Articles | Volume 7, issue 2
https://doi.org/10.5194/soil-7-453-2021
© Author(s) 2021. 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-7-453-2021
© Author(s) 2021. This work is distributed under
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.
Original research article
| 
02 Aug 2021
Original research article |
| 02 Aug 2021
| 02 Aug 2021
The role of geochemistry in organic carbon stabilization against microbial decomposition in tropical rainforest soils
Mario Reichenbach
CORRESPONDING AUTHOR
Institute of Geography, Augsburg University, 86159 Augsburg, Germany
Peter Fiener
Institute of Geography, Augsburg University, 86159 Augsburg, Germany
Gina Garland
Department of Environmental System Science, ETH Zurich, 8092 Zurich, Switzerland
Marco Griepentrog
Department of Environmental System Science, ETH Zurich, 8092 Zurich, Switzerland
Johan Six
Department of Environmental System Science, ETH Zurich, 8092 Zurich, Switzerland
Sebastian Doetterl
Institute of Geography, Augsburg University, 86159 Augsburg, Germany
Department of Environmental System Science, ETH Zurich, 8092 Zurich, Switzerland
Related authors
Laura Summerauer, Philipp Baumann, Leonardo Ramirez-Lopez, Matti Barthel, Marijn Bauters, Benjamin Bukombe, Mario Reichenbach, Pascal Boeckx, Elizabeth Kearsley, Kristof Van Oost, Bernard Vanlauwe, Dieudonné Chiragaga, Aimé Bisimwa Heri-Kazi, Pieter Moonen, Andrew Sila, Keith Shepherd, Basile Bazirake Mujinya, Eric Van Ranst, Geert Baert, Sebastian Doetterl, and Johan Six
SOIL, 7, 693–715, https://doi.org/10.5194/soil-7-693-2021, https://doi.org/10.5194/soil-7-693-2021, 2021
Short summary
Short summary
We present a soil mid-infrared library with over 1800 samples from central Africa in order to facilitate soil analyses of this highly understudied yet critical area. Together with an existing continental library, we demonstrate a regional analysis and geographical extrapolation to predict total carbon and nitrogen. Our results show accurate predictions and highlight the value that the data contribute to existing libraries. Our library is openly available for public use and for expansion.
Sebastian Doetterl, Rodrigue K. Asifiwe, Geert Baert, Fernando Bamba, Marijn Bauters, Pascal Boeckx, Benjamin Bukombe, Georg Cadisch, Matthew Cooper, Landry N. Cizungu, Alison Hoyt, Clovis Kabaseke, Karsten Kalbitz, Laurent Kidinda, Annina Maier, Moritz Mainka, Julia Mayrock, Daniel Muhindo, Basile B. Mujinya, Serge M. Mukotanyi, Leon Nabahungu, Mario Reichenbach, Boris Rewald, Johan Six, Anna Stegmann, Laura Summerauer, Robin Unseld, Bernard Vanlauwe, Kristof Van Oost, Kris Verheyen, Cordula Vogel, Florian Wilken, and Peter Fiener
Earth Syst. Sci. Data, 13, 4133–4153, https://doi.org/10.5194/essd-13-4133-2021, https://doi.org/10.5194/essd-13-4133-2021, 2021
Short summary
Short summary
The African Tropics are hotspots of modern-day land use change and are of great relevance for the global carbon cycle. Here, we present data collected as part of the DFG-funded project TropSOC along topographic, land use, and geochemical gradients in the eastern Congo Basin and the Albertine Rift. Our database contains spatial and temporal data on soil, vegetation, environmental properties, and land management collected from 136 pristine tropical forest and cropland plots between 2017 and 2020.
Vira Leng, Rémi Cardinael, Florent Tivet, Vang Seng, Phearum Mark, Pascal Lienhard, Titouan Filloux, Johan Six, Lyda Hok, Stéphane Boulakia, Clever Briedis, João Carlos de Moraes Sá, and Laurent Thuriès
SOIL, 10, 699–725, https://doi.org/10.5194/soil-10-699-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/soil-10-699-2024, 2024
Short summary
Short summary
We assessed the long-term impacts of no-till cropping systems on soil organic carbon and nitrogen dynamics down to 1 m depth under the annual upland crop productions (cassava, maize, and soybean) in the tropical climate of Cambodia. We showed that no-till systems combined with rotations and cover crops could store large amounts of carbon in the top and subsoil in both the mineral organic matter and particulate organic matter fractions. We also question nitrogen management in these systems.
