Articles | Volume 6, issue 1
https://doi.org/10.5194/soil-6-53-2020
© Author(s) 2020. This work is distributed under
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.
https://doi.org/10.5194/soil-6-53-2020
© Author(s) 2020. This work is distributed under
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.
Original research article
| Highlight paper
| 
11 Feb 2020
Original research article | Highlight paper |
| 11 Feb 2020
| 11 Feb 2020
Variations in soil chemical and physical properties explain basin-wide Amazon forest soil carbon concentrations
Carlos Alberto Quesada
CORRESPONDING AUTHOR
Instituto Nacional de Pesquisas da Amazônia, Manaus, Cx. Postal
2223 – CEP 69080-971, Brazil
Claudia Paz
Instituto Nacional de Pesquisas da Amazônia, Manaus, Cx. Postal
2223 – CEP 69080-971, Brazil
Universidade Estadual Paulista, Departamento de Ecologia, CEP
15506-900, Rio Claro, São Paulo, Brazil
Erick Oblitas Mendoza
Instituto Nacional de Pesquisas da Amazônia, Manaus, Cx. Postal
2223 – CEP 69080-971, Brazil
Oliver Lawrence Phillips
School of Geography, University of Leeds, LS2 9JT, UK
Gustavo Saiz
Department of Life Sciences, Imperial College London, Silwood Park
Campus, Buckhurst Road, Ascot, Berkshire SL5 7PY, UK
Department of Environmental Chemistry, Faculty of Sciences,
Universidad Católica de la Santísima Concepción,
Concepción, Chile
Jon Lloyd
Department of Life Sciences, Imperial College London, Silwood Park
Campus, Buckhurst Road, Ascot, Berkshire SL5 7PY, UK
School of Tropical and Marine Sciences and Centre for Terrestrial
Environmental and Sustainability Sciences, James Cook University, Cairns,
4870, Queensland, Australia
Universidade de São Paulo, Faculdade de Filosofia Ciências e
Letras de Ribeirão Preto, Av Bandeirantes, 3900, CEP 14040-901, Bairro
Monte Alegre , Ribeirão Preto, São Paulo, Brazil
Related authors
Carlos A. Sierra, Ingrid Chanca, Meinrat Andreae, Alessandro Carioca de Araújo, Hella van Asperen, Lars Borchardt, Santiago Botía, Luiz Antonio Candido, Caio S. C. Correa, Cléo Quaresma Dias-Junior, Markus Eritt, Annica Fröhlich, Luciana V. Gatti, Marcus Guderle, Samuel Hammer, Martin Heimann, Viviana Horna, Armin Jordan, Steffen Knabe, Richard Kneißl, Jost Valentin Lavric, Ingeborg Levin, Kita Macario, Juliana Menger, Heiko Moossen, Carlos Alberto Quesada, Michael Rothe, Christian Rödenbeck, Yago Santos, Axel Steinhof, Bruno Takeshi, Susan Trumbore, and Sönke Zaehle
Earth Syst. Sci. Data Discuss., https://doi.org/10.5194/essd-2025-151, https://doi.org/10.5194/essd-2025-151, 2025
Preprint under review for ESSD
Short summary
Short summary
We present here a unique dataset of atmospheric observations of greenhouse gases and isotopes that provide key information on land-atmosphere interactions for the Amazon forests of central Brazil. The data show a relatively large level of variability, but also important trends in greenhouse gases, and signals from fires as well as seasonal biological activity.
Ingrid Chanca, Ingeborg Levin, Susan Trumbore, Kita Macario, Jost Lavric, Carlos Alberto Quesada, Alessandro Carioca de Araújo, Cléo Quaresma Dias Júnior, Hella van Asperen, Samuel Hammer, and Carlos A. Sierra
Biogeosciences, 22, 455–472, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-22-455-2025, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-22-455-2025, 2025
Short summary
Short summary
Assessing the net carbon (C) budget of the Amazon entails considering the magnitude and timing of C absorption and losses through respiration (transit time of C). Radiocarbon-based estimates of the transit time of C in the Amazon Tall Tower Observatory (ATTO) suggest a change in the transit time from 6 ± 2 years and 18 ± 4 years within 2 years (October 2019 and December 2021, respectively). This variability indicates that only a fraction of newly fixed C can be stored for decades or longer.
Luiz A. T. Machado, Jürgen Kesselmeier, Santiago Botía, Hella van Asperen, Meinrat O. Andreae, Alessandro C. de Araújo, Paulo Artaxo, Achim Edtbauer, Rosaria R. Ferreira, Marco A. Franco, Hartwig Harder, Sam P. Jones, Cléo Q. Dias-Júnior, Guido G. Haytzmann, Carlos A. Quesada, Shujiro Komiya, Jost Lavric, Jos Lelieveld, Ingeborg Levin, Anke Nölscher, Eva Pfannerstill, Mira L. Pöhlker, Ulrich Pöschl, Akima Ringsdorf, Luciana Rizzo, Ana M. Yáñez-Serrano, Susan Trumbore, Wanda I. D. Valenti, Jordi Vila-Guerau de Arellano, David Walter, Jonathan Williams, Stefan Wolff, and Christopher Pöhlker
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 24, 8893–8910, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-24-8893-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-24-8893-2024, 2024
Short summary
Short summary
Composite analysis of gas concentration before and after rainfall, during the day and night, gives insight into the complex relationship between trace gas variability and precipitation. The analysis helps us to understand the sources and sinks of trace gases within a forest ecosystem. It elucidates processes that are not discernible under undisturbed conditions and contributes to a deeper understanding of the trace gas life cycle and its intricate interactions with cloud dynamics in the Amazon.
João Paulo Darela-Filho, Anja Rammig, Katrin Fleischer, Tatiana Reichert, Laynara Figueiredo Lugli, Carlos Alberto Quesada, Luis Carlos Colocho Hurtarte, Mateus Dantas de Paula, and David M. Lapola
Earth Syst. Sci. Data, 16, 715–729, https://doi.org/10.5194/essd-16-715-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/essd-16-715-2024, 2024
Short summary
Short summary
Phosphorus (P) is crucial for plant growth, and scientists have created models to study how it interacts with carbon cycle in ecosystems. To apply these models, it is important to know the distribution of phosphorus in soil. In this study we estimated the distribution of phosphorus in the Amazon region. The results showed a clear gradient of soil development and P content. These maps can help improve ecosystem models and generate new hypotheses about phosphorus availability in the Amazon.
Mahdi André Nakhavali, Lina M. Mercado, Iain P. Hartley, Stephen Sitch, Fernanda V. Cunha, Raffaello di Ponzio, Laynara F. Lugli, Carlos A. Quesada, Kelly M. Andersen, Sarah E. Chadburn, Andy J. Wiltshire, Douglas B. Clark, Gyovanni Ribeiro, Lara Siebert, Anna C. M. Moraes, Jéssica Schmeisk Rosa, Rafael Assis, and José L. Camargo
Geosci. Model Dev., 15, 5241–5269, https://doi.org/10.5194/gmd-15-5241-2022, https://doi.org/10.5194/gmd-15-5241-2022, 2022
Short summary
Short summary
In tropical ecosystems, the availability of rock-derived elements such as P can be very low. Thus, without a representation of P cycling, tropical forest responses to rising atmospheric CO2 conditions in areas such as Amazonia remain highly uncertain. We introduced P dynamics and its interactions with the N and P cycles into the JULES model. Our results highlight the potential for high P limitation and therefore lower CO2 fertilization capacity in the Amazon forest with low-fertility soils.
K. E. Clark, A. J. West, R. G. Hilton, G. P. Asner, C. A. Quesada, M. R. Silman, S. S. Saatchi, W. Farfan-Rios, R. E. Martin, A. B. Horwath, K. Halladay, M. New, and Y. Malhi
Earth Surf. Dynam., 4, 47–70, https://doi.org/10.5194/esurf-4-47-2016, https://doi.org/10.5194/esurf-4-47-2016, 2016
Short summary
Short summary
The key findings of this paper are that landslides in the eastern Andes of Peru in the Kosñipata Valley rapidly turn over the landscape in ~1320 years, with a rate of 0.076% yr-1. Additionally, landslides were concentrated at lower elevations, due to an intense storm in 2010 accounting for ~1/4 of the total landslide area over the 25-year remote sensing study. Valley-wide carbon stocks were determined, and we estimate that 26 tC km-2 yr-1 of soil and biomass are stripped by landslides.
J. Lloyd, T. F. Domingues, F. Schrodt, F. Y. Ishida, T. R. Feldpausch, G. Saiz, C. A. Quesada, M. Schwarz, M. Torello-Raventos, M. Gilpin, B. S. Marimon, B. H. Marimon-Junior, J. A. Ratter, J. Grace, G. B. Nardoto, E. Veenendaal, L. Arroyo, D. Villarroel, T. J. Killeen, M. Steininger, and O. L. Phillips
Biogeosciences, 12, 6529–6571, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-12-6529-2015, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-12-6529-2015, 2015
Short summary
Short summary
Across tropical South America, forest soils are typically of a higher cation status than their savanna equivalents with soil exchangeable potassium a key soil nutrient differentiating these two vegetation types. Differences in soil water storage capacity are also important – interacting with both potassium availability and precipitation regimes in a relatively complex manner.
M. O. Andreae, O. C. Acevedo, A. Araùjo, P. Artaxo, C. G. G. Barbosa, H. M. J. Barbosa, J. Brito, S. Carbone, X. Chi, B. B. L. Cintra, N. F. da Silva, N. L. Dias, C. Q. Dias-Júnior, F. Ditas, R. Ditz, A. F. L. Godoi, R. H. M. Godoi, M. Heimann, T. Hoffmann, J. Kesselmeier, T. Könemann, M. L. Krüger, J. V. Lavric, A. O. Manzi, A. P. Lopes, D. L. Martins, E. F. Mikhailov, D. Moran-Zuloaga, B. W. Nelson, A. C. Nölscher, D. Santos Nogueira, M. T. F. Piedade, C. Pöhlker, U. Pöschl, C. A. Quesada, L. V. Rizzo, C.-U. Ro, N. Ruckteschler, L. D. A. Sá, M. de Oliveira Sá, C. B. Sales, R. M. N. dos Santos, J. Saturno, J. Schöngart, M. Sörgel, C. M. de Souza, R. A. F. de Souza, H. Su, N. Targhetta, J. Tóta, I. Trebs, S. Trumbore, A. van Eijck, D. Walter, Z. Wang, B. Weber, J. Williams, J. Winderlich, F. Wittmann, S. Wolff, and A. M. Yáñez-Serrano
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 15, 10723–10776, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-15-10723-2015, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-15-10723-2015, 2015
Short summary
Short summary
This paper describes the Amazon Tall Tower Observatory (ATTO), a new atmosphere-biosphere observatory located in the remote Amazon Basin. It presents results from ecosystem ecology, meteorology, trace gas, and aerosol measurements collected at the ATTO site during the first 3 years of operation.
G. Saiz, M. Bird, C. Wurster, C. A. Quesada, P. Ascough, T. Domingues, F. Schrodt, M. Schwarz, T. R. Feldpausch, E. Veenendaal, G. Djagbletey, G. Jacobsen, F. Hien, H. Compaore, A. Diallo, and J. Lloyd
Biogeosciences, 12, 5041–5059, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-12-5041-2015, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-12-5041-2015, 2015
Short summary
Short summary
We demonstrate and explain differential patterns in SOM dynamics in C3/C4 mixed ecosystems at various spatial scales across contrasting climate and soils. This study shows that the interdependence between biotic and abiotic factors ultimately determines whether SOM dynamics of C3- and C4-derived vegetation are at variance in ecosystems where both vegetation types coexist. The results also highlight the far-reaching implications that vegetation thickening may have for the stability of deep SOM.
E. M. Veenendaal, M. Torello-Raventos, T. R. Feldpausch, T. F. Domingues, F. Gerard, F. Schrodt, G. Saiz, C. A. Quesada, G. Djagbletey, A. Ford, J. Kemp, B. S. Marimon, B. H. Marimon-Junior, E. Lenza, J. A. Ratter, L. Maracahipes, D. Sasaki, B. Sonké, L. Zapfack, D. Villarroel, M. Schwarz, F. Yoko Ishida, M. Gilpin, G. B. Nardoto, K. Affum-Baffoe, L. Arroyo, K. Bloomfield, G. Ceca, H. Compaore, K. Davies, A. Diallo, N. M. Fyllas, J. Gignoux, F. Hien, M. Johnson, E. Mougin, P. Hiernaux, T. Killeen, D. Metcalfe, H. S. Miranda, M. Steininger, K. Sykora, M. I. Bird, J. Grace, S. Lewis, O. L. Phillips, and J. Lloyd
Biogeosciences, 12, 2927–2951, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-12-2927-2015, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-12-2927-2015, 2015
Short summary
Short summary
When nearby forest and savanna stands are compared, they are not as structurally different as first seems. Moreover, savanna-forest transition zones typically occur at higher rainfall for South America than for Africa but with coexistence confined to a well-defined edaphic-climate envelope. With interacting soil cation-soil water storage–precipitations effects on canopy cover also observed we argue that both soils and climate influence the location of the two major tropical vegetation types.
