Assessment of the dynamics in nitrogen and carbon sequestration of European forest soils

This report describes the major result of a research project that focused on the assessment of the dynamics in nitrogen and carbon sequestration of European forest soils by estimation of the: (i) retention or release of nitrogen species for selected Intensive Monitoring plots by comparing the input, based on measurements of throughfall and bulk deposition, with the soil output, obtained by multiplying soil solution concentration measurements with modelled soil water fluxes and (ii) carbon sequestration by relating the N and C dynamics in soils by the soil C/N ratio. Major results are that: (i) N leaching and sequestration is influenced by the soil C/N ratio in the organbic layer, (ii) C sequestration in forest soils on a European scale is much less than C sequetration due to forest growth and (iii) the impact of N deposition on soil N leaching is fast but the impact on changes in soil C/N ratio is small