Claude Raoul Müller, Johan Six, Daniel Mugendi Njiru, Bernard Vanlauwe, and Marijn Van de Broek
EGUsphere, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2024-2796, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2024-2796, 2024
Short summary
Short summary
We studied how different organic and inorganic nutrient inputs affect soil organic carbon (SOC) down to 70 cm in Kenya. After 19 years, all organic treatments increased SOC stocks as compared to the control, but mineral nitrogen had no significant effect. Manure was the organic treatment that significantly increased SOC the deepest as its effect could be observed down to 60 cm. Manure was the best strategy to limit SOC loss in croplands and maintain soil quality after deforestation.
Moritz Laub, Magdalena Necpalova, Marijn Van de Broek, Marc Corbeels, Samuel Mathu Ndungu, Monicah Wanjiku Mucheru-Muna, Daniel Mugendi, Rebecca Yegon, Wycliffe Waswa, Bernard Vanlauwe, and Johan Six
Biogeosciences, 21, 3691–3716, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-21-3691-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-21-3691-2024, 2024
Short summary
Short summary
We used the DayCent model to assess the potential impact of integrated soil fertility management (ISFM) on maize production, soil fertility, and greenhouse gas emission in Kenya. After adjustments, DayCent represented measured mean yields and soil carbon stock changes well and N2O emissions acceptably. Our results showed that soil fertility losses could be reduced but not completely eliminated with ISFM and that, while N2O emissions increased with ISFM, emissions per kilogram yield decreased.
Roxanne Daelman, Marijn Bauters, Matti Barthel, Emmanuel Bulonza, Lodewijk Lefevre, José Mbifo, Johan Six, Klaus Butterbach-Bahl, Benjamin Wolf, Ralf Kiese, and Pascal Boeckx
EGUsphere, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2024-2346, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2024-2346, 2024
Short summary
Short summary
The increase in atmospheric concentrations of several greenhouse gasses (GHG) since 1750 is attributed to human activity, however natural ecosystems, such as tropical forests, also contribute to GHG budgets. The Congo basin hosts the second largest tropical forest and is understudied. In this study, measurements of soil GHG exchange were carried out during 16 months in a tropical forest in the Congo Basin. Overall, the soil acted as a major source for CO2 and N2O and a minor sink for CH4.
Marijn Van de Broek, Gerard Govers, Marion Schrumpf, and Johan Six
EGUsphere, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2024-2205, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2024-2205, 2024
Short summary
Short summary
Soil organic carbon models are used to predict how soils affect the concentration of CO2 in the atmosphere. We show that equifinality – the phenomenon that different parameter values lead to correct overall model outputs, albeit with a different model behaviour – is an important source of model uncertainty. Our results imply that adding more complexity to soil organic carbon models is unlikely to lead to better predictions, as long as more data to constrain model parameters are not available.
Karl Auerswald, Juergen Geist, John N. Quinton, and Peter Fiener
EGUsphere, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2024-1702, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2024-1702, 2024
Short summary
Short summary
Floods, droughts, and heatwaves are increasing globally. This is often attributed to CO2-driven climate change. However, at the global scale, CO2-driven climate change neither reduces precipitation nor adequately explains droughts. Land-use change, particularly soil sealing, compaction, and drainage, are likely more significant for water losses by runoff leading to flooding and water scarcity and are therefore an important part the solution to mitigate floods, droughts, and heatwaves.
Claude Raoul Müller, Johan Six, Liesa Brosens, Philipp Baumann, Jean Paolo Gomes Minella, Gerard Govers, and Marijn Van de Broek
SOIL, 10, 349–365, https://doi.org/10.5194/soil-10-349-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/soil-10-349-2024, 2024
Short summary
Short summary
Subsoils in the tropics are not as extensively studied as those in temperate regions. In this study, the conversion of forest to agriculture in a subtropical region affected the concentration of stabilized organic carbon (OC) down to 90 cm depth, while no significant differences between 90 cm and 300 cm were detected. Our results suggest that subsoils below 90 cm are unlikely to accumulate additional stabilized OC through reforestation over decadal periods due to declining OC input with depth.
Lena Katharina Öttl, Florian Wilken, Anna Juřicová, Pedro V. G. Batista, and Peter Fiener
SOIL, 10, 281–305, https://doi.org/10.5194/soil-10-281-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/soil-10-281-2024, 2024
Short summary
Short summary
Our long-term modelling study examines the effects of multiple soil redistribution processes on carbon dynamics in a 200 km² catchment converted from natural forest to agriculture about 1000 years ago. The modelling results stress the importance of including tillage erosion processes and long-term land use and land management changes to understand current soil-redistribution-induced carbon fluxes at the landscape scale.