N. M. Fyllas, E. Gloor, L. M. Mercado, S. Sitch, C. A. Quesada, T. F. Domingues, D. R. Galbraith, A. Torre-Lezama, E. Vilanova, H. Ramírez-Angulo, N. Higuchi, D. A. Neill, M. Silveira, L. Ferreira, G. A. Aymard C., Y. Malhi, O. L. Phillips, and J. Lloyd
Geosci. Model Dev., 7, 1251–1269, https://doi.org/10.5194/gmd-7-1251-2014, https://doi.org/10.5194/gmd-7-1251-2014, 2014
B. B. L. Cintra, J. Schietti, T. Emillio, D. Martins, G. Moulatlet, P. Souza, C. Levis, C. A. Quesada, and J. Schöngart
Biogeosciences, 10, 7759–7774, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-10-7759-2013, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-10-7759-2013, 2013
A. D. A. Castanho, M. T. Coe, M. H. Costa, Y. Malhi, D. Galbraith, and C. A. Quesada
Biogeosciences, 10, 2255–2272, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-10-2255-2013, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-10-2255-2013, 2013
Carlos A. Sierra, Ingrid Chanca, Meinrat Andreae, Alessandro Carioca de Araújo, Hella van Asperen, Lars Borchardt, Santiago Botía, Luiz Antonio Candido, Caio S. C. Correa, Cléo Quaresma Dias-Junior, Markus Eritt, Annica Fröhlich, Luciana V. Gatti, Marcus Guderle, Samuel Hammer, Martin Heimann, Viviana Horna, Armin Jordan, Steffen Knabe, Richard Kneißl, Jost Valentin Lavric, Ingeborg Levin, Kita Macario, Juliana Menger, Heiko Moossen, Carlos Alberto Quesada, Michael Rothe, Christian Rödenbeck, Yago Santos, Axel Steinhof, Bruno Takeshi, Susan Trumbore, and Sönke Zaehle
Earth Syst. Sci. Data Discuss., https://doi.org/10.5194/essd-2025-151, https://doi.org/10.5194/essd-2025-151, 2025
Preprint under review for ESSD
Short summary
Short summary
We present here a unique dataset of atmospheric observations of greenhouse gases and isotopes that provide key information on land-atmosphere interactions for the Amazon forests of central Brazil. The data show a relatively large level of variability, but also important trends in greenhouse gases, and signals from fires as well as seasonal biological activity.
Ingrid Chanca, Ingeborg Levin, Susan Trumbore, Kita Macario, Jost Lavric, Carlos Alberto Quesada, Alessandro Carioca de Araújo, Cléo Quaresma Dias Júnior, Hella van Asperen, Samuel Hammer, and Carlos A. Sierra
Biogeosciences, 22, 455–472, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-22-455-2025, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-22-455-2025, 2025
Short summary
Short summary
Assessing the net carbon (C) budget of the Amazon entails considering the magnitude and timing of C absorption and losses through respiration (transit time of C). Radiocarbon-based estimates of the transit time of C in the Amazon Tall Tower Observatory (ATTO) suggest a change in the transit time from 6 ± 2 years and 18 ± 4 years within 2 years (October 2019 and December 2021, respectively). This variability indicates that only a fraction of newly fixed C can be stored for decades or longer.
Luiz A. T. Machado, Jürgen Kesselmeier, Santiago Botía, Hella van Asperen, Meinrat O. Andreae, Alessandro C. de Araújo, Paulo Artaxo, Achim Edtbauer, Rosaria R. Ferreira, Marco A. Franco, Hartwig Harder, Sam P. Jones, Cléo Q. Dias-Júnior, Guido G. Haytzmann, Carlos A. Quesada, Shujiro Komiya, Jost Lavric, Jos Lelieveld, Ingeborg Levin, Anke Nölscher, Eva Pfannerstill, Mira L. Pöhlker, Ulrich Pöschl, Akima Ringsdorf, Luciana Rizzo, Ana M. Yáñez-Serrano, Susan Trumbore, Wanda I. D. Valenti, Jordi Vila-Guerau de Arellano, David Walter, Jonathan Williams, Stefan Wolff, and Christopher Pöhlker
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 24, 8893–8910, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-24-8893-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-24-8893-2024, 2024
Short summary
Short summary
Composite analysis of gas concentration before and after rainfall, during the day and night, gives insight into the complex relationship between trace gas variability and precipitation. The analysis helps us to understand the sources and sinks of trace gases within a forest ecosystem. It elucidates processes that are not discernible under undisturbed conditions and contributes to a deeper understanding of the trace gas life cycle and its intricate interactions with cloud dynamics in the Amazon.
Simone Matias Reis, Yadvinder Malhi, Ben Hur Marimon Junior, Beatriz S. Marimon, Huanyuan Zhang-Zheng, Renata Freitag, Cécile A. J. Girardin, Edmar Almeida de Oliveira, Karine da Silva Peixoto, Luciana Januário de Souza, Ediméia Laura Souza da Silva, Eduarda Bernardes Santos, Kamila Parreira da Silva, Maélly Dállet Alves Gonçalves, Cecilia A. L. Dahlsjö, Oliver L. Phillips, and Imma Oliveras Menor
EGUsphere, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2024-2118, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2024-2118, 2024
Short summary
Short summary
The 2015–2016 El Niño caused severe droughts in tropical forests, but its impact on the Cerrado, largest savanna, was unclear. Our study tracked the productivity of two key Cerrado vegetation types over five years. Before El Niño, productivity was higher in the transitional forest-savanna, but it dropped sharply during the event. Meanwhile, the savanna showed minor changes. These findings suggest that transitional ecosystems are particularly vulnerable to drought and climate change.
João Paulo Darela-Filho, Anja Rammig, Katrin Fleischer, Tatiana Reichert, Laynara Figueiredo Lugli, Carlos Alberto Quesada, Luis Carlos Colocho Hurtarte, Mateus Dantas de Paula, and David M. Lapola
Earth Syst. Sci. Data, 16, 715–729, https://doi.org/10.5194/essd-16-715-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/essd-16-715-2024, 2024
Short summary
Short summary
Phosphorus (P) is crucial for plant growth, and scientists have created models to study how it interacts with carbon cycle in ecosystems. To apply these models, it is important to know the distribution of phosphorus in soil. In this study we estimated the distribution of phosphorus in the Amazon region. The results showed a clear gradient of soil development and P content. These maps can help improve ecosystem models and generate new hypotheses about phosphorus availability in the Amazon.
Mahdi André Nakhavali, Lina M. Mercado, Iain P. Hartley, Stephen Sitch, Fernanda V. Cunha, Raffaello di Ponzio, Laynara F. Lugli, Carlos A. Quesada, Kelly M. Andersen, Sarah E. Chadburn, Andy J. Wiltshire, Douglas B. Clark, Gyovanni Ribeiro, Lara Siebert, Anna C. M. Moraes, Jéssica Schmeisk Rosa, Rafael Assis, and José L. Camargo
Geosci. Model Dev., 15, 5241–5269, https://doi.org/10.5194/gmd-15-5241-2022, https://doi.org/10.5194/gmd-15-5241-2022, 2022
Short summary
Short summary
In tropical ecosystems, the availability of rock-derived elements such as P can be very low. Thus, without a representation of P cycling, tropical forest responses to rising atmospheric CO2 conditions in areas such as Amazonia remain highly uncertain. We introduced P dynamics and its interactions with the N and P cycles into the JULES model. Our results highlight the potential for high P limitation and therefore lower CO2 fertilization capacity in the Amazon forest with low-fertility soils.
Rahayu Adzhar, Douglas I. Kelley, Ning Dong, Charles George, Mireia Torello Raventos, Elmar Veenendaal, Ted R. Feldpausch, Oliver L. Phillips, Simon L. Lewis, Bonaventure Sonké, Herman Taedoumg, Beatriz Schwantes Marimon, Tomas Domingues, Luzmila Arroyo, Gloria Djagbletey, Gustavo Saiz, and France Gerard
Biogeosciences, 19, 1377–1394, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-19-1377-2022, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-19-1377-2022, 2022
Short summary
Short summary
The MODIS Vegetation Continuous Fields (VCF) product underestimates tree cover compared to field data and could be underestimating tree cover significantly across the tropics. VCF is used to represent land cover or validate model performance in many land surface and global vegetation models and to train finer-scaled Earth observation products. Because underestimation in VCF may render it unsuitable for training data and bias model predictions, it should be calibrated before use in the tropics.
Amelie Baomalgré Bougma, Korodjouma Ouattara, Halidou Compaore, Hassan Bismarck Nacro, Caleb Melenya, Samuel Ayodele Mesele, Vincent Logah, Azeez Jamiu Oladipupo, Elmar Veenendaal, and Jonathan Lloyd
SOIL Discuss., https://doi.org/10.5194/soil-2019-87, https://doi.org/10.5194/soil-2019-87, 2020
Preprint withdrawn
Short summary
Short summary
To better understand the development of forest islands in west Africa, our study focused on soil aggregates stability of these patches across a precipitation transect. Soil samples were taken from 0 to 5 cm and 5 to 10 cm depths and aggregate fractions with diameters: > 500, 500–250 μm and 250–53 μm determined using the water sieving method. The results showed significant higher proportion of stable meso and macroaggregates in forest islands and natural savanna compared to agricultural soil.
Friederike Gerschlauer, Gustavo Saiz, David Schellenberger Costa, Michael Kleyer, Michael Dannenmann, and Ralf Kiese
Biogeosciences, 16, 409–424, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-16-409-2019, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-16-409-2019, 2019
Short summary
Short summary
Mount Kilimanjaro is an iconic environmental asset under serious threat due to increasing human pressures and climate change constraints. We studied variations in the stable isotopic composition of carbon and nitrogen in plant, litter, and soil material sampled along a strong land-use and altitudinal gradient. Our results show that, besides management, increasing temperatures in a changing climate may promote carbon and nitrogen losses, thus altering the stability of Kilimanjaro ecosystems.
Tommaso Jucker, Gregory P. Asner, Michele Dalponte, Philip G. Brodrick, Christopher D. Philipson, Nicholas R. Vaughn, Yit Arn Teh, Craig Brelsford, David F. R. P. Burslem, Nicolas J. Deere, Robert M. Ewers, Jakub Kvasnica, Simon L. Lewis, Yadvinder Malhi, Sol Milne, Reuben Nilus, Marion Pfeifer, Oliver L. Phillips, Lan Qie, Nathan Renneboog, Glen Reynolds, Terhi Riutta, Matthew J. Struebig, Martin Svátek, Edgar C. Turner, and David A. Coomes
Biogeosciences, 15, 3811–3830, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-15-3811-2018, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-15-3811-2018, 2018
Short summary
Short summary
Efforts to protect tropical forests hinge on recognizing the ecosystem services they provide, including their ability to store carbon. Airborne laser scanning (ALS) captures information on the 3-D structure of forests, allowing carbon stocks to be mapped. By combining ALS with data from 173 field plots on the island of Borneo, we develop a simple yet general model for estimating forest carbon stocks from the air. Our model underpins ongoing efforts to restore Borneo's unique tropical forests.
David Pelster, Mariana Rufino, Todd Rosenstock, Joash Mango, Gustavo Saiz, Eugenio Diaz-Pines, German Baldi, and Klaus Butterbach-Bahl
Biogeosciences, 14, 187–202, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-14-187-2017, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-14-187-2017, 2017
Short summary
Short summary
In order to quantify greenhouse gas fluxes from typical eastern African smallholder farms, we measured flux rates every week for 1 year at 59 farms in western Kenya. These upland soils tend to be small sinks for CH4 and small sources of N2O. The management intensity of the farm plots had no effect on emissions, likely because the variability was low. Plots with trees had higher CH4 uptake than other plots. This suggests that emissions from small, low-input farms in this region are quite low.
