Legacy of former land use and its effect on carbon content of soil in present forests

Increasing carbon presence in the atmosphere prompts scientists to understand carbon sequestration processes better. Forest is one of the most promising ecosystems where this sequestration can take place with higher efficiency. In this research, we analysed long-term land use change processes and carbon content of soils in present Hungarian forests, searching for the answer: is there any relationship between the former land use and the carbon content of soils?
We selected 183 forest stands scattered across the country, where the age of the trees were approximately 60-70 years old. Soil samplings were carried out in the depth of 40-110 cm (in 10 cm layers). In order to derive long-term land use change information, we used historical map series dating back to the 18th century.
Results will contribute to the understanding of the carbon sequestration processes of terrestrial ecosystems.
This article was made in frame of the project TKP2021-NKTA-43 which has been implemented with the support provided by the Ministry of Innovation and Technology of Hungary (successor: Ministry of Culture and Innovation of Hungary) from the National Research, Development and Innovation Fund, financed under the TKP2021-NKTA funding scheme.