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.
Raphael Rehm and Peter Fiener
SOIL, 10, 211–230, https://doi.org/10.5194/soil-10-211-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/soil-10-211-2024, 2024
Short summary
Short summary
A carbon transport model was adjusted to study the importance of water and tillage erosion processes for particular microplastic (MP) transport across a mesoscale landscape. The MP mass delivered into the stream network represented a serious amount of MP input in the same range as potential MP inputs from wastewater treatment plants. In addition, most of the MP applied to arable soils remains in the topsoil (0–20 cm) for decades. The MP sink function of soil results in a long-term MP source.
Armwell Shumba, Regis Chikowo, Christian Thierfelder, Marc Corbeels, Johan Six, and Rémi Cardinael
SOIL, 10, 151–165, https://doi.org/10.5194/soil-10-151-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/soil-10-151-2024, 2024
Short summary
Short summary
Conservation agriculture (CA), combining reduced or no tillage, permanent soil cover, and improved rotations, is often promoted as a climate-smart practice. However, our knowledge of the impact of CA on top- and subsoil soil organic carbon (SOC) stocks in the low-input cropping systems of sub-Saharan Africa is rather limited. Using two long-term experimental sites with different soil types, we found that mulch could increase top SOC stocks, but no tillage alone had a slightly negative impact.
Mosisa Tujuba Wakjira, Nadav Peleg, Johan Six, and Peter Molnar
Hydrol. Earth Syst. Sci. Discuss., https://doi.org/10.5194/hess-2024-37, https://doi.org/10.5194/hess-2024-37, 2024
Revised manuscript under review for HESS
Short summary
Short summary
While rainwater is a key resource in crop production, its productivity faces challenges from climate change. Using a simple model of climate, water, and crop yield interactions, we found that rain-scarce croplands in Ethiopia are likely to experience decreases in crop yield during the main growing season, primarily due to future temperature increases. These insights are crucial for shaping future water management plans, policies, and informed decision-making for climate adaptation.
Moritz Laub, Sergey Blagodatsky, Marijn Van de Broek, Samuel Schlichenmaier, Benjapon Kunlanit, Johan Six, Patma Vityakon, and Georg Cadisch
Geosci. Model Dev., 17, 931–956, https://doi.org/10.5194/gmd-17-931-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/gmd-17-931-2024, 2024
Short summary
Short summary
To manage soil organic matter (SOM) sustainably, we need a better understanding of the role that soil microbes play in aggregate protection. Here, we propose the SAMM model, which connects soil aggregate formation to microbial growth. We tested it against data from a tropical long-term experiment and show that SAMM effectively represents the microbial growth, SOM, and aggregate dynamics and that it can be used to explore the importance of aggregate formation in SOM stabilization.
Gina Garland, John Koestel, Alice Johannes, Olivier Heller, Sebastian Doetterl, Dani Or, and Thomas Keller
SOIL, 10, 23–31, https://doi.org/10.5194/soil-10-23-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/soil-10-23-2024, 2024
Short summary
Short summary
The concept of soil aggregates is hotly debated, leading to confusion about their function or relevancy to soil processes. We propose that the use of conceptual figures showing detached and isolated aggregates can be misleading and has contributed to this skepticism. Here, we conceptually illustrate how aggregates can form and dissipate within the context of undisturbed soils, highlighting the fact that aggregates do not necessarily need to have distinct physical boundaries.
Shane W. Stoner, Marion Schrumpf, Alison Hoyt, Carlos A. Sierra, Sebastian Doetterl, Valier Galy, and Susan Trumbore
Biogeosciences, 20, 3151–3163, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-20-3151-2023, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-20-3151-2023, 2023
Short summary
Short summary
Soils store more carbon (C) than any other terrestrial C reservoir, but the processes that control how much C stays in soil, and for how long, are very complex. Here, we used a recent method that involves heating soil in the lab to measure the range of C ages in soil. We found that most C in soil is decades to centuries old, while some stays for much shorter times (days to months), and some is thousands of years old. Such detail helps us to estimate how soil C may react to changing climate.
