ZLV Online

Abstrakt

Heavy thinning is supposed to be helpful for maintaining more favorable water balance in forest stands, and thus mitigate impact of drought episodes. To investigate impact of thinning on topsoil (10–13 cm) moisture conditions, a two-year soil sampling campaigns were conducted in 2019 and 2020. The soil moisture was calculated using a water-weight loss approach based on dry/fresh sample weight ratio. The samples were collected using metal capsules of known weight from totally 8–9 experimental series monthly during growing seasons of 2019 and 2020, respectively. Each series included thinned and un-thinned young growth stands of Norway spruce monoculture, spruce mixed with broadleaved tree species and mixture of sycamore maple with rowan. However, the statistically significant differences were not found in topsoil moisture between thinned and un-thinned young growth stands, thinned ones showed slightly better water balance conditions during both investigated years. Reduced number of trees and canopy closure had not depleted water throughout evaporation from upper soil profile. Therefore, thinning of young growth should be recommended especially at drought-endangered sites.