Assessment of soil and tree carbon concentrations under varying levels of Chinese privet invasion

Assessment of soil and tree carbon concentrations under varying levels of Chinese privet invasion | Research Square window.SnipcartSettings = { analytics: { enabled: false } }; (function() { var accessVector = localStorage.getItem('access_vector') || ''; window.dataLayer = window.dataLayer || []; if (accessVector) { window.dataLayer.push({ user: { profile: { profileInfo: { snid: accessVector } } } }); } })(); (function(w,d,s,l,i){w[l]=w[l]||[];w[l].push({'gtm.start':new Date().getTime(),event:'gtm.js'});var f=d.getElementsByTagName(s)[0],j=d.createElement(s),dl=l!='dataLayer'?'&l='+l:'';j.async=true;j.src='https://www.googletagmanager.com/gtm.js?id='+i+dl;f.parentNode.insertBefore(j,f);})(window,document,'script','dataLayer','GTM-K279D39R'); Browse Preprints In Review Journals COVID-19 Preprints AJE Video Bytes Research Tools Research Promotion AJE Professional Editing AJE Rubriq About Preprint Platform In Review Editorial Policies Our Team Advisory Board Help Center Sign In Submit a Preprint Cite Share Download PDF Research Article Assessment of soil and tree carbon concentrations under varying levels of Chinese privet invasion Christine Mutiti, Victoria Alden, Mary Evelyn Pritchett This is a preprint; it has not been peer reviewed by a journal. https://doi.org/ 10.21203/rs.3.rs-6506083/v1 This work is licensed under a CC BY 4.0 License Status: Posted Version 1 posted You are reading this latest preprint version Abstract Invasive plant species are increasingly recognized for their capacity to alter ecosystem structure and function, yet their impact on carbon storage remains underexplored. This study investigates how Chinese privet (Ligustrum sinense), a widespread invasive shrub in the southeastern United States, may be influencing above- and belowground carbon in a secondary forest recovering from past agricultural use. We compared soil organic carbon (SOC) across three vegetation types (heavily invaded and uninvaded deciduous forest, and an adjacent loblolly pine stand) and tree biomass carbon at varying amounts of Chinese privet within a historic landscape in central Georgia. SOC was assessed at three depths (0-5, 5-10, and 10-15 cm) while tree carbon was estimated using structural measurements and species-specific allometric equations. Results showed that SOC was lowest in the invaded site, despite having similar soil texture and bulk density to uninvaded sites. The pine stand SOC was significantly lower than the uninvaded site, likely due to differences in litter inputs and disturbance history. Tree density and biomass carbon were significantly lower in privet-invaded areas compared to uninvaded sites. Overall, soil and tree carbon density were over 40% lower in the presence of Chinese privet. These findings suggest that Chinese privet may contribute to long-term reductions in both biomass and soil carbon pools by suppressing native woody regeneration and altering belowground processes. As forests play a critical role in carbon sequestration, understanding the indirect impacts of invasive species on carbon dynamics is vital for informing management and restoration strategies in disturbed landscapes. Carbon density forest regeneration carbon sequestration tree density organic carbon Full Text Cite Share Download PDF Status: Posted Version 1 posted You are reading this latest preprint version Research Square lets you share your work early, gain feedback from the community, and start making changes to your manuscript prior to peer review in a journal. 