Moritz Laub, Marc Corbeels, Antoine Couëdel, Samuel Mathu Ndungu, Monicah Wanjiku Mucheru-Muna, Daniel Mugendi, Magdalena Necpalova, Wycliffe Waswa, Marijn Van de Broek, Bernard Vanlauwe, and Johan Six
SOIL, 9, 301–323, https://doi.org/10.5194/soil-9-301-2023, https://doi.org/10.5194/soil-9-301-2023, 2023
Short summary
Short summary
In sub-Saharan Africa, long-term low-input maize cropping threatens soil fertility. We studied how different quality organic inputs combined with mineral N fertilizer could counteract this. Farmyard manure was the best input to counteract soil carbon loss; mineral N fertilizer had no effect on carbon. Yet, the rates needed to offset soil carbon losses are unrealistic for farmers (>10 t of dry matter per hectare and year). Additional agronomic measures may be needed.
Thomas O. Hoffmann, Yannik Baulig, Stefan Vollmer, Jan H. Blöthe, Karl Auerswald, and Peter Fiener
Earth Surf. Dynam., 11, 287–303, https://doi.org/10.5194/esurf-11-287-2023, https://doi.org/10.5194/esurf-11-287-2023, 2023
Short summary
Short summary
We analyzed more than 440 000 measurements from suspended sediment monitoring to show that suspended sediment concentration (SSC) in large rivers in Germany strongly declined by 50 % between 1990 and 2010. We argue that SSC is approaching the natural base level that was reached during the mid-Holocene. There is no simple explanation for this decline, but increased sediment retention in upstream headwaters is presumably the major reason for declining SSC in the large river channels studied.
Kristof Van Oost and Johan Six
Biogeosciences, 20, 635–646, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-20-635-2023, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-20-635-2023, 2023
Short summary
Short summary
The direction and magnitude of the net erosion-induced land–atmosphere C exchange have been the topic of a big scientific debate for more than a decade now. Many have assumed that erosion leads to a loss of soil carbon to the atmosphere, whereas others have shown that erosion ultimately leads to a carbon sink. Here, we show that the soil carbon erosion source–sink paradox is reconciled when the broad range of temporal and spatial scales at which the underlying processes operate are considered.
Pedro V. G. Batista, Daniel L. Evans, Bernardo M. Cândido, and Peter Fiener
SOIL, 9, 71–88, https://doi.org/10.5194/soil-9-71-2023, https://doi.org/10.5194/soil-9-71-2023, 2023
Short summary
Short summary
Most agricultural soils erode faster than new soil is formed, which leads to soil thinning. Here, we used a model simulation to investigate how soil erosion and soil thinning can alter topsoil properties and change its susceptibility to erosion. We found that soil profiles are sensitive to erosion-induced changes in the soil system, which mostly slow down soil thinning. These findings are likely to impact how we estimate soil lifespans and simulate long-term erosion dynamics.
Charlotte Decock, Juhwan Lee, Matti Barthel, Elizabeth Verhoeven, Franz Conen, and Johan Six
Biogeosciences Discuss., https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-2022-221, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-2022-221, 2022
Preprint withdrawn
Short summary
Short summary
One of the least well understood processes in the nitrogen (N) cycle is the loss of nitrogen gas (N2), referred to as total denitrification. This is mainly due to the difficulty of quantifying total denitrification in situ. In this study, we developed and tested a novel modeling approach to estimate total denitrification over the depth profile, based on concentrations and isotope values of N2O. Our method will help close N budgets and identify management strategies that reduce N pollution.
Pedro V. G. Batista, Peter Fiener, Simon Scheper, and Christine Alewell
Hydrol. Earth Syst. Sci., 26, 3753–3770, https://doi.org/10.5194/hess-26-3753-2022, https://doi.org/10.5194/hess-26-3753-2022, 2022
Short summary
Short summary
Patchy agricultural landscapes have a large number of small fields, which are separated by linear features such as roads and field borders. When eroded sediments are transported out of the agricultural fields by surface runoff, these features can influence sediment connectivity. By use of measured data and a simulation model, we demonstrate how a dense road network (and its drainage system) facilitates sediment transport from fields to water courses in a patchy Swiss agricultural catchment.
Tegawende Léa Jeanne Ilboudo, Lucien NGuessan Diby, Delwendé Innocent Kiba, Tor Gunnar Vågen, Leigh Ann Winowiecki, Hassan Bismarck Nacro, Johan Six, and Emmanuel Frossard
EGUsphere, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2022-209, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2022-209, 2022
Preprint withdrawn
Short summary
Short summary
Our results showed that at landscape level SOC stock variability was mainly explained by clay content. We found significant linear positive relationships between VC and SOC stocks for the land uses annual croplands, perennial croplands, grasslands and bushlands without soil depth restrictions until 110 cm. We concluded that in the forest-savanna transition zone, soil properties and topography determine land use, which in turn affects the stocks of SOC and TN and to some extent the VC stocks.
