Short-term effects of thinning on soil CO, NO and CH fluxes in Mediterranean forest ecosystems.

In Mediterranean ecosystems an increasing demand for in situ trace gas exchange data is emerging to enhance the adaptation and mitigation strategies under forest degradation. Field-chamber green-house gas fluxes and site characteristics were analysed in two Mediterranean peri-urban pine forests showing degradation symptoms. We examined the effect of different thinning interventions on soil CO, CH and NO fluxes, addressing the relationships with the environmental variables and C and N contents along forest floor-soil layers.