CALTER project started new phase of carbon cycle research in LTER Slovakia

In Fall of 2022, LTER Slovakia started the project “Soil carbon fluxes in dominant forest ecosystems along an elevation gradient in the Western Carpathians” (CALTER). The project is funded by the national grant agency APVV and led by dr. Peter Fleischer from the Technical University in Zvolen (Slovakia). This is the first project that involves all institutions coordinating research in LTER Slovakia sites.

The project’s main aim is to identify carbon loss by respiration and leaching and to identify their driving factors along an elevation gradient representing the main forest communities in the Western Carpathians.

The project is implemented in the following LTER sites:

• Báb – lowland oak forest, altitude 210 m;

• EES Kremnické vrchy – beech forest, 500 m;

• Poľana Biosphere Reserve – mixed beech-fir-spruce forest, 850 m;

• Tatra National Park – mountain spruce forest, 1,100 m;

• Kráľova hoľa – acid alpine grassland, 1,900 m.

The possible impact of elevated temperature on soil carbon fluxes will be studied in open-top greenhouses. Besides soil respiration, some other parts of the carbon cycle, climate, soil and vegetation properties will be studied. The project has finished its preparatory phase and site-based measurements began in March.