Moritz Mainka, Laura Summerauer, Daniel Wasner, Gina Garland, Marco Griepentrog, Asmeret Asefaw Berhe, and Sebastian Doetterl
Biogeosciences, 19, 1675–1689, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-19-1675-2022, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-19-1675-2022, 2022
Short summary
Short summary
The largest share of terrestrial carbon is stored in soils, making them highly relevant as regards global change. Yet, the mechanisms governing soil carbon stabilization are not well understood. The present study contributes to a better understanding of these processes. We show that qualitative changes in soil organic matter (SOM) co-vary with alterations of the soil matrix following soil weathering. Hence, the type of SOM that is stabilized in soils might change as soils develop.
Pengzhi Zhao, Daniel Joseph Fallu, Sara Cucchiaro, Paolo Tarolli, Clive Waddington, David Cockcroft, Lisa Snape, Andreas Lang, Sebastian Doetterl, Antony G. Brown, and Kristof Van Oost
Biogeosciences, 18, 6301–6312, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-18-6301-2021, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-18-6301-2021, 2021
Short summary
Short summary
We investigate the factors controlling the soil organic carbon (SOC) stability and temperature sensitivity of abandoned prehistoric agricultural terrace soils. Results suggest that the burial of former topsoil due to terracing provided an SOC stabilization mechanism. Both the soil C : N ratio and SOC mineral protection regulate soil SOC temperature sensitivity. However, which mechanism predominantly controls SOC temperature sensitivity depends on the age of the buried terrace soils.
Philipp Baumann, Juhwan Lee, Emmanuel Frossard, Laurie Paule Schönholzer, Lucien Diby, Valérie Kouamé Hgaza, Delwende Innocent Kiba, Andrew Sila, Keith Sheperd, and Johan Six
SOIL, 7, 717–731, https://doi.org/10.5194/soil-7-717-2021, https://doi.org/10.5194/soil-7-717-2021, 2021
Short summary
Short summary
This work delivers openly accessible and validated calibrations for diagnosing 26 soil properties based on mid-infrared spectroscopy. These were developed for four regions in Burkina Faso and Côte d'Ivoire, including 80 fields of smallholder farmers. The models can help to site-specifically and cost-efficiently monitor soil quality and fertility constraints to ameliorate soils and yields of yam or other staple crops in the four regions between the humid forest and the northern Guinean savanna.
Laura Summerauer, Philipp Baumann, Leonardo Ramirez-Lopez, Matti Barthel, Marijn Bauters, Benjamin Bukombe, Mario Reichenbach, Pascal Boeckx, Elizabeth Kearsley, Kristof Van Oost, Bernard Vanlauwe, Dieudonné Chiragaga, Aimé Bisimwa Heri-Kazi, Pieter Moonen, Andrew Sila, Keith Shepherd, Basile Bazirake Mujinya, Eric Van Ranst, Geert Baert, Sebastian Doetterl, and Johan Six
SOIL, 7, 693–715, https://doi.org/10.5194/soil-7-693-2021, https://doi.org/10.5194/soil-7-693-2021, 2021
Short summary
Short summary
We present a soil mid-infrared library with over 1800 samples from central Africa in order to facilitate soil analyses of this highly understudied yet critical area. Together with an existing continental library, we demonstrate a regional analysis and geographical extrapolation to predict total carbon and nitrogen. Our results show accurate predictions and highlight the value that the data contribute to existing libraries. Our library is openly available for public use and for expansion.
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.
Sebastian Doetterl, Rodrigue K. Asifiwe, Geert Baert, Fernando Bamba, Marijn Bauters, Pascal Boeckx, Benjamin Bukombe, Georg Cadisch, Matthew Cooper, Landry N. Cizungu, Alison Hoyt, Clovis Kabaseke, Karsten Kalbitz, Laurent Kidinda, Annina Maier, Moritz Mainka, Julia Mayrock, Daniel Muhindo, Basile B. Mujinya, Serge M. Mukotanyi, Leon Nabahungu, Mario Reichenbach, Boris Rewald, Johan Six, Anna Stegmann, Laura Summerauer, Robin Unseld, Bernard Vanlauwe, Kristof Van Oost, Kris Verheyen, Cordula Vogel, Florian Wilken, and Peter Fiener
Earth Syst. Sci. Data, 13, 4133–4153, https://doi.org/10.5194/essd-13-4133-2021, https://doi.org/10.5194/essd-13-4133-2021, 2021
Short summary
Short summary
The African Tropics are hotspots of modern-day land use change and are of great relevance for the global carbon cycle. Here, we present data collected as part of the DFG-funded project TropSOC along topographic, land use, and geochemical gradients in the eastern Congo Basin and the Albertine Rift. Our database contains spatial and temporal data on soil, vegetation, environmental properties, and land management collected from 136 pristine tropical forest and cropland plots between 2017 and 2020.
