Date of Award

2025

Document Type

Open Access Master's Thesis

Degree Name

Master of Science in Applied Ecology (MS)

Administrative Home Department

College of Forest Resources and Environmental Science

Advisor 1

Evan S. Kane

Advisor 2

Julia I. Burton

Committee Member 1

Christopher R. Webster

Committee Member 2

Sigrid Resh

Abstract

Soil carbon storage can be affected by forest management activities that alter the amount of biomass at a site, including slash retention and salvage harvesting. Initial fungal colonization of retained biomass may affect soil carbon storage due to differences in fungal decomposition strategies. To examine the effect of wood addition on wood-derived soil carbon storage and the interaction between initial fungal decomposer communities and wood application depth, δ13C modified wood inoculated with white- or brown-rot fungi was applied to soils across Michigan’s Upper Peninsula. Wood-derived carbon was assessed after 3.5 years in bulk soil samples and in three discrete soil carbon density fractions. Linear mixed-effects models were used to assess these interactions. Wood addition significantly increased wood-derived soil carbon storage, regardless of wood application depth. Inoculation by white-rot fungal species resulted in significantly greater carbon storage than brown-rot fungal inoculation in bulk soil. When wood was added to the soil surface, results suggest that wood-derived C is greatest in the most stable C density fraction. Additionally, when wood was added to the soil surface, weak evidence suggested that white-rot inoculation resulted in greater carbon storage than brown-rot inoculation across all density fractions. These results demonstrate that initial fungal decomposer community colonization can affect soil carbon storage.

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