J. Lloyd and E. M. Veenendaal
Biogeosciences Discuss., https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-2015-660, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-2015-660, 2016
Revised manuscript not accepted
Short summary
Short summary
Fire has been proposed as the key driver of tropical forest and savanna biome distributions with many tropical ecologists believing that these biomes constitute alternate stable states (ASS). Contributing to an ongoing debate as evidence supporting the existence of ASS in the terrestrial tropics, we find all current arguments presented as supporting the existence of ASS to be flawed, with five specific fallacious argumentation types identified.
K. E. Clark, A. J. West, R. G. Hilton, G. P. Asner, C. A. Quesada, M. R. Silman, S. S. Saatchi, W. Farfan-Rios, R. E. Martin, A. B. Horwath, K. Halladay, M. New, and Y. Malhi
Earth Surf. Dynam., 4, 47–70, https://doi.org/10.5194/esurf-4-47-2016, https://doi.org/10.5194/esurf-4-47-2016, 2016
Short summary
Short summary
The key findings of this paper are that landslides in the eastern Andes of Peru in the Kosñipata Valley rapidly turn over the landscape in ~1320 years, with a rate of 0.076% yr-1. Additionally, landslides were concentrated at lower elevations, due to an intense storm in 2010 accounting for ~1/4 of the total landslide area over the 25-year remote sensing study. Valley-wide carbon stocks were determined, and we estimate that 26 tC km-2 yr-1 of soil and biomass are stripped by landslides.
J. Lloyd, T. F. Domingues, F. Schrodt, F. Y. Ishida, T. R. Feldpausch, G. Saiz, C. A. Quesada, M. Schwarz, M. Torello-Raventos, M. Gilpin, B. S. Marimon, B. H. Marimon-Junior, J. A. Ratter, J. Grace, G. B. Nardoto, E. Veenendaal, L. Arroyo, D. Villarroel, T. J. Killeen, M. Steininger, and O. L. Phillips
Biogeosciences, 12, 6529–6571, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-12-6529-2015, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-12-6529-2015, 2015
Short summary
Short summary
Across tropical South America, forest soils are typically of a higher cation status than their savanna equivalents with soil exchangeable potassium a key soil nutrient differentiating these two vegetation types. Differences in soil water storage capacity are also important – interacting with both potassium availability and precipitation regimes in a relatively complex manner.
M. O. Andreae, O. C. Acevedo, A. Araùjo, P. Artaxo, C. G. G. Barbosa, H. M. J. Barbosa, J. Brito, S. Carbone, X. Chi, B. B. L. Cintra, N. F. da Silva, N. L. Dias, C. Q. Dias-Júnior, F. Ditas, R. Ditz, A. F. L. Godoi, R. H. M. Godoi, M. Heimann, T. Hoffmann, J. Kesselmeier, T. Könemann, M. L. Krüger, J. V. Lavric, A. O. Manzi, A. P. Lopes, D. L. Martins, E. F. Mikhailov, D. Moran-Zuloaga, B. W. Nelson, A. C. Nölscher, D. Santos Nogueira, M. T. F. Piedade, C. Pöhlker, U. Pöschl, C. A. Quesada, L. V. Rizzo, C.-U. Ro, N. Ruckteschler, L. D. A. Sá, M. de Oliveira Sá, C. B. Sales, R. M. N. dos Santos, J. Saturno, J. Schöngart, M. Sörgel, C. M. de Souza, R. A. F. de Souza, H. Su, N. Targhetta, J. Tóta, I. Trebs, S. Trumbore, A. van Eijck, D. Walter, Z. Wang, B. Weber, J. Williams, J. Winderlich, F. Wittmann, S. Wolff, and A. M. Yáñez-Serrano
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 15, 10723–10776, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-15-10723-2015, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-15-10723-2015, 2015
Short summary
Short summary
This paper describes the Amazon Tall Tower Observatory (ATTO), a new atmosphere-biosphere observatory located in the remote Amazon Basin. It presents results from ecosystem ecology, meteorology, trace gas, and aerosol measurements collected at the ATTO site during the first 3 years of operation.
G. Saiz, M. Bird, C. Wurster, C. A. Quesada, P. Ascough, T. Domingues, F. Schrodt, M. Schwarz, T. R. Feldpausch, E. Veenendaal, G. Djagbletey, G. Jacobsen, F. Hien, H. Compaore, A. Diallo, and J. Lloyd
Biogeosciences, 12, 5041–5059, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-12-5041-2015, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-12-5041-2015, 2015
Short summary
Short summary
We demonstrate and explain differential patterns in SOM dynamics in C3/C4 mixed ecosystems at various spatial scales across contrasting climate and soils. This study shows that the interdependence between biotic and abiotic factors ultimately determines whether SOM dynamics of C3- and C4-derived vegetation are at variance in ecosystems where both vegetation types coexist. The results also highlight the far-reaching implications that vegetation thickening may have for the stability of deep SOM.
M. Liu, M. Dannenmann, S. Lin, G. Saiz, G. Yan, Z. Yao, D. E. Pelster, H. Tao, S. Sippel, Y. Tao, Y. Zhang, X. Zheng, Q. Zuo, and K. Butterbach-Bahl
Biogeosciences, 12, 4831–4840, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-12-4831-2015, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-12-4831-2015, 2015
Short summary
Short summary
We demonstrate for the first time that a ground cover rice production system (GCRPS) significantly increased soil organic C and total N stocks at spatially representative paired sites under varying edaphic conditions. Our results suggest that GCRPS is a stable and sustainable technique that maintains key soil functions, while increasing rice yield and expanding the cultivation into regions where it has been hampered by low seasonal temperatures and/or a lack of irrigation water.
E. M. Veenendaal, M. Torello-Raventos, T. R. Feldpausch, T. F. Domingues, F. Gerard, F. Schrodt, G. Saiz, C. A. Quesada, G. Djagbletey, A. Ford, J. Kemp, B. S. Marimon, B. H. Marimon-Junior, E. Lenza, J. A. Ratter, L. Maracahipes, D. Sasaki, B. Sonké, L. Zapfack, D. Villarroel, M. Schwarz, F. Yoko Ishida, M. Gilpin, G. B. Nardoto, K. Affum-Baffoe, L. Arroyo, K. Bloomfield, G. Ceca, H. Compaore, K. Davies, A. Diallo, N. M. Fyllas, J. Gignoux, F. Hien, M. Johnson, E. Mougin, P. Hiernaux, T. Killeen, D. Metcalfe, H. S. Miranda, M. Steininger, K. Sykora, M. I. Bird, J. Grace, S. Lewis, O. L. Phillips, and J. Lloyd
Biogeosciences, 12, 2927–2951, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-12-2927-2015, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-12-2927-2015, 2015
Short summary
Short summary
When nearby forest and savanna stands are compared, they are not as structurally different as first seems. Moreover, savanna-forest transition zones typically occur at higher rainfall for South America than for Africa but with coexistence confined to a well-defined edaphic-climate envelope. With interacting soil cation-soil water storage–precipitations effects on canopy cover also observed we argue that both soils and climate influence the location of the two major tropical vegetation types.
G. Saiz, J. G. Wynn, C. M. Wurster, I. Goodrick, P. N. Nelson, and M. I. Bird
Biogeosciences, 12, 1849–1863, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-12-1849-2015, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-12-1849-2015, 2015
Short summary
Short summary
Around half of all pyrogenic carbon (charcoal+soot) derived from wildfires comes from semi-annual burning of tropical savannas. This pyrogenic carbon is significant because it is a component of global aerosols capable of modulating the greenhouse effect and is resistant to degradation. We use controlled field burns in northern Australian savannas to determine how much pyrogenic carbon is formed, how much of this is recalcitrant and how it is partitioned between ground residues and airborne soot.
K. J. Bloomfield, T. F. Domingues, G. Saiz, M. I. Bird, D. M. Crayn, A. Ford, D. J. Metcalfe, G. D. Farquhar, and J. Lloyd
Biogeosciences, 11, 7331–7347, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-11-7331-2014, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-11-7331-2014, 2014
M. O. Johnson, M. Gloor, M. J. Kirkby, and J. Lloyd
Biogeosciences, 11, 6873–6894, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-11-6873-2014, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-11-6873-2014, 2014
Short summary
Short summary
We present a soil evolution model which incorporates the major processes of pedogenesis: mineral weathering, leaching, erosion, bioturbation, nutrient cycling and organic carbon inputs. We compare the modelled soil properties with soil chronosequences from Hawaii and demonstrate that the model captures well the key components of soil development. The model also highlights the important role that vegetation plays in accelerating the weathering and the release of globally important nutrients.
N. M. Fyllas, E. Gloor, L. M. Mercado, S. Sitch, C. A. Quesada, T. F. Domingues, D. R. Galbraith, A. Torre-Lezama, E. Vilanova, H. Ramírez-Angulo, N. Higuchi, D. A. Neill, M. Silveira, L. Ferreira, G. A. Aymard C., Y. Malhi, O. L. Phillips, and J. Lloyd
Geosci. Model Dev., 7, 1251–1269, https://doi.org/10.5194/gmd-7-1251-2014, https://doi.org/10.5194/gmd-7-1251-2014, 2014
B. B. L. Cintra, J. Schietti, T. Emillio, D. Martins, G. Moulatlet, P. Souza, C. Levis, C. A. Quesada, and J. Schöngart
Biogeosciences, 10, 7759–7774, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-10-7759-2013, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-10-7759-2013, 2013
A. D. A. Castanho, M. T. Coe, M. H. Costa, Y. Malhi, D. Galbraith, and C. A. Quesada
Biogeosciences, 10, 2255–2272, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-10-2255-2013, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-10-2255-2013, 2013
Related subject area
Soils and biogeochemical cycling
Isotopic exchangeability reveals that soil phosphate is mobilised by carboxylate anions, whereas acidification had the reverse effect
Calcium is associated with specific soil organic carbon decomposition products
Gradual drying of permafrost peat decreases carbon dioxide production in drier peat plateaus but not in wetter fens and bogs
Effects of nitrogen and phosphorus amendments on CO2 and CH4 production in peat soils of Scotty Creek, Northwest Territories: potential considerations for wildfire and permafrost thaw impacts on peatland carbon exchanges
Spatial and temporal heterogeneity of soil respiration in a bare-soil Mediterranean olive grove
Depth dependence of soil organic carbon additional storage capacity in different soil types by the 2050 target for carbon neutrality
Biochar reduces early-stage mineralization rates of plant residues more in coarse-textured soils than in fine-textured soils – an artificial-soil approach
Soil organic carbon mineralization is controlled by the application dose of exogenous organic matter
Effect of colloidal particle size on physicochemical properties and aggregation behaviors of two alkaline soils
Comprehensive increase in CO2 release by drying–rewetting cycles among Japanese forests and pastureland soils and exploring predictors of increasing magnitude
Mixed Signals: interpreting mixing patterns of different soil bioturbation processes through luminescence and numerical modelling
Interactions of fertilisation and crop productivity in soil nitrogen cycle microbiome and gas emissions
Freeze–thaw processes correspond to the protection–loss of soil organic carbon through regulating pore structure of aggregates in alpine ecosystems
Soil organic matter interactions along the elevation gradient of the James Ross Island (Antarctica)
Investigating the complementarity of thermal and physical soil organic carbon fractions
Methane oxidation potential of soils in a rubber plantation in Thailand affected by fertilization
Cultivation reduces quantities of mineral-organic associations in the form of amorphous coprecipitates
An ensemble estimate of Australian soil organic carbon using machine learning and process-based modelling
What is the stability of additional organic carbon stored thanks to alternative cropping systems and organic waste product application? A multi-method evaluation
Improving measurements of microbial growth, death, and turnover by accounting for extracellular DNA in soils
The influence of land use and management on the behaviour and persistence of soil organic carbon in a subtropical Ferralsol
Dissolved carbon flow to particulate organic carbon enhances soil carbon sequestration
Shifts in controls and abundance of particulate and mineral-associated organic matter fractions among subfield yield stability zones
The six rights of how and when to test for soil C saturation
Cover crops improve soil structure and change organic carbon distribution in macroaggregate fractions
Soil carbon, nitrogen, and phosphorus storage in juniper–oak savanna: role of vegetation and geology
Organic matters, but inorganic matters too: column examination of elevated mercury sorption on low organic matter aquifer material using concentrations and stable isotope ratios
Contrasting potential for biological N2 fixation at three polluted central European Sphagnum peat bogs: combining the 15N2-tracer and natural-abundance isotope approaches
Soil organic carbon stocks did not change after 130 years of afforestation on a former Swiss Alpine pasture
Land inclination controls CO2 and N2O fluxes, but not CH4 uptake, in a temperate upland forest soil
Tropical Andosol organic carbon quality and degradability in relation to soil geochemistry as affected by land use
Elemental stoichiometry and Rock-Eval® thermal stability of organic matter in French topsoils
Oil-palm management alters the spatial distribution of amorphous silica and mobile silicon in topsoils
Semantics about soil organic carbon storage: DATA4C+, a comprehensive thesaurus and classification of management practices in agriculture and forestry
Forest liming in the face of climate change: the implications of restorative liming for soil organic carbon in mature German forests
Biotic factors dominantly determine soil inorganic carbon stock across Tibetan alpine grasslands
Effects of returning corn straw and fermented corn straw to fields on the soil organic carbon pools and humus composition
Soil nutrient contents and stoichiometry within aggregate size classes varied with tea plantation age and soil depth in southern Guangxi in China
Land use impact on carbon mineralization in well aerated soils is mainly explained by variations of particulate organic matter rather than of soil structure
Inclusion of biochar in a C dynamics model based on observations from an 8-year field experiment
Synergy between compost and cover crops in a Mediterranean row crop system leads to increased subsoil carbon storage
Phosphorus dynamics during early soil development in a cold desert: insights from oxygen isotopes in phosphate
Transformation of n-alkanes from plant to soil: a review
Heterotrophic soil respiration and carbon cycling in geochemically distinct African tropical forest soils
Soil organic carbon mobility in equatorial podzols: soil column experiments
Microbial activity responses to water stress in agricultural soils from simple and complex crop rotations
The role of geochemistry in organic carbon stabilization against microbial decomposition in tropical rainforest soils
Geogenic organic carbon in terrestrial sediments and its contribution to total soil carbon
Aluminous clay and pedogenic Fe oxides modulate aggregation and related carbon contents in soils of the humid tropics
Continental-scale controls on soil organic carbon across sub-Saharan Africa
Siobhan Staunton and Chiara Pistocchi
SOIL, 11, 389–394, https://doi.org/10.5194/soil-11-389-2025, https://doi.org/10.5194/soil-11-389-2025, 2025
Short summary
Short summary
Mineral phosphate is a finite resource, so ways must be found to optimise the use of native soil P. We have used isotopic dilution to assess how acidification and the addition of citrate or oxalate modify the lability of soil P in four contrasting soils from the Mediterranean region. Acidification did not mobilise soil P, whereas both carboxylate anions promoted soil-P lability. This suggests that soil amendments and the choice of crops that exude carboxylates could optimise P nutrition.
