Temperate forest ecosystems store most of the organic carbon in soils (SOC), and changes in the soil carbon stock due to climate change or land management can potentially have a large influence on carbon balance. The most important factors controlling the SOC pool on a global scale are generally agreed upon; however, estimations of SOC pools differ significantly among studies at regional and local scales due to different sampling protocols and local scale variability. This study evaluates the SOC pool in the forest floor and mineral soil sampled down to a depth of 80 cm in 14 forested catchments with variable environmental conditions and soil acidification and eutrophication legacies, and determines the best explanatory variables of the SOC pool. The average SOC pool of 34 t ha⁻¹ measured in the forest floor (O horizon) was best explained by measures of historical sulphur (S) deposition (i.e., soil acidification legacy) and forest type (conifer vs. broadleaf forest). An average total SOC pool of 132 t ha⁻¹, combining both the carbon pool in the mineral soil down to 80 cm and the carbon pool in forest floor, was best explained solely by elevation, which reflects temperature and precipitation gradients. However, when considering the coupled SOC pool in the forest floor and upper half of the sampled mineral soil (down to 40 cm), natural environmental factors were outweighed by anthropogenic ones (soil acidification legacy and forest type). This has important implications for understanding potential SOC pool changes under ongoing global climate change, especially in regions currently or historically affected by soil acidification caused by acid deposition. The acidification effect on the SOC accumulation and subsequent soil recovery after acidification retreat might affect carbon balance.

中文翻译：

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酸性沉积的遗产控制着捷克共和国温带森林的土壤有机碳库

温带森林生态系统将大部分有机碳储存在土壤 (SOC) 中，气候变化或土地管理导致的土壤碳储量变化可能对碳平衡产生重大影响。在全球范围内控制 SOC 池的最重要因素得到普遍认同；然而，由于不同的采样协议和局部尺度的可变性，区域和局部尺度研究之间对 SOC 池的估计存在显着差异。本研究评估了在 14 个具有可变环境条件和土壤酸化和富营养化遗产的森林集水区采样到 80 厘米深度的森林地面和矿质土壤中的 SOC 池，并确定了 SOC 池的最佳解释变量。34 t ha ^-1的平均 SOC 池在森林地面（O 层）中测量的最佳解释是历史硫 (S) 沉积（即土壤酸化遗留物）和森林类型（针叶林与阔叶林）。平均总 SOC 池为 132 t ha ^-1将矿质土壤中的碳库结合到 80 厘米以下的碳库和森林地面的碳库，最好仅用海拔来解释，海拔反映了温度和降水梯度。然而，当考虑到森林地面和采样矿质土壤上半部分（低至 40 厘米）的耦合 SOC 池时，自然环境因素被人为因素（土壤酸化遗留和森林类型）所抵消。这对于理解持续的全球气候变化下潜在的 SOC 池变化具有重要意义，特别是在当前或历史上受酸沉降引起的土壤酸化影响的地区。酸化对土壤有机碳积累和酸化退后土壤恢复的影响可能会影响碳平衡。