Philipp Baumann, Anatol Helfenstein, Andreas Gubler, Armin Keller, Reto Giulio Meuli, Daniel Wächter, Juhwan Lee, Raphael Viscarra Rossel, and Johan Six
SOIL, 7, 525–546, https://doi.org/10.5194/soil-7-525-2021, https://doi.org/10.5194/soil-7-525-2021, 2021
Short summary
Short summary
We developed the Swiss mid-infrared spectral library and a statistical model collection across 4374 soil samples with reference measurements of 16 properties. Our library incorporates soil from 1094 grid locations and 71 long-term monitoring sites. This work confirms once again that nationwide spectral libraries with diverse soils can reliably feed information to a fast chemical diagnosis. Our data-driven reduction of the library has the potential to accurately monitor carbon at the plot scale.
Joseph Tamale, Roman Hüppi, Marco Griepentrog, Laban Frank Turyagyenda, Matti Barthel, Sebastian Doetterl, Peter Fiener, and Oliver van Straaten
SOIL, 7, 433–451, https://doi.org/10.5194/soil-7-433-2021, https://doi.org/10.5194/soil-7-433-2021, 2021
Short summary
Short summary
Soil greenhouse gas (GHG) fluxes were measured monthly from nitrogen (N), phosphorous (P), N and P, and control plots of the first nutrient manipulation experiment located in an African pristine tropical forest using static chambers. The results suggest (1) contrasting soil GHG responses to nutrient addition, hence highlighting the complexity of the tropical forests, and (2) that the feedback of tropical forests to the global soil GHG budget could be altered by changes in N and P availability.
Florian Wilken, Peter Fiener, Michael Ketterer, Katrin Meusburger, Daniel Iragi Muhindo, Kristof van Oost, and Sebastian Doetterl
SOIL, 7, 399–414, https://doi.org/10.5194/soil-7-399-2021, https://doi.org/10.5194/soil-7-399-2021, 2021
Short summary
Short summary
This study demonstrates the usability of fallout radionuclides 239Pu and 240Pu as a tool to assess soil degradation processes in tropical Africa, which is particularly valuable in regions with limited infrastructure and challenging monitoring conditions for landscape-scale soil degradation monitoring. The study shows no indication of soil redistribution in forest sites but substantial soil redistribution in cropland (sedimentation >40 cm in 55 years) with high variability.
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.
Anatol Helfenstein, Philipp Baumann, Raphael Viscarra Rossel, Andreas Gubler, Stefan Oechslin, and Johan Six
SOIL, 7, 193–215, https://doi.org/10.5194/soil-7-193-2021, https://doi.org/10.5194/soil-7-193-2021, 2021
Short summary
Short summary
In this study, we show that a soil spectral library (SSL) can be used to predict soil carbon at new and very different locations. The importance of this finding is that it requires less time-consuming lab work than calibrating a new model for every local application, while still remaining similar to or more accurate than local models. Furthermore, we show that this method even works for predicting (drained) peat soils, using a SSL with mostly mineral soils containing much less soil carbon.
Simon Baumgartner, Marijn Bauters, Matti Barthel, Travis W. Drake, Landry C. Ntaboba, Basile M. Bazirake, Johan Six, Pascal Boeckx, and Kristof Van Oost
SOIL, 7, 83–94, https://doi.org/10.5194/soil-7-83-2021, https://doi.org/10.5194/soil-7-83-2021, 2021
Short summary
Short summary
We compared stable isotope signatures of soil profiles in different forest ecosystems within the Congo Basin to assess ecosystem-level differences in N cycling, and we examined the local effect of topography on the isotopic signature of soil N. Soil δ15N profiles indicated that the N cycling in in the montane forest is more closed, whereas the lowland forest and Miombo woodland experienced a more open N cycle. Topography only alters soil δ15N values in forests with high erosional forces.
Simon Baumgartner, Matti Barthel, Travis William Drake, Marijn Bauters, Isaac Ahanamungu Makelele, John Kalume Mugula, Laura Summerauer, Nora Gallarotti, Landry Cizungu Ntaboba, Kristof Van Oost, Pascal Boeckx, Sebastian Doetterl, Roland Anton Werner, and Johan Six
Biogeosciences, 17, 6207–6218, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-17-6207-2020, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-17-6207-2020, 2020
Short summary
Short summary
Soil respiration is an important carbon flux and key process determining the net ecosystem production of terrestrial ecosystems. The Congo Basin lacks studies quantifying carbon fluxes. We measured soil CO2 fluxes from different forest types in the Congo Basin and were able to show that, even though soil CO2 fluxes are similarly high in lowland and montane forests, the drivers were different: soil moisture in montane forests and C availability in the lowland forests.