Mike C. Rowley, Jasquelin Pena, Matthew A. Marcus, Rachel Porras, Elaine Pegoraro, Cyrill Zosso, Nicholas O. E. Ofiti, Guido L. B. Wiesenberg, Michael W. I. Schmidt, Margaret S. Torn, and Peter S. Nico
SOIL, 11, 381–388, https://doi.org/10.5194/soil-11-381-2025, https://doi.org/10.5194/soil-11-381-2025, 2025
Short summary
Short summary
This study shows that calcium (Ca) preserves soil organic carbon (SOC) in acidic soils, challenging beliefs that their interactions were limited to near-neutral or alkaline soils. Using spectromicroscopy, we found that Ca was co-located with a specific fraction of carbon, rich in aromatic and phenolic groups. This association was disrupted when Ca was removed but was reformed during decomposition with added Ca. Overall, this suggests that Ca amendments could enhance SOC stability.
Aelis Spiller, Cynthia M. Kallenbach, Melanie S. Burnett, David Olefeldt, Christopher Schulze, Roxane Maranger, and Peter M. J. Douglas
SOIL, 11, 371–379, https://doi.org/10.5194/soil-11-371-2025, https://doi.org/10.5194/soil-11-371-2025, 2025
Short summary
Short summary
Permafrost peatlands are large reservoirs of carbon. As frozen permafrost thaws, drier peat moisture conditions can arise, affecting the microbial production of climate-warming greenhouse gases like CO2 and N2O. Our study suggests that future peat CO2 and N2O production depends on whether drier peat plateaus thaw into wetter fens or bogs and on their diverging responses of peat respiration to more moisture-limited conditions.
Eunji Byun, Fereidoun Rezanezhad, Stephanie Slowinski, Christina Lam, Saraswati Bhusal, Stephanie Wright, William L. Quinton, Kara L. Webster, and Philippe Van Cappellen
SOIL, 11, 309–321, https://doi.org/10.5194/soil-11-309-2025, https://doi.org/10.5194/soil-11-309-2025, 2025
Short summary
Short summary
To investigate how added nutrient nitrogen (N) and phosphorus (P) affect subarctic peatlands, we sampled peat soils from bog and fen type peatlands in the Northwest Territories, Canada, and measured CO2 and CH4 production rates by means of laboratory incubations. Our short-term experiments show that changes in nutrient concentrations in soil water can significantly affect microbial carbon cycling, suggesting the necessity of additional considerations of wildfire and permafrost thaw impacts on peatland carbon storage.
Sergio Aranda-Barranco, Penélope Serrano-Ortiz, Andrew S. Kowalski, and Enrique P. Sánchez-Cañete
SOIL, 11, 213–232, https://doi.org/10.5194/soil-11-213-2025, https://doi.org/10.5194/soil-11-213-2025, 2025
Short summary
Short summary
This study investigated soil respiration and the main factors involved in a semi-arid environment (olive grove). For this purpose, 1 year's worth of automatic multi-chamber measurements was used, accompanied by ecosystem respiration data obtained using the eddy covariance technique. The soil respiration annual balance, Q10 parameter, rain pulses, and spatial and temporal variability of soil respiration are presented in this paper.
Clémentine Chirol, Geoffroy Séré, Paul-Olivier Redon, Claire Chenu, and Delphine Derrien
SOIL, 11, 149–174, https://doi.org/10.5194/soil-11-149-2025, https://doi.org/10.5194/soil-11-149-2025, 2025
Short summary
Short summary
This work maps both current soil organic carbon (SOC) stocks and the SOC that can be realistically added to soils over 25 years under a scenario of management strategies promoting plant productivity. We consider how soil type influences current and maximum SOC stocks regionally. Over 25 years, land use and management have the strongest influence on SOC accrual, but certain soil types have disproportionate SOC stocks at depths that need to be preserved.
Thiago M. Inagaki, Simon Weldon, Franziska B. Bucka, Eva Farkas, and Daniel P. Rasse
SOIL, 11, 141–147, https://doi.org/10.5194/soil-11-141-2025, https://doi.org/10.5194/soil-11-141-2025, 2025
Short summary
Short summary
Here, we investigated how biochar, a potential C sequestration tool, affects early carbon storage in different soils. We created artificial soils to isolate the impact of soil texture. We found that biochar significantly reduces plant residue’s breakdown in all soil textures but mainly in sandy soils, which naturally hold less carbon. This suggests that biochar could be a valuable tool for improving soil health, especially in sandy soils.
Orly Mendoza, Stefaan De Neve, Heleen Deroo, Haichao Li, Astrid Françoys, and Steven Sleutel
SOIL, 11, 105–119, https://doi.org/10.5194/soil-11-105-2025, https://doi.org/10.5194/soil-11-105-2025, 2025
Short summary
Short summary
Farmers frequently apply fresh organic matter such as crop residues to soil to boost its carbon content. Yet, one burning question remains: does the quantity of applied organic matter affect its decomposition and that of native soil organic matter? Our experiment suggests that smaller application doses might deplete soil organic matter more rapidly, at least in coarser-textured soil. In contrast, applying intermediate or high doses might be a promising strategy for maintaining it.
Yuyang Yan, Xinran Zhang, Chenyang Xu, Junjun Liu, Feinan Hu, and Zengchao Geng
SOIL, 11, 85–94, https://doi.org/10.5194/soil-11-85-2025, https://doi.org/10.5194/soil-11-85-2025, 2025
Short summary
Short summary
The differences in organic matter contents and clay mineralogy are the fundamental reasons for the differences in colloidal suspension stability behind the size effects of Anthrosol and Calcisol colloids. The present study revealed the size effects of two alkaline soil colloids on carbon content, clay minerals, surface properties and suspension stability, emphasizing that soil nanoparticles are prone to be more stably dispersed instead of being aggregated.
Yuri Suzuki, Syuntaro Hiradate, Jun Koarashi, Mariko Atarashi-Andoh, Takumi Yomogida, Yuki Kanda, and Hirohiko Nagano
SOIL, 11, 35–49, https://doi.org/10.5194/soil-11-35-2025, https://doi.org/10.5194/soil-11-35-2025, 2025
Short summary
Short summary
We incubated 10 Japanese soils to study CO2 release under drying–rewetting cycles (DWCs). CO2 release was increased by DWCs among all soils, showing soil-by-soil variations in CO2 release increase magnitude. The organo-Al complex was the primary predictor for the increase magnitude, suggesting vulnerability of carbon protection by reactive minerals against DWCs. Microbial biomass decrease by DWCs was also suggested, although its link with the CO2 release increase is still unclear.
W. Marijn van der Meij, Svenja Riedesel, and Tony Reimann
SOIL, 11, 51–66, https://doi.org/10.5194/soil-11-51-2025, https://doi.org/10.5194/soil-11-51-2025, 2025
Short summary
Short summary
Soil mixing (bioturbation) plays a key role in soil functions, but the underlying processes are poorly understood and difficult to quantify. In this study, we use luminescence, a light-sensitive soil mineral property, and numerical models to better understand different types of bioturbation. We provide a conceptual model that helps to determine which types of bioturbation processes occur in a soil and a numerical model that can derive quantitative process rates from luminescence measurements.
Laura Kuusemets, Ülo Mander, Jordi Escuer-Gatius, Alar Astover, Karin Kauer, Kaido Soosaar, and Mikk Espenberg
SOIL, 11, 1–15, https://doi.org/10.5194/soil-11-1-2025, https://doi.org/10.5194/soil-11-1-2025, 2025
Short summary
Short summary
We investigated relationships between mineral nitrogen (N) fertilisation rates and additional manure amendment with different crop types through an analysis of soil environmental characteristics and microbiomes, soil N2O and N2 emissions as well as biomass production. The results show that wheat grew well at a fertilisation rate of 80 kg N ha−1, and newly introduced sorghum showed good potential for cultivation in temperate climates.
Ruizhe Wang and Xia Hu
SOIL, 10, 859–871, https://doi.org/10.5194/soil-10-859-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/soil-10-859-2024, 2024
Short summary
Short summary
This study characterized pore structure and soil organic carbon (SOC) fractions of aggregates during the seasonal freeze–thaw process. Freezing was associated with SOC accumulation, while the early stage of thawing was characterized by SOC loss. In the freezing period, pore structure could enhance SOC accumulation by promoting formation of > 80 μm pores. In the thawing period, pores of < 15 μm might inhibit SOC loss. These results present new perspectives on soil microstructure–SOC interactions.
Vítězslav Vlček, David Juřička, Martin Valtera, Helena Dvořáčková, Vojtěch Štulc, Michaela Bednaříková, Jana Šimečková, Peter Váczi, Miroslav Pohanka, Pavel Kapler, Miloš Barták, and Vojtěch Enev
SOIL, 10, 813–826, https://doi.org/10.5194/soil-10-813-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/soil-10-813-2024, 2024
Short summary
Short summary
The aim of this work was to evaluate the correlation between soil organic carbon (SOC) and various soil properties. Nine plots across an altitudinal range from 10 to 320 m were investigated in the deglaciated region of James Ross Island (Antarctica). Our results indicate that the primary factor influencing the SOC content is likely not altitude or coarse-fraction content; rather, other hard-to-quantify factors, such as the presence of liquid water during the summer period, impact SOC content.
Amicie A. Delahaie, Lauric Cécillon, Marija Stojanova, Samuel Abiven, Pierre Arbelet, Dominique Arrouays, François Baudin, Antonio Bispo, Line Boulonne, Claire Chenu, Jussi Heinonsalo, Claudy Jolivet, Kristiina Karhu, Manuel Martin, Lorenza Pacini, Christopher Poeplau, Céline Ratié, Pierre Roudier, Nicolas P. A. Saby, Florence Savignac, and Pierre Barré
SOIL, 10, 795–812, https://doi.org/10.5194/soil-10-795-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/soil-10-795-2024, 2024
Short summary
Short summary
This paper compares the soil organic carbon fractions obtained from a new thermal fractionation scheme and a well-known physical fractionation scheme on an unprecedented dataset of French topsoil samples. For each fraction, we use a machine learning model to determine its environmental drivers (pedology, climate, and land cover). Our results suggest that these two fractionation schemes provide different fractions, which means they provide complementary information.