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Also discoverable on Platform About Our Team In Review Editorial Policies Advisory Board Help Center Resources Author Services Accessibility API Access RSS feed Manage Cookie Preferences © Research Square 2026 | ISSN 2693-5015 (online) Privacy Policy Terms of Service Do Not Sell My Personal Information {"props":{"pageProps":{"initialData":{"identity":"rs-6506083","acceptedTermsAndConditions":true,"allowDirectSubmit":true,"archivedVersions":[],"articleType":"Research Article","associatedPublications":[],"authors":[{"id":452255071,"identity":"d7096869-921f-4eb4-8846-5a4c69a6bb6f","order_by":0,"name":"Christine Mutiti","email":"data:image/png;base64,iVBORw0KGgoAAAANSUhEUgAAAZAAAAAyAQMAAABI0h/eAAAABlBMVEX///8AAABVwtN+AAAACXBIWXMAAA7EAAAOxAGVKw4bAAABAklEQVRIiWNgGAWjYDACCQaGA2ASDAwYePihTMYGvFoSoFoOGBjwSDYQoYWBIQHKOQC0xuAAAS38s3sfHvz5wyKPn4E7TfpDwR8Z4/OLH3/mYbCR3XAAhyV3jhsc5kmQKJZs4N0mAXKY2Y1nZtI8DGnGuLQYSKQxHAb6JXHDAbiWM2zMPAyHE/FpOfgDqGU/TIvxjDPMQIf9x6vlAA/IFgaoFgP+Hgagww7g1CJxA+gwnjSJxBmHeTdbnDEw5pG4wWYmOccg2XgmDi38M9KYP/6wqUvsb+/deKPij5w9f//hxx/eVNjJ9uHQggDMcIsTQA4mpBzVYoKmj4JRMApGwQgDADIIWvxvC3UJAAAAAElFTkSuQmCC","orcid":"https://orcid.org/0000-0002-7376-4824","institution":"Georgia College and State University","correspondingAuthor":true,"prefix":"","firstName":"Christine","middleName":"","lastName":"Mutiti","suffix":""},{"id":452255072,"identity":"b03e0724-c25d-40d2-a603-e5f16f53f71f","order_by":1,"name":"Victoria Alden","email":"","orcid":"","institution":"Georgia College and State University","correspondingAuthor":false,"prefix":"","firstName":"Victoria","middleName":"","lastName":"Alden","suffix":""},{"id":452255073,"identity":"16a625c4-2bc7-42ad-81f5-33dfe46e5b0c","order_by":2,"name":"Mary Evelyn Pritchett","email":"","orcid":"","institution":"Georgia College and State University","correspondingAuthor":false,"prefix":"","firstName":"Mary","middleName":"Evelyn","lastName":"Pritchett","suffix":""}],"badges":[],"createdAt":"2025-04-22 16:15:41","currentVersionCode":1,"declarations":"","doi":"10.21203/rs.3.rs-6506083/v1","doiUrl":"https://doi.org/10.21203/rs.3.rs-6506083/v1","draftVersion":[],"editorialEvents":[],"editorialNote":"","failedWorkflow":false,"files":[{"id":85606235,"identity":"be858e15-eb48-4d36-b22c-6f2bcdd0d842","added_by":"auto","created_at":"2025-06-29 07:08:29","extension":"pdf","order_by":1,"title":"","display":"","copyAsset":false,"role":"manuscript-pdf","size":429960,"visible":true,"origin":"","legend":"","description":"","filename":"Manuscriptdraft.pdf","url":"https://assets-eu.researchsquare.com/files/rs-6506083/v1_covered_da01c1bd-ab57-4bde-86d4-38543157caaa.pdf"}],"financialInterests":"","formattedTitle":"Assessment of soil and tree carbon concentrations under varying levels of Chinese privet invasion","fulltext":[],"fulltextSource":"","fullText":"","funders":[],"hasAdminPriorityOnWorkflow":false,"hasManuscriptDocX":false,"hasOptedInToPreprint":true,"hasPassedJournalQc":"","hasAnyPriority":false,"hideJournal":true,"highlight":"","institution":"","isAcceptedByJournal":false,"isAuthorSuppliedPdf":true,"isDeskRejected":"","isHiddenFromSearch":false,"isInQc":false,"isInWorkflow":false,"isPdf":true,"isPdfUpToDate":true,"isWithdrawnOrRetracted":false,"journal":{"display":true,"email":"[email protected]","identity":"researchsquare","isNatureJournal":false,"hasQc":true,"allowDirectSubmit":true,"externalIdentity":"","sideBox":"","snPcode":"","submissionUrl":"/submission","title":"Research Square","twitterHandle":"researchsquare","acdcEnabled":true,"dfaEnabled":false,"editorialSystem":"","reportingPortfolio":"","inReviewEnabled":false,"inReviewRevisionsEnabled":true},"keywords":"Carbon density, forest regeneration, carbon sequestration, tree density, organic carbon","lastPublishedDoi":"10.21203/rs.3.rs-6506083/v1","lastPublishedDoiUrl":"https://doi.org/10.21203/rs.3.rs-6506083/v1","license":{"name":"CC BY 4.0","url":"https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/"},"manuscriptAbstract":"Invasive plant species are increasingly recognized for their capacity to alter ecosystem structure and function, yet their impact on carbon storage remains underexplored. 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Tree density and biomass carbon were significantly lower in privet-invaded areas compared to uninvaded sites. Overall, soil and tree carbon density were over 40% lower in the presence of Chinese privet. These findings suggest that Chinese privet may contribute to long-term reductions in both biomass and soil carbon pools by suppressing native woody regeneration and altering belowground processes. 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