecosystems and their responses to environmental factors are highly dependent on the sustainable functioning of the soils on which they grow, in particular the processes of organic matter and nutrient recycling through the soil component of the ecosystem. Soils in forest ecosystems are important reservoirs of C and N. In the contexts of two major environmental issues of (1) climate change feedback effects on carbon sequestration and (2) pollutant deposition effects on forest ecosystem function, it is essential therefore to be able to quantify the fluxes of C and N through the biologically active layers of the whole soil profile (not just the litter layer) in forests and relate the fluxes to climate and pollutant deposition. The key questions are: how can the C and N fluxes of the biologically active layers of the whole soil profile be determined and the methodology be carried out without inducing experimental disturbance effects?

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