Jun Murase, Kannika Sajjaphan, Chatprawee Dechjiraratthanasiri, Ornuma Duangngam, Rawiwan Chotiphan, Wutthida Rattanapichai, Wakana Azuma, Makoto Shibata, Poonpipope Kasemsap, and Daniel Epron
EGUsphere, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2024-2937, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2024-2937, 2024
Short summary
Short summary
Tropical forest soils are vital for methane uptake, but deforestation and agriculture can alter soil methane oxidation. An experiment in Thailand shows that fertilization significantly suppresses methane oxidation in rubber plantation soils, affecting depths up to 60 cm. Without fertilization, deeper soil layers (below 10 cm) actively oxidize methane. These findings suggest that fertilization negatively impacts the methane uptake capacity of deep-layer soils in rubber plantations.
Floriane Jamoteau, Emmanuel Doelsch, Nithavong Cam, Clément Levard, Thierry Woignier, Adrien Boulineau, François Saint-Antonin, Sufal Swaraj, Ghislain Gassier, Adrien Duvivier, Daniel Borschneck, Marie-Laure Pons, Perrine Chaurand, Vladimir Vidal, Nicolas Brouilly, and Isabelle Basile-Doelsch
EGUsphere, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2024-2933, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2024-2933, 2024
Short summary
Short summary
This study shows that cultivating natural soils disrupts crucial mineral-organic associations, leading to carbon loss and reduced soil fertility. By analyzing soil samples from a forest and crop andosols, we found that these associations exist as amorphous coprecipitates (nanoCLICs). Cultivation reduces quantities of nanoCLICs by 50 %, highlighting their vulnerability to environmental changes and the need to develop strategies to preserve them to maintain soil fertility.
Lingfei Wang, Gab Abramowitz, Ying-Ping Wang, Andy Pitman, and Raphael A. Viscarra Rossel
SOIL, 10, 619–636, https://doi.org/10.5194/soil-10-619-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/soil-10-619-2024, 2024
Short summary
Short summary
Effective management of soil organic carbon (SOC) requires accurate knowledge of its distribution and factors influencing its dynamics. We identify the importance of variables in spatial SOC variation and estimate SOC stocks in Australia using various models. We find there are significant disparities in SOC estimates when different models are used, highlighting the need for a critical re-evaluation of land management strategies that rely on the SOC distribution derived from a single approach.
Tchodjowiè P. I. Kpemoua, Pierre Barré, Sabine Houot, François Baudin, Cédric Plessis, and Claire Chenu
SOIL, 10, 533–549, https://doi.org/10.5194/soil-10-533-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/soil-10-533-2024, 2024
Short summary
Short summary
Several agroecological management options foster soil organic C stock accrual. What is behind the persistence of this "additional" C? We used three different methodological approaches and >20 years of field experiments under temperate conditions to find out. We found that the additional C is less stable at the pluri-decadal scale than the baseline C. This highlights the need to maintain agroecological practices to keep these carbon stocks at a high level over time.
Jörg Schnecker, Theresa Böckle, Julia Horak, Victoria Martin, Taru Sandén, and Heide Spiegel
SOIL, 10, 521–531, https://doi.org/10.5194/soil-10-521-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/soil-10-521-2024, 2024
Short summary
Short summary
Microbial processes are driving the formation and decomposition of soil organic matter. In contrast to respiration and growth, microbial death rates currently lack distinct methods to be determined. Here, we propose a new approach to measure microbial death rates. This new approach to determine microbial death rates as well as dynamics of intracellular and extracellular DNA separately will help to improve concepts and models of C dynamics in soils in the future.
Laura Hondroudakis, Peter M. Kopittke, Ram C. Dalal, Meghan Barnard, and Zhe H. Weng
SOIL, 10, 451–465, https://doi.org/10.5194/soil-10-451-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/soil-10-451-2024, 2024
Short summary
Short summary
Land use change to cropping is known to greatly reduced organic carbon and nitrogen concentrations, but much remains unknown about the mechanisms influencing their persistence in soil. In a soil from a subtropical Australian cropping system, we demonstrate that organic carbon is protected by mineral associations but not particulate forms. Importantly, we also show that reversion from cropping to pasture or plantation can partially restore this organic carbon.
Qintana Si, Kangli Chen, Bin Wei, Yaowen Zhang, Xun Sun, and Junyi Liang
SOIL, 10, 441–450, https://doi.org/10.5194/soil-10-441-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/soil-10-441-2024, 2024
Short summary
Short summary
Our soil incubation experiment demonstrates that dissolved labile carbon substrate is a significant contributor to the soil particulate organic carbon pool. Dissolved carbon flow to particulate organic carbon is regulated by microbial biomass carbon and soil texture. The soil carbon model underestimates soil carbon sequestration when carbon flow from dissolved substrates to particulate organic carbon through microbial processes is not considered.
Sam J. Leuthold, Jocelyn M. Lavallee, Bruno Basso, William F. Brinton, and M. Francesca Cotrufo
SOIL, 10, 307–319, https://doi.org/10.5194/soil-10-307-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/soil-10-307-2024, 2024
Short summary
Short summary
We examined physical soil organic matter fractions to understand their relationship to temporal variability in crop yield at field scale. We found that interactions between crop productivity, topography, and climate led to variability in soil organic matter stocks among different yield stability zones. Our results imply that linkages between soil organic matter and yield stability may be scale-dependent and that particulate organic matter may be an indicator of unstable areas within croplands.
Johan Six, Sebastian Doetterl, Moritz Laub, Claude R. Müller, and Marijn Van de Broek
SOIL, 10, 275–279, https://doi.org/10.5194/soil-10-275-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/soil-10-275-2024, 2024
Short summary
Short summary
Soil C saturation has been tested in several recent studies and led to a debate about its existence. We argue that, to test C saturation, one should pay attention to six fundamental principles: the right measures, the right units, the right dispersive energy and application, the right soil type, the right clay type, and the right saturation level. Once we take care of those six rights across studies, we find support for a maximum of C stabilized by minerals and thus soil C saturation.
Norman Gentsch, Florin Laura Riechers, Jens Boy, Dörte Schweneker, Ulf Feuerstein, Diana Heuermann, and Georg Guggenberger
SOIL, 10, 139–150, https://doi.org/10.5194/soil-10-139-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/soil-10-139-2024, 2024
Short summary
Short summary
Cover crops have substantial impacts on soil properties, but so far it is not clear how long a legacy effect of cover cropping will remain in the soil. We found that cover crops attenuate negative effects on soil structure that come from soil cultivation. The combination of plants with different litter qualities and rhizodeposits in biodiverse cover crop mixtures can improve the positive effects of cover cropping on soil structure amelioration.
Che-Jen Hsiao, Pedro A. M. Leite, Ayumi Hyodo, and Thomas W. Boutton
SOIL, 10, 93–108, https://doi.org/10.5194/soil-10-93-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/soil-10-93-2024, 2024
Short summary
Short summary
Tree cover has increased in grasslands worldwide, with juniper and oak trees expanding in the southern Great Plains, USA. Here, we examine how these changes interact with geology to affect soil C, N, and P storage. Soil concentrations of these elements were significantly higher under trees than grasslands but increased more under trees growing on Edwards soils. Our results suggest that geology and vegetation change should be considered when predicting soil storage in dryland ecosystems globally.
David S. McLagan, Carina Esser, Lorenz Schwab, Jan G. Wiederhold, Jan-Helge Richard, and Harald Biester
SOIL, 10, 77–92, https://doi.org/10.5194/soil-10-77-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/soil-10-77-2024, 2024
Short summary
Short summary
Sorption of mercury in soils, aquifer materials, and sediments is primarily linked to organic matter. Using column experiments, mercury concentration, speciation, and stable isotope analyses, we show that large quantities of mercury in soil water and groundwater can be sorbed to inorganic minerals; sorption to the solid phase favours lighter isotopes. Data provide important insights on the transport and fate of mercury in soil–groundwater systems and particularly in low-organic-matter systems.
Marketa Stepanova, Martin Novak, Bohuslava Cejkova, Ivana Jackova, Frantisek Buzek, Frantisek Veselovsky, Jan Curik, Eva Prechova, Arnost Komarek, and Leona Bohdalkova
SOIL, 9, 623–640, https://doi.org/10.5194/soil-9-623-2023, https://doi.org/10.5194/soil-9-623-2023, 2023
Short summary
Short summary
Biological N2 fixation helps to sustain carbon accumulation in peatlands and to remove CO2 from the atmosphere. Changes in N2 fixation may affect the dynamics of global change. Increasing inputs of reactive N from air pollution should lead to downregulation of N2 fixation. Data from three N-polluted peat bogs show an interplay of N2-fixation rates with 10 potential drivers of this process. N2 fixation was measurable only at one site characterized by high phosphorus and low sulfate availability.
Tatjana C. Speckert, Jeannine Suremann, Konstantin Gavazov, Maria J. Santos, Frank Hagedorn, and Guido L. B. Wiesenberg
SOIL, 9, 609–621, https://doi.org/10.5194/soil-9-609-2023, https://doi.org/10.5194/soil-9-609-2023, 2023
Short summary
Short summary
Soil organic carbon (SOC) is key player in the global carbon cycle. Afforestation on pastures potentially alters organic matter input and SOC sequestration. We investigated the effects of a Picea abies L. afforestation sequence (0 to 130 years) on a former subalpine pasture on SOC stocks and dynamics. We found no difference in the SOC stock after 130 years of afforestation and thus no additional SOC sequestration. SOC composition was altered due to a modified SOC input following afforestation.
Lauren M. Gillespie, Nathalie Y. Triches, Diego Abalos, Peter Finke, Sophie Zechmeister-Boltenstern, Stephan Glatzel, and Eugenio Díaz-Pinés
SOIL, 9, 517–531, https://doi.org/10.5194/soil-9-517-2023, https://doi.org/10.5194/soil-9-517-2023, 2023
Short summary
Short summary
Forest soil is potentially an important source or sink of greenhouse gases (CO2, N2O, and CH4), but this is affected by soil conditions. We studied how land inclination and soil/litter properties influence the flux of these gases. CO2 and N2O were more affected by inclination than CH4; all were affected by soil/litter properties. This study underlines the importance of inclination and soil/litter properties in predicting greenhouse gas fluxes from forest soil and potential source–sink balance.
Sastrika Anindita, Peter Finke, and Steven Sleutel
SOIL, 9, 443–459, https://doi.org/10.5194/soil-9-443-2023, https://doi.org/10.5194/soil-9-443-2023, 2023
Short summary
Short summary
This study investigated how land use, through its impact on soil geochemistry, might indirectly control soil organic carbon (SOC) content in tropical volcanic soils in Indonesia. We analyzed SOC fractions, substrate-specific mineralization, and net priming of SOC. Our results indicated that the enhanced formation of aluminum (hydr)oxides promoted aggregation and physical occlusion of OC, which is consistent with the lesser degradability of SOC in agricultural soils.
Amicie A. Delahaie, Pierre Barré, François Baudin, Dominique Arrouays, Antonio Bispo, Line Boulonne, Claire Chenu, Claudy Jolivet, Manuel P. Martin, Céline Ratié, Nicolas P. A. Saby, Florence Savignac, and Lauric Cécillon
SOIL, 9, 209–229, https://doi.org/10.5194/soil-9-209-2023, https://doi.org/10.5194/soil-9-209-2023, 2023
Short summary
Short summary
We characterized organic matter in French soils by analysing samples from the French RMQS network using Rock-Eval thermal analysis. We found that thermal analysis is appropriate to characterize large set of samples (ca. 2000) and provides interpretation references for Rock-Eval parameter values. This shows that organic matter in managed soils is on average more oxidized and more thermally stable and that some Rock-Eval parameters are good proxies for organic matter biogeochemical stability.
Britta Greenshields, Barbara von der Lühe, Harold J. Hughes, Christian Stiegler, Suria Tarigan, Aiyen Tjoa, and Daniela Sauer
SOIL, 9, 169–188, https://doi.org/10.5194/soil-9-169-2023, https://doi.org/10.5194/soil-9-169-2023, 2023
Short summary
Short summary
Silicon (Si) research could provide complementary measures in sustainably cultivating oil-palm monocultures. Our study shows that current oil-palm management practices and topsoil erosion on oil-palm plantations in Indonesia have caused a spatial distribution of essential Si pools in soil. A lack of well-balanced Si levels in topsoil could negatively affect crop yield and soil fertility for future replanting at the same plantation site. Potential measures are suggested to maintain Si cycling.
