Data from: Intensive forest harvesting increases susceptibility of northern forest soils to carbon, nitrogen and phosphorus loss

1. Understanding the impact of forest harvesting is critical to sustainable forest management, yet there remains much uncertainty regarding how harvesting affects soil carbon (C), nitrogen (N) and phosphorus (P) dynamics.
2. Here we conducted a global meta-analysis of 808 observations from 49 studies to test the effects of harvesting on the stocks and concentrations of soil C, N, and P and C:N:P ratios relative to uncut control stands.
3. With all harvesting intensities combined, C stock was unaffected by harvesting in either the forest floor or mineral soil, while harvesting reduced forest floor [C], [N], and [P] and C:N ratio, increased the mineral soil [C] and C:N ratio, but reduced mineral soil N stock,. The impacts of harvesting on forest floor C and N stocks, C:P and N:P and mineral soil [C] and [N] changed from no effects by partial, stem-only and whole-tree harvesting to significantly negative effects by the harvesting coupled with fire. Stem-only and whole-tree harvesting similarly reduced forest floor [P]. The negative effects of harvesting were most pronounced in conifer stands. Soil [C], [N] and C:N decreased with time since harvesting, but soil [P] did not, resulting in an increase in forest floor N:P.
4. Synthesis and applications. Our findings highlight the importance of harvest intensity and rotation length on long-term soil nutrient availability when managing forests. Furthermore, the lag in [P] recovery following harvesting may indicate a decoupling of the P cycle from that of C and N and a potential concern in managed forests.

1. 探明森林采伐的影响对可持续森林管理而言至关重要，但当前学界对采伐如何调控土壤碳（C）、氮（N）与磷（P）动态仍存在大量认知空白与不确定性。
2. 本研究针对49项研究中的808组观测数据开展全球元分析（meta-analysis），旨在探究采伐相对于未采伐对照林分，对土壤C、N、P储量与浓度以及C:N:P化学计量比的影响。
3. 综合所有采伐强度的结果来看，森林枯落物层与矿质土壤的C储量均未受采伐的显著影响；但采伐会降低森林枯落物层的C、N、P浓度及C:N比，提升矿质土壤的C浓度与C:N比，却会减少矿质土壤的N储量。采伐对森林枯落物层C、N储量，C:P、N:P比以及矿质土壤C、N浓度的影响随采伐方式而异：局部采伐、伐干采伐与全树采伐均未产生显著影响，而火烧协同采伐则会带来显著的负向效应。伐干采伐与全树采伐同样会降低森林枯落物层的P浓度。采伐的负向影响在针叶林分中最为显著。采伐后随时间推移，土壤C、N浓度及C:N比均呈下降趋势，但土壤P浓度无此变化，最终导致森林枯落物层的N:P比升高。
4. 综合与应用启示：本研究结果凸显了森林经营中采伐强度与轮伐期对土壤长期养分有效性的重要意义。此外，采伐后土壤P的恢复滞后现象，或表明磷循环与碳、氮循环发生了解耦，这将为人工经营森林带来潜在风险隐患。