Effects of wood ash fertilization on forest floor greenhouse gas emissions and tree growth in nutrient poor drained peatland forests

Wood ash (3.1, 3.3 or 6.6 tonnes dry weight ha− 1) was used to fertilize two drained and forested peatland sites in southern Sweden. The sites were chosen to represent the Swedish peatlands that are most suitable for ash fertilization, with respect to stand growth response. The fluxes of carbon dioxide (CO2), methane (CH4) and nitrous oxide (N2O) from the forest floor, measured using opaque static chambers, were monitored at both sites during 2004 and 2005 and at one of the sites during the period 1 October 2007–1 October 2008. No significant (p > 0.05) changes in forest floor greenhouse gas exchange were detected. The annual emissions of CO2 from the sites varied between 6.4 and 15.4 tonnes ha− 1, while the CH4 fluxes varied between 1.9 and 12.5 kg ha− 1. The emissions of N2O were negligible. Ash fertilization increased soil pH at a depth of 0–0.05 m by up to 0.9 units (p < 0.01) at one site, 5 years after application, and by 0.4 units (p < 0.05) at the other site, 4 years after application. Over the first 5 years after fertilization, the mean annual tree stand basal area increment was significantly larger (p < 0.05) at the highest ash dose plots compared with control plots (0.64 m2 ha− 1 year− 1 and 0.52 m2 ha− 1 year− 1, respectively). The stand biomass, which was calculated using tree biomass functions, was not significantly affected by the ash treatment. The groundwater levels during the 2008 growing season were lower in the high ash dose plots than in the corresponding control plots (p < 0.05), indicating increased evapotranspiration as a result of increased tree growth. The larger basal area increment and the lowered groundwater levels in the high ash dose plots suggest that fertilization promoted tree growth, while not affecting greenhouse gas emissions.