Kenji Fujisaki, Tiphaine Chevallier, Antonio Bispo, Jean-Baptiste Laurent, François Thevenin, Lydie Chapuis-Lardy, Rémi Cardinael, Christine Le Bas, Vincent Freycon, Fabrice Bénédet, Vincent Blanfort, Michel Brossard, Marie Tella, and Julien Demenois
SOIL, 9, 89–100, https://doi.org/10.5194/soil-9-89-2023, https://doi.org/10.5194/soil-9-89-2023, 2023
Short summary
Short summary
This paper presents a first comprehensive thesaurus for management practices driving soil organic carbon (SOC) storage. So far, a comprehensive thesaurus of management practices in agriculture and forestry has been lacking. It will help to merge datasets, a promising way to evaluate the impacts of management practices in agriculture and forestry on SOC. Identifying the drivers of SOC stock changes is of utmost importance to contribute to global challenges (climate change, food security).
Oliver van Straaten, Larissa Kulp, Guntars O. Martinson, Dan Paul Zederer, and Ulrike Talkner
SOIL, 9, 39–54, https://doi.org/10.5194/soil-9-39-2023, https://doi.org/10.5194/soil-9-39-2023, 2023
Short summary
Short summary
Across northern Europe, millions of hectares of forest have been limed to counteract soil acidification and restore forest ecosystems. In this study, we investigated how restorative liming affects the forest soil organic carbon (SOC) stocks and correspondingly ecosystem greenhouse gas fluxes. We found that the magnitude and direction of SOC stock changes hinge on the inherent site characteristics, namely, forest type, soil texture, initial soil pH, and initial soil SOC stocks (before liming).
Junxiao Pan, Jinsong Wang, Dashuan Tian, Ruiyang Zhang, Yang Li, Lei Song, Jiaming Yang, Chunxue Wei, and Shuli Niu
SOIL, 8, 687–698, https://doi.org/10.5194/soil-8-687-2022, https://doi.org/10.5194/soil-8-687-2022, 2022
Short summary
Short summary
We found that climatic, edaphic, plant and microbial variables jointly affect soil inorganic carbon (SIC) stock in Tibetan grasslands, and biotic factors have a larger contribution than abiotic factors to the variation in SIC stock. The effects of microbial and plant variables on SIC stock weakened with soil depth, while the effects of edaphic variables strengthened. The contrasting responses and drivers of SIC stock highlight differential mechanisms underlying SIC preservation with soil depth.
Yifeng Zhang, Sen Dou, Batande Sinovuyo Ndzelu, Rui Ma, Dandan Zhang, Xiaowei Zhang, Shufen Ye, and Hongrui Wang
SOIL, 8, 605–619, https://doi.org/10.5194/soil-8-605-2022, https://doi.org/10.5194/soil-8-605-2022, 2022
Short summary
Short summary
How to effectively convert corn straw into humic substances and return them to the soil in a relatively stable form is a concerning topic. Through a 360 d field experiment under equal carbon (C) mass, we found that return of the fermented corn straw treated with Trichoderma reesei to the field is more valuable and conducive to increasing easily oxidizable organic C, humus C content, and carbon pool management index than the direct application of corn straw.
Ling Mao, Shaoming Ye, and Shengqiang Wang
SOIL, 8, 487–505, https://doi.org/10.5194/soil-8-487-2022, https://doi.org/10.5194/soil-8-487-2022, 2022
Short summary
Short summary
Soil ecological stoichiometry offers a tool to explore the distribution, cycling, limitation, and balance of chemical elements. This study improved the understanding of soil organic carbon and nutrient dynamics in tea plantation ecosystems and also provided supplementary information for soil ecological stoichiometry in global terrestrial ecosystems.
Steffen Schlüter, Tim Roussety, Lena Rohe, Vusal Guliyev, Evgenia Blagodatskaya, and Thomas Reitz
SOIL, 8, 253–267, https://doi.org/10.5194/soil-8-253-2022, https://doi.org/10.5194/soil-8-253-2022, 2022
Short summary
Short summary
We combined microstructure analysis via X-ray CT with carbon mineralization analysis via respirometry of intact soil cores from different land uses. We found that the amount of particulate organic matter (POM) exerted a dominant control on carbon mineralization in well-aerated topsoils, whereas soil moisture and macroporosity did not play role. This is because carbon mineralization mainly occurs in microbial hotspots around degrading POM, where it is decoupled from conditions of the bulk soil.
Roberta Pulcher, Enrico Balugani, Maurizio Ventura, Nicolas Greggio, and Diego Marazza
SOIL, 8, 199–211, https://doi.org/10.5194/soil-8-199-2022, https://doi.org/10.5194/soil-8-199-2022, 2022
Short summary
Short summary
Biochar, a solid product from the thermal conversion of biomass, can be used as a climate change mitigation strategy, since it can sequester carbon from the atmosphere and store it in the soil. The aim of this study is to assess the potential of biochar as a mitigation strategy in the long term, by modelling the results obtained from an 8-year field experiment. As far as we know, this is the first time that a model for biochar degradation has been validated with long-term field data.
Daniel Rath, Nathaniel Bogie, Leonardo Deiss, Sanjai J. Parikh, Daoyuan Wang, Samantha Ying, Nicole Tautges, Asmeret Asefaw Berhe, Teamrat A. Ghezzehei, and Kate M. Scow
SOIL, 8, 59–83, https://doi.org/10.5194/soil-8-59-2022, https://doi.org/10.5194/soil-8-59-2022, 2022
Short summary
Short summary
Storing C in subsoils can help mitigate climate change, but this requires a better understanding of subsoil C dynamics. We investigated changes in subsoil C storage under a combination of compost, cover crops (WCC), and mineral fertilizer and found that systems with compost + WCC had ~19 Mg/ha more C after 25 years. This increase was attributed to increased transport of soluble C and nutrients via WCC root pores and demonstrates the potential for subsoil C storage in tilled agricultural systems.
Zuzana Frkova, Chiara Pistocchi, Yuliya Vystavna, Katerina Capkova, Jiri Dolezal, and Federica Tamburini
SOIL, 8, 1–15, https://doi.org/10.5194/soil-8-1-2022, https://doi.org/10.5194/soil-8-1-2022, 2022
Short summary
Short summary
Phosphorus (P) is essential for life. We studied microbial processes driving the P cycle in soils developed on the same rock but with different ages (0–100 years) in a cold desert. Compared to previous studies under cold climate, we found much slower weathering of P-containing minerals of soil development, likely due to aridity. However, microbes dominate short-term dynamics and progressively redistribute P from the rock into more available forms, making it available for plants at later stages.
Carrie L. Thomas, Boris Jansen, E. Emiel van Loon, and Guido L. B. Wiesenberg
SOIL, 7, 785–809, https://doi.org/10.5194/soil-7-785-2021, https://doi.org/10.5194/soil-7-785-2021, 2021
Short summary
Short summary
Plant organs, such as leaves, contain a variety of chemicals that are eventually deposited into soil and can be useful for studying organic carbon cycling. We performed a systematic review of available data of one type of plant-derived chemical, n-alkanes, to determine patterns of degradation or preservation from the source plant to the soil. We found that while there was degradation in the amount of n-alkanes from plant to soil, some aspects of the chemical signature were preserved.
Benjamin Bukombe, Peter Fiener, Alison M. Hoyt, Laurent K. Kidinda, and Sebastian Doetterl
SOIL, 7, 639–659, https://doi.org/10.5194/soil-7-639-2021, https://doi.org/10.5194/soil-7-639-2021, 2021
Short summary
Short summary
Through a laboratory incubation experiment, we investigated the spatial patterns of specific maximum heterotrophic respiration in tropical African mountain forest soils developed from contrasting parent material along slope gradients. We found distinct differences in soil respiration between soil depths and geochemical regions related to soil fertility and the chemistry of the soil solution. The topographic origin of our samples was not a major determinant of the observed rates of respiration.
Patricia Merdy, Yves Lucas, Bruno Coulomb, Adolpho J. Melfi, and Célia R. Montes
SOIL, 7, 585–594, https://doi.org/10.5194/soil-7-585-2021, https://doi.org/10.5194/soil-7-585-2021, 2021
Short summary
Short summary
Transfer of organic C from topsoil to deeper horizons and the water table is little documented, especially in equatorial environments, despite high primary productivity in the evergreen forest. Using column experiments with podzol soil and a percolating solution sampled in an Amazonian podzol area, we show how the C-rich Bh horizon plays a role in natural organic matter transfer and Si, Fe and Al mobility after a kaolinitic layer transition, thus giving insight to the genesis of tropical podzol.
Jörg Schnecker, D. Boone Meeden, Francisco Calderon, Michel Cavigelli, R. Michael Lehman, Lisa K. Tiemann, and A. Stuart Grandy
SOIL, 7, 547–561, https://doi.org/10.5194/soil-7-547-2021, https://doi.org/10.5194/soil-7-547-2021, 2021
Short summary
Short summary
Drought and flooding challenge agricultural systems and their management globally. Here we investigated the response of soils from long-term agricultural field sites with simple and diverse crop rotations to either drought or flooding. We found that irrespective of crop rotation complexity, soil and microbial properties were more resistant to flooding than to drought and highly resilient to drought and flooding during single or repeated stress pulses.
Mario Reichenbach, Peter Fiener, Gina Garland, Marco Griepentrog, Johan Six, and Sebastian Doetterl
SOIL, 7, 453–475, https://doi.org/10.5194/soil-7-453-2021, https://doi.org/10.5194/soil-7-453-2021, 2021
Short summary
Short summary
In deeply weathered tropical rainforest soils of Africa, we found that patterns of soil organic carbon stocks differ between soils developed from geochemically contrasting parent material due to differences in the abundance of organo-mineral complexes, the presence/absence of chemical stabilization mechanisms of carbon with minerals and the presence of fossil organic carbon from sedimentary rocks. Physical stabilization mechanisms by aggregation provide additional protection of soil carbon.
Fabian Kalks, Gabriel Noren, Carsten W. Mueller, Mirjam Helfrich, Janet Rethemeyer, and Axel Don
SOIL, 7, 347–362, https://doi.org/10.5194/soil-7-347-2021, https://doi.org/10.5194/soil-7-347-2021, 2021
Short summary
Short summary
Sedimentary rocks contain organic carbon that may end up as soil carbon. However, this source of soil carbon is overlooked and has not been quantified sufficiently. We analysed 10 m long sediment cores with three different sedimentary rocks. All sediments contain considerable amounts of geogenic carbon contributing 3 %–12 % to the total soil carbon below 30 cm depth. The low 14C content of geogenic carbon can result in underestimations of soil carbon turnover derived from 14C data.
Maximilian Kirsten, Robert Mikutta, Didas N. Kimaro, Karl-Heinz Feger, and Karsten Kalbitz
SOIL, 7, 363–375, https://doi.org/10.5194/soil-7-363-2021, https://doi.org/10.5194/soil-7-363-2021, 2021
Short summary
Short summary
Mineralogical combinations of aluminous clay and pedogenic Fe oxides revealed significant effects on soil structure and related organic carbon (OC) storage.
The mineralogical combination resulting in the largest aggregate stability does not better preserve OC during conversion of forests into croplands.
Structural changes in the direction of smaller mean weight diameters do not cancel out the stabilizing effect of soil minerals.
Sophie F. von Fromm, Alison M. Hoyt, Markus Lange, Gifty E. Acquah, Ermias Aynekulu, Asmeret Asefaw Berhe, Stephan M. Haefele, Steve P. McGrath, Keith D. Shepherd, Andrew M. Sila, Johan Six, Erick K. Towett, Susan E. Trumbore, Tor-G. Vågen, Elvis Weullow, Leigh A. Winowiecki, and Sebastian Doetterl
SOIL, 7, 305–332, https://doi.org/10.5194/soil-7-305-2021, https://doi.org/10.5194/soil-7-305-2021, 2021
Short summary
Short summary
We investigated various soil and climate properties that influence soil organic carbon (SOC) concentrations in sub-Saharan Africa. Our findings indicate that climate and geochemistry are equally important for explaining SOC variations. The key SOC-controlling factors are broadly similar to those for temperate regions, despite differences in soil development history between the two regions.
Cited articles
Baldock, J. A. and Skjemstad, J. O.: Role of the soil matrix and minerals in
protecting natural organic materials against biological attack, Org.
Geochem., 31, 697–710, 2000.