Laurent K. Kidinda, Folasade K. Olagoke, Cordula Vogel, Karsten Kalbitz, and Sebastian Doetterl
SOIL Discuss., https://doi.org/10.5194/soil-2020-80, https://doi.org/10.5194/soil-2020-80, 2020
Preprint withdrawn
Short summary
Short summary
In deeply weathered tropical rainforest soils of Africa, we found that patterns of microbial processes differ between soils developed from geochemically contrasting parent materials due to differences in resource availability. Across investigated geochemical regions and soil depths, soil microbes were P-limited rather than N-limited. Topsoil microbes were more C-limited than their subsoil counterparts but inversely P-limited.
Florian Wilken, Michael Ketterer, Sylvia Koszinski, Michael Sommer, and Peter Fiener
SOIL, 6, 549–564, https://doi.org/10.5194/soil-6-549-2020, https://doi.org/10.5194/soil-6-549-2020, 2020
Short summary
Short summary
Soil redistribution by water and tillage erosion processes on arable land is a major threat to sustainable use of soil resources. We unravel the role of tillage and water erosion from fallout radionuclide (239+240Pu) activities in a ground moraine landscape. Our results show that tillage erosion dominates soil redistribution processes and has a major impact on the hydrological and sedimentological connectivity, which started before the onset of highly mechanised farming since the 1960s.
Long Ho, Ruben Jerves-Cobo, Matti Barthel, Johan Six, Samuel Bode, Pascal Boeckx, and Peter Goethals
Biogeosciences Discuss., https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-2020-311, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-2020-311, 2020
Revised manuscript not accepted
Short summary
Short summary
Rivers are being polluted by human activities, especially in urban areas. We studied the greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions from an urban river system. The results showed a clear trend between water quality and GHG emissions in which the more polluted the sites were, the higher were their emissions. When river water quality worsened, its contribution to global warming can go up by 10 times. Urban rivers emitted 4-times more than of the amount of GHGs compared to rivers in natural sites.
Marijn Van de Broek, Shiva Ghiasi, Charlotte Decock, Andreas Hund, Samuel Abiven, Cordula Friedli, Roland A. Werner, and Johan Six
Biogeosciences, 17, 2971–2986, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-17-2971-2020, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-17-2971-2020, 2020
Short summary
Short summary
Four wheat cultivars were labeled with 13CO2 to quantify the effect of rooting depth and root biomass on the belowground transfer of organic carbon. We found no clear relation between the time since cultivar development and the amount of carbon inputs to the soil. Therefore, the hypothesis that wheat cultivars with a larger root biomass and deeper roots promote carbon stabilization was rejected. The amount of root biomass that will be stabilized in the soil on the long term is, however, unknown.
Stephen J. Harris, Jesper Liisberg, Longlong Xia, Jing Wei, Kerstin Zeyer, Longfei Yu, Matti Barthel, Benjamin Wolf, Bryce F. J. Kelly, Dioni I. Cendón, Thomas Blunier, Johan Six, and Joachim Mohn
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 13, 2797–2831, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-13-2797-2020, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-13-2797-2020, 2020
Short summary
Short summary
The latest commercial laser spectrometers have the potential to revolutionize N2O isotope analysis. However, to do so, they must be able to produce trustworthy data. Here, we test the performance of widely used laser spectrometers for ambient air applications and identify instrument-specific dependencies on gas matrix and trace gas concentrations. We then provide a calibration workflow to facilitate the operation of these instruments in order to generate reproducible and accurate data.
