Natural tree colonisation of organo-mineral soils does not provide a net carbon capture benefit at decadal timescales

Tree cover is often increased with the aim of increasing ecosystem carbon sequestration and mitigating climate change. However, when planting trees in ecosystems with carbon-rich soils, soil disturbance during ground preparation can cause soil carbon losses not counteracted by tree carbon gains at the decadal timescales relevant to climate change mitigation. Tree establishment via natural colonisation, which does not involve soil disturbance, might prevent these soil carbon losses, but this is unknown. We measured soil, ground vegetation, and tree carbon stocks and tree inputs along an 8 metre transect from single, native, 25-year-old naturally colonised trees (Pinus sylvestris or Betula spp.) onto Calluna vulgaris-dominated moorland, at sites with carbon-rich organo-mineral soils in the Cairngorms, UK.  Along the transect away from the tree, organic soil carbon stocks increased from 4.0 kg C m-2 at 0.5 metres, to 6.0 kg C m-2 at 8 metres. Meanwhile, carbon stocks in the top 10 cm of th..., , , # Natural tree colonisation of organo-mineral soils does not provide a net carbon capture benefit at decadal timescales

[https://doi.org/10.5061/dryad.zpc866th1](https://doi.org/10.5061/dryad.zpc866th1)

### Authors

Naomi C Housego (1,2,*), Thomas C Parker (1), Lorna E Street (2), Elena I Vanguelova (3), Ruth J Mitchell (1)

1: The James Hutton Institute, Aberdeen, UK

2: School of GeoSciences, University of Edinburgh, Edinburgh, UK

3: Forest Research, Alice Holt, Farnham, UK

\* Correspondence author: [[e-mail]](mailto:[e-mail])

### Funding Information

The collection of the data in this dataset and its analysis was funded by by Macaulay Development Trust grant E002717-00 and Natural Environment Research Council grant NE/N015460/1.

### Description

The dataset and R script to support the findings, figures, and supporting information in: Housego, N. C., Parker, T. C., Street, L. E., Vanguelova, E. I., and Mitchell, R. J. (2025) *Natural tree colo...