Bartko, J. J. and Pettigrew, K. D.: The Teacher's Corner: A Note on the
Correlation of Parts with Wholes, Am. Stat., 22, p. 41,
1968.
Bartoń, K.: MuMIn: Multi-model inference, R package version 1.9. 13, The
Comprehensive R Archive Network (CRAN), Vienna, Austria, 1–76, 2013.
Basile-Doelsch, I., Amundson, R., Stone, W. E. E., Masiello, C. A., Bottero,
J. Y., Colin, F., Masin, F., Borschneck, D., and Meunier, J. D.:
Mineralogical control of organic carbon dynamics in a volcanic ash soil on
La Réunion, Eur. J. Soil Sci., 56, 689–703, 2005.
Batjes, N. H.: Total carbon and nitrogen in the soils of the world, Eur.
J. Soil Sci., 47, 151–163, 1996.
Batjes, N. H. and Dijkshoorn, J. A.: Carbon and nitrogen stocks in the soils
of the Amazon Region, Geoderma, 89, 273–286, 1999.
Bird, M. I., Veenendaal, E. M., and Lloyd, J. J.: Soil carbon inventories and
δ13C along a moisture gradient in Botswana, Glob. Change
Biol., 10, 342–349, https://doi.org/10.1046/j.1365-2486.2003.00695.x, 2004.
Bish, D. L. and Reynolds, R. C.: Sample preparation for X-ray diffraction,
Rev. Mineral. Geochem., 20, 73–99, 1989.
Boudot, J. P., Hadj, A. B., Steiman, R., and Seigle-Murandi, F.:
Biodegradation of synthetic organo-metallic complexes of iron and aluminium
with selected metal to carbon ratios, Soil Biol. Biochem., 21,
961–966, 1989.
Bradford, M. A., Davies, C. A., Frey, S. D., Maddox, T. R., Melillo, J. M.,
Mohan, J. E., Reynolds, J. F., Treseder, K. K., and Wallenstein, M. D.:
Thermal adaptation of soil microbial respiration to elevated temperature,
Ecol. Lett., 11, 1316–1327, 2008.
Bruun, T. B., Elberling, B., and Christensen, B. T.: Lability of soil organic
carbon in tropical soils with different clay minerals, Soil Biol.
Biochem., 42, 888–895, 2010.
Buol, S. W., Southard, R. J., Graham, R. C., and McDaniel, P. A.: Soil
genesis and classification, John Wiley & Sons, 543 pp., 2011.
Burke, I. C., Yonker, C. M., Parton, W. J., Cole, C. V., Schimel, D. S., and
Flach, K.: Texture, climate, and cultivation effects on soil organic matter
content in US grassland soils, Soil Sci. Soc. Am. J.,
53, 800–805, 1989.
Chauvel, A., Lucas, Y., and Boulet, R.: On the genesis of the soil mantle of
the region of Manaus, Central Amazonia, Brazil, Cell. Mol. Life
Sci., 43, 234–241, https://doi.org/10.1007/bf01945546, 1987.
Chayes, F.: Ratio correlation: a manual for students of petrology and
geochemistry, University of Chicago Press, 99 pp., 1971.
Coley, P. D., Bryant, J. P., and Chapin, F. S. I.: Resource availability and
plant antiherbivore defense, Science, 230, 895–899,
https://doi.org/10.1126/science.230.4728.895, 1985.
Cornell, R. M. and Schwertmann, U.: The iron oxides: structure, properties,
reactions, occurrences and uses, John Wiley & Sons, 137 pp., 2003.
Cotrufo, M. F., Wallenstein, M. D., Boot, C. M., Denef, K., and Paul, E.: The
M icrobial E fficiency-M atrix S tabilization (MEMS) framework integrates
plant litter decomposition with soil organic matter stabilization: do labile
plant inputs form stable soil organic matter?, Glob. Change Biol., 19,
988–995, 2013.
Delvaux, B., Herbillon, A. J., and Vielvoye, L.: Characterization of a
weathering sequence of soils derived from volcanic ash in Cameroon:
Taxonomic, mineralogical and agronomic implications, Geoderma, 45, 375–388,
https://doi.org/10.1016/0016-7061(89)90017-7, 1989.
de Mendiburu, F.: Statistical procedures for agricultural research. Package “Agricolae”, version 1.4-4, Comprehensive R Archive Network, Institute for Statistics and Mathematics, Vienna, Austria, available at: http://cran.r-project.org/web/packages/agricolae/agricolae.pdf (last access: 15 May 2019), 2013.
Denef, K., Plante, A. F., and Six, J.: Characterization of soil organic
matter, in: Soil carbon dynamics: An integrated methodology, Cambridge
University Press, 91–126, 2010.
Deng, Q., Hui, D., Zhang, D., Zhou, G., Liu, J., Liu, S., Chu, G., and Li,
J.: Effects of precipitation increase on soil respiration: a three-year
field experiment in subtropical forests in China, PLoS One, 7, e41493, https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0041493,
2012.
Dick, D. P., Gonçalves, C. N., Dalmolin, R. S., Knicker, H., Klamt, E.,
Kögel-Knabner, I., Simões, M. L., and Martin-Neto, L.:
Characteristics of soil organic matter of different Brazilian Ferralsols
under native vegetation as a function of soil depth, Geoderma, 124,
319–333, 2005.
Do Nascimento, N. R., Bueno, G. T., Fritsch, E., Herbillon, A. J., Allard,
T., Melfi, A. J., Astolfo, R., Boucher, H., and Li, Y.: Podzolization as a
deferralitization process: a study of an Acrisol–Podzol sequence derived
from Palaeozoic sandstones in the northern upper Amazon Basin, Eur.
J. Soil Sci., 55, 523–538, 2004.
Driessen, P., Deckers, J., Spaargaren, O., and Nachtergaele, F.: Lecture
notes on the major soils of the world, Food and Agriculture Organization
(FAO), 334 pp., 2000.
Eusterhues, K., Rumpel, C., and Kögel-Knabner, I.: Stabilization of soil
organic matter isolated via oxidative degradation, Org. Geochem.,
36, 1567–1575, 2005.
Feller, C. and Beare, M. H.: Physical control of soil organic matter
dynamics in the tropics, Geoderma, 79, 69–116, 1997.
Fine, P. V., Mesones, I., and Coley, P. D.: Herbivores promote habitat
specialization by trees in Amazonian forests, Science, 305, 663–665,
2004.
Fittkau, E. J.: Esboco de uma divisao ecologica da regiao Amazonica, edited
by: Idrobo, I. M., 363–372, 1971.
Gee, G. W. and Bauder, J. W.: Particle-size analysis, in: Methods in Soil
Analysis, Part 1, Physical and Mineralogical Methods, edited by: Klute, A.,
American Society of Agronomy and Soil Science Society of
America, Madison, Wisconsin, USA, 383–409, 1986.
Giraudoux, P.: pgirmess: data analysis in ecology, R package version 1.5. 8,
R Foundation for Statistical Computing Vienna, Austria, 64 pp., 2013.
Glinski, J. and Lipiec, J.: Soil physical conditions and plant roots. CRC press. Boca Raton, FL, 250 pp., 1990.
Hartemink, A. E. and Huting, J.: Land cover, extent, and properties of
Arenosols in Southern Africa, Arid Land Res. Manag., 22,
134–147, 2008.
Herrera, R., Jordan, C. F., Klinge, H., and Medina, E.: Amazon ecosystems:
Their structure and functioning with particular emphasis on nutrients,
Interciencia, 3, 223–232, 1978.
Hoorn, C. and Wesselingh, F.: Amazonia: landscape and species evolution: a
look into the past, John Wiley & Sons, 447 pp., 2011.
Hoorn, C., Wesselingh, F. P., Ter Steege, H., Bermudez, M. A., Mora, A.,
Sevink, J., Sanmartín, I., Sanchez-Meseguer, A., Anderson, C. L., and
Figueiredo, J. P.: Amazonia through time: Andean uplift, climate change,
landscape evolution, and biodiversity, Science, 330, 927–931, 2010.
Irion, G.: Soil infertility in the Amazonian rain forest,
Naturwissenschaften, 65, 515–519, https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00439791, 1978.
IUSS: (International Union of Soil Science) Working Group WRB: 70 World Reference Base for Soil Resources 2014, International Soil Classification System For Naming Soils And Creating Legends For Soil Maps, Rome, 2014.
Jahn, R., Blume, H.-P., Asio, V. B., Spaargaren, O., and Schad, P.:
Guidelines for soil description, FAO, Rome, 97 pp., 2006.
Kahle, M., Kleber, M., Torn, M. S., and Jahn, R.: Carbon storage in coarse
and fine clay fractions of illitic soils, Soil Sci. Soc. Am.
J., 67, 1732–1739, 2003.
Kahle, M., Kleber, M., and Jahn, R.: Retention of dissolved organic matter by
phyllosilicate and soil clay fractions in relation to mineral properties,
Org. Geochem., 35, 269–276, 2004.
Kaiser, K. and Guggenberger, G.: Mineral surfaces and soil organic matter,
Eur. J. Soil Sci., 54, 219–236,
https://doi.org/10.1046/j.1365-2389.2003.00544.x, 2003.
Kaiser, K. and Zech, W.: Sorption of dissolved organic nitrogen by acid
subsoil horizons and individual mineral phases, Eur. J. Soil
Sci., 51, 403–411, 2000.
Kaiser, K., Mikutta, R., and Guggenberger, G.: Increased stability of organic
matter sorbed to ferrihydrite and goethite on aging, Soil Sci. Soc.
Am. J., 71, 711–719, 2007.
Kalbitz, K. and Kaiser, K.: Contribution of dissolved organic matter to
carbon storage in forest mineral soils, J. Plant Nutr. Soil
Sci., 171, 52–60, 2008.
Kitagawa, Y.: Goethite and hematite in some solls from the amazon region,
Soil Sci. Plant Nutr., 29, 209–217, 1983.
Kleber, M., Mikutta, R., Torn, M. S., and Jahn, R.: Poorly crystalline
mineral phases protect organic matter in acid subsoil horizons, Eur.
J. Soil Sci., 56, 717–725, 2005.
Kleber, M., Eusterhues, K., Keiluweit, M., Mikutta, C., Mikutta, R., and
Nico, P. S.: Mineral–organic associations: formation, properties, and
relevance in soil environments, in Advances in agronomy,
Elsevier, 130, 1–140, 2015.
Lloyd, J. and Farquhar, G. D.: Effects of rising temperatures and [CO2] on
the physiology of tropical forest trees, Philos. T.
R. Soc. B, 363, 1811–1817, https://doi.org/10.1098/rstb.2007.0032, 2008.
Lloyd, J., Bloomfield, K., Domingues, T. F., and Farquhar, G. D.:
Photosynthetically relevant foliar traits correlating better on a mass vs. an
area basis: of ecophysiological relevance or just a case of mathematical
imperatives and statistical quicksand?, New Phytol., 199, 311–321,
2013.
Luizão, F. J. and Schubart, H. O. R.: Litter production and
decomposition in a terra-firme forest of Central Amazonia, Experientia,
43, 259–265, 1987.
Lynch, J. M. and Bragg, E.: Microorganisms and soil aggregate stability, in:
Advances in soil science, Springer, 133–171, 1985.
Marques, J. J., Teixeira, W. G., Schulze, D. G., and Curi, N.: Mineralogy of
soils with unusually high exchangeable Al from the western Amazon Region,
Clay Miner., 37, 651–661, 2002.
Mikutta, R., Kleber, M., and Jahn, R.: Poorly crystalline minerals protect
organic carbon in clay subfractions from acid subsoil horizons, Geoderma,
128, 106–115, 2005.
Mikutta, R., Mikutta, C., Kalbitz, K., Scheel, T., Kaiser, K., and Jahn, R.:
Biodegradation of forest floor organic matter bound to minerals via
different binding mechanisms, Geochim. Cosmochim. Ac., 71,
2569–2590, 2007.
Nelson, D. W. and Sommers, L. E.: Total carbon and total nitrogen, in:
Methods of Soil Analysis: Part 3 – Chemical Methods, edited by: Sparks, D. L.,
American Society of Agronomy/Soil Science Society of America,
Madison, WI, 961–1010, 1996.
Nierop, K. G., Jansen, B., and Verstraten, J. M.: Dissolved organic matter,
aluminium and iron interactions: precipitation induced by metal/carbon
ratio, pH and competition, Sci. Total Environ., 300,
201–211, 2002.
Oades, J. M.: The role of biology in the formation, stabilization and
degradation of soil structure, in: Soil Structure/Soil Biota
Interrelationships, Elsevier, 377–400, 1993.
Oades, J. M.: An Introduction to Organic Matter in Mineral Soils, in: Minerals in Soil Environments, edited by: Dixon, J. B. and Weed, S. B., 89–159, https://doi.org/10.2136/sssabookser1.2ed.c3, 2018.
Parfitt, R. L. and Childs, C. W.: Estimation of forms of Fe and Al-a review,
and analysis of contrasting soils by dissolution and Mossbauer methods, Soil
Res., 26, 121–144, 1988.
Parfitt, R. L., Theng, B. K. G., Whitton, J. S., and Shepherd, T. G.: Effects
of clay minerals and land use on organic matter pools, Geoderma, 75,
1–12, 1997.
Paul, S., Flessa, H., Veldkamp, E., and López-Ulloa, M.: Stabilization of
recent soil carbon in the humid tropics following land use changes: evidence
from aggregate fractionation and stable isotope analyses, Biogeochemistry,
87, 247–263, 2008.
Paz, C. P.: Distribuição das frações do carbono orgânico
nos solos de florestas maduras na bacia Amazônica: o papel das
propriedades do solo, da qualidade da liteira e do clima, MSc thesis, Instituto Nacional de Pesquisas da Amazô̂nia, Brazil, 62 pp., 2011.
Pella, E.: Elemental organic analysis, Part 2, State of the art, Am.
Lab., 22, 28–32, 1990.
Percival, H. J., Parfitt, R. L., and Scott, N. A.: Factors controlling soil
carbon levels in New Zealand grasslands is clay content important?, Soil
Sci. Soc. Am. J., 64, 1623–1630, 2000.
Pleysier, J. L. and Juo, A. S. R.: A single-extraction method using
silver-thiourea for measuring exchangeable cations and effective CEC in
soils with variable charges, Soil Sci., 129, 205–211, 1980.
Quesada, C. A. and Lloyd, J.: Soil–Vegetation Interactions in Amazonia, in:
Interactions Between Biosphere, Atmosphere and Human Land Use in the Amazon
Basin, edited by: Nagy, L., Forsberg, B. R., and Artaxo, P.,
Springer Berlin Heidelberg, Berlin, Heidelberg, 267–299, 2016.
Quesada, C. A., Lloyd, J., Schwarz, M., Patiño, S., Baker, T. R.,
Czimczik, C., Fyllas, N. M., Martinelli, L., Nardoto, G. B., Schmerler, J.,
Santos, A. J. B., Hodnett, M. G., Herrera, R., Luizão, F. J., Arneth,
A., Lloyd, G., Dezzeo, N., Hilke, I., Kuhlmann, I., Raessler, M., Brand, W.
A., Geilmann, H., Moraes Filho, J. O., Carvalho, F. P., Araujo Filho, R. N.,
Chaves, J. E., Cruz Junior, O. F., Pimentel, T. P., and Paiva, R.: Variations
in chemical and physical properties of Amazon forest soils in relation to
their genesis, Biogeosciences, 7, 1515–1541, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-7-1515-2010, 2010.
Quesada, C. A., Lloyd, J., Anderson, L. O., Fyllas, N. M., Schwarz, M., and
Czimczik, C. I.: Soils of Amazonia with particular reference to the RAINFOR
sites, Biogeosciences, 8, 1415–1440, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-8-1415-2011,
2011.
Quesada, C. A., Phillips, O. L., Schwarz, M., Czimczik, C. I., Baker, T. R.,
Patiño, S., Fyllas, N. M., Hodnett, M. G., Herrera, R., Almeida, S.,
Alvarez Dávila, E., Arneth, A., Arroyo, L., Chao, K. J., Dezzeo, N.,
Erwin, T., di Fiore, A., Higuchi, N., Honorio Coronado, E., Jimenez, E. M.,
Killeen, T. J., Lezama, A. T., Lloyd, G., López-González, G.,
Luizão, F. J., Malhi, Y., Monteagudo, A., Neill, D. A., Núñez
Vargas, P., Paiva, R., Peacock, J., Peñuela, M. C., Peña Cruz, A.,
Pitman, N., Priante Filho, N., Prieto, A., Ramírez, H., Rudas, A.,
Salomão, R., Santos, A. J. B., Schmerler, J., Silva, N., Silveira, M.,
Vásquez, R., Vieira, I., Terborgh, J., and Lloyd, J.: Basin-wide
variations in Amazon forest structure and function are mediated by both
soils and climate, Biogeosciences, 9, 2203–2246,
https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-9-2203-2012, 2012.
Quesada, C. A. N.: Soil vegetation interactions across Amazonia, University
of Leeds (School of Geography), 236 pp., 2008.
R Development Core Team: R: A Language and Environment for Statistical
Computing, edited by: Austria, R., Foundation for Statistical Computing Vienna
Austria, 0(01/19), ISBN 3-900051-07-0, 2012.
Richter, D. D. and Babbar, L. I.: Soil diversity in the tropics, Elsevier, Adv.
Ecol. Res., 21, 315–389, 1991.
Saggar, S., Parshotam, A., Sparling, G. P., Feltham, C. W., and Hart, P. B.
S.: 14C-labelled ryegrass turnover and residence times in soils varying in
clay content and mineralogy, Soil Biol. Biochem., 28,
1677–1686, 1996.
Saggar, S., Parshotam, A., Hedley, C., and Salt, G.: 14C-labelled glucose
turnover in New Zealand soils, Soil Biol. Biochem., 31,
2025–2037, 1999.
Saidy, A. R., Smernik, R. J., Baldock, J. A., Kaiser, K., Sanderman, J., and
Macdonald, L. M.: Effects of clay mineralogy and hydrous iron oxides on
labile organic carbon stabilisation, Geoderma, 173, 104–110, 2012.
Saiz, G., Bird, M. I., Domingues, T. F., Schrodt, F., Schwarz, M.,
Feldpausch, T. R., Veenendaal, E. M., Djagbletey, G., Hien, F., Compaore,
H., Diallo, A., and Lloyd, J.: Variation in soil carbon stocks and their
determinants across a precipitation gradient in West Africa, Glob. Change
Biol., 18, 1670–1683, https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1365-2486.2012.02657.x, 2012.
Saiz, G., Bird, M., Wurster, C., Quesada, C. A., Ascough, P., Domingues, T.,
Schrodt, F., Schwarz, M., Feldpausch, T. R., Veenendaal, E., Djagbletey, G.,
Jacobsen, G., Hien, F., Compaore, H., Diallo, A., and Lloyd, J.: The
influence of C3 and C4 vegetation on soil organic matter dynamics in
contrasting semi-natural tropical ecosystems, Biogeosciences, 12,
5041–5059, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-12-5041-2015, 2015.
Sanchez, P. A.: Properties and Management of Soils in the Tropics, Wiley,
New York, 618 pp., 1976.
Scheel, T., Dörfler, C., and Kalbitz, K.: Precipitation of dissolved
organic matter by aluminum stabilizes carbon in acidic forest soils, Soil
Sci. Soc. Am. J., 71, 64–74, 2007.
Scheel, T., Haumaier, L., Ellerbrock, R. H., Rühlmann, J., and Kalbitz,
K.: Properties of organic matter precipitated from acidic forest soil
solutions, Org. Geochem., 39, 1439–1453, 2008.
Schrumpf, M., Kaiser, K., Guggenberger, G., Persson, T., Kögel-Knabner, I., and Schulze, E.-D.: Storage and stability of organic carbon in soils as related to depth, occlusion within aggregates, and attachment to minerals, Biogeosciences, 10, 1675–1691, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-10-1675-2013, 2013.
Schwertmann, U., Wagner, F., and Knicker, H.: Ferrihydrite–humic
associations, Soil Sci. Soc. Am. J., 69, 1009–1015,
2005.
Siegel, S. and Castellan Jr., N.: Nonparametric statistics for the
behavioural sciences, 2nd Edn., McGraw-Hill, Boston, 399 pp., 1998.
Sioli, H.: The Amazon and its main affluents: hydrography, morphology of the
river courses, and river types, in: The Amazon, Springer,
127–165, 1984.
Six, J., Bossuyt, H., Degryze, S., and Denef, K.: A history of research on
the link between (micro) aggregates, soil biota, and soil organic matter
dynamics, Soil Till. Res., 79, 7–31, 2004.
Sollins, P., Homann, P., and Caldwell, B. A.: Stabilization and
destabilization of soil organic matter: mechanisms and controls, Geoderma,
74, 65–105, 1996.
Sombroek, W. G.: A Reconnaissance of the Soils of the Brazilian Amazon
Region, Centre for Agricultural Publications and Documentation, Wageningen, 292 pp.,
1966.
Sombroek, W. G.: Soils of the Amazon region, in The Amazon,
Springer, 521–535, 1984.
Sombroek, W. G.: Amazon landforms and soils in relation to biological
diversity, Acta Amazon., 30, 81–100, 2000.
Telles, E. de C. C., de Camargo, P. B., Martinelli, L. A., Trumbore, S. E.,
da Costa, E. S., Santos, J., Higuchi, N., and Oliveira Jr., R. C.: Influence
of soil texture on carbon dynamics and storage potential in tropical forest
soils of Amazonia, Global Biogeochem. Cy., 17, 1–12, 2003.
Tiessen, H. and Moir, J. O.: Total and Organic Carbon, in: Soil Sampling and
Methods of Analysis, edited by: Carter, M. R., 187–199, Lewis Publishers,
Boca Raton, FL, 1993.
Tisdall, J. M. and Oades, J.: Organic matter and water-stable aggregates in
soils, J. Soil Sci., 33, 141–163, 1982.
Trumbore, S. and Barbosa De Camargo, P.: Soil carbon dynamics, Amazonia and
Global Change, 186, 451–462, 2009.
Trumbore, S. E. and Zheng, S.: Comparison of fractionation methods for soil
organic matter 14C analysis, Radiocarbon, 38, 219–229, 1996.
van den Boogaart, K. G. and Tolosana-Delgado, R.: “Compositions”: a
unified R package to analyze compositional data, Comput. Geosci.,
34, 320–338, 2008.
van Lützow, M., Kögel-Knabner, I., Ekschmitt, K., Matzner, E.,
Guggenberger, G., Marschner, B., and Flessa, H.: Stabilization of organic
matter in temperate soils: mechanisms and their relevance under different
soil conditions – a review, Eur. J. Soil Sci., 57,
426–445, 2006.
Van Reeuwijk, L. P.: Procedures for soil analysis, 6th Edn., International
Soil Reference Information Centre, ISRIC, Wageningen, The Netherlands,
2002.
Van Soest, P. J.: Use of detergents in the analysis of fibrous feeds, 2. A
rapid method for the determination of fiber and lignin, J.
Assoc. Off. Agr. Chem., 46, 829–835, 1963.
Van Veen, J. A. and Kuikman, P. J.: Soil structural aspects of decomposition
of organic matter by micro-organisms, Biogeochemistry, 11, 213–233,
1990.
Wagai, R. and Mayer, L. M.: Sorptive stabilization of organic matter in
soils by hydrous iron oxides, Geochim. Cosmochim. Ac., 71,
25–35, 2007.
West, L. T., Beinroth, F. H., Sumner, M. E., and Kang, B. T.: Ultisols:
Characteristics and impacts on society, in: Advances in Agronomy, Vol. 63,
Elsevier, 179–236, 1997.
Wiseman, C. L. S. and Püttmann, W.: Interactions between mineral phases
in the preservation of soil organic matter, Geoderma, 134, 109–118,
2006.
Wurster, C. M., Saiz, G., Calder, A., and Bird, M. I.: Recovery of organic
matter from mineral-rich sediment and soils for stable isotope analyses
using static dense media, Rapid Commun. Mass Sp., 24,
165–168, 2010.
Zimmermann, M., Leifeld, J., Schmidt, M. W. I., Smith, P., and Fuhrer, J.:
Measured soil organic matter fractions can be related to pools in the RothC
model, Eur. J. Soil Sci., 58, 658–667, 2007.
Short summary
Amazon soils hold as much carbon (C) as is contained in the vegetation. In this work we sampled soils across 8 different Amazonian countries to try to understand which soil properties control current Amazonian soil C concentrations. We confirm previous knowledge that highly developed soils hold C through clay content interactions but also show a previously unreported mechanism of soil C stabilization in the younger Amazonian soil types which hold C through aluminium organic matter interactions.
Amazon soils hold as much carbon (C) as is contained in the vegetation. In this work we sampled...