Marco Pfeiffer, José Padarian, Rodrigo Osorio, Nelson Bustamante, Guillermo Federico Olmedo, Mario Guevara, Felipe Aburto, Francisco Albornoz, Monica Antilén, Elías Araya, Eduardo Arellano, Maialen Barret, Juan Barrera, Pascal Boeckx, Margarita Briceño, Sally Bunning, Lea Cabrol, Manuel Casanova, Pablo Cornejo, Fabio Corradini, Gustavo Curaqueo, Sebastian Doetterl, Paola Duran, Mauricio Escudey, Angelina Espinoza, Samuel Francke, Juan Pablo Fuentes, Marcel Fuentes, Gonzalo Gajardo, Rafael García, Audrey Gallaud, Mauricio Galleguillos, Andrés Gomez, Marcela Hidalgo, Jorge Ivelic-Sáez, Lwando Mashalaba, Francisco Matus, Francisco Meza, Maria de la Luz Mora, Jorge Mora, Cristina Muñoz, Pablo Norambuena, Carolina Olivera, Carlos Ovalle, Marcelo Panichini, Aníbal Pauchard, Jorge F. Pérez-Quezada, Sergio Radic, José Ramirez, Nicolás Riveras, Germán Ruiz, Osvaldo Salazar, Iván Salgado, Oscar Seguel, Maria Sepúlveda, Carlos Sierra, Yasna Tapia, Francisco Tapia, Balfredo Toledo, José Miguel Torrico, Susana Valle, Ronald Vargas, Michael Wolff, and Erick Zagal
Earth Syst. Sci. Data, 12, 457–468, https://doi.org/10.5194/essd-12-457-2020, https://doi.org/10.5194/essd-12-457-2020, 2020
Short summary
Short summary
The CHLSOC database is the biggest soil organic carbon (SOC) database that has been compiled for Chile yet, comprising 13 612 data points. This database is the product of the compilation of numerous sources including unpublished and difficult-to-access data, allowing us to fill numerous spatial gaps where no SOC estimates were publicly available before. The values of SOC compiled in CHLSOC have a wide range, reflecting the variety of ecosystems that exists in Chile.
Corey R. Lawrence, Jeffrey Beem-Miller, Alison M. Hoyt, Grey Monroe, Carlos A. Sierra, Shane Stoner, Katherine Heckman, Joseph C. Blankinship, Susan E. Crow, Gavin McNicol, Susan Trumbore, Paul A. Levine, Olga Vindušková, Katherine Todd-Brown, Craig Rasmussen, Caitlin E. Hicks Pries, Christina Schädel, Karis McFarlane, Sebastian Doetterl, Christine Hatté, Yujie He, Claire Treat, Jennifer W. Harden, Margaret S. Torn, Cristian Estop-Aragonés, Asmeret Asefaw Berhe, Marco Keiluweit, Ágatha Della Rosa Kuhnen, Erika Marin-Spiotta, Alain F. Plante, Aaron Thompson, Zheng Shi, Joshua P. Schimel, Lydia J. S. Vaughn, Sophie F. von Fromm, and Rota Wagai
Earth Syst. Sci. Data, 12, 61–76, https://doi.org/10.5194/essd-12-61-2020, https://doi.org/10.5194/essd-12-61-2020, 2020
Short summary
Short summary
The International Soil Radiocarbon Database (ISRaD) is an an open-source archive of soil data focused on datasets including radiocarbon measurements. ISRaD includes data from bulk or
whole soils, distinct soil carbon pools isolated in the laboratory by a variety of soil fractionation methods, samples of soil gas or water collected interstitially from within an intact soil profile, CO2 gas isolated from laboratory soil incubations, and fluxes collected in situ from a soil surface.
Peter Fiener, Florian Wilken, and Karl Auerswald
Adv. Geosci., 48, 31–48, https://doi.org/10.5194/adgeo-48-31-2019, https://doi.org/10.5194/adgeo-48-31-2019, 2019
Short summary
Short summary
An 8-year dataset of erosion monitoring (e.g. agricultural management, rainfall, runoff, sediment delivery) is made available. It covers 14 adjoining and partly nested watersheds (sizes 1–14 ha) that were cultivated following integrated (4 crops) and organic farming (7 crops and grassland) practices. Drivers of erosion and runoff were determined and with high spatial and temporal detail. The data set closes the gap between plot research and watershed research.
Karl Voglmeier, Johan Six, Markus Jocher, and Christof Ammann
Biogeosciences, 16, 1685–1703, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-16-1685-2019, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-16-1685-2019, 2019
Tino Colombi, Florian Walder, Lucie Büchi, Marlies Sommer, Kexing Liu, Johan Six, Marcel G. A. van der Heijden, Raphaël Charles, and Thomas Keller
SOIL, 5, 91–105, https://doi.org/10.5194/soil-5-91-2019, https://doi.org/10.5194/soil-5-91-2019, 2019
Short summary
Short summary
The role of soil aeration in carbon sequestration in arable soils has only been explored little, especially at the farm level. The current study, which was conducted on 30 fields that belong to individual farms, reveals a positive relationship between soil gas transport capability and soil organic carbon content. We therefore conclude that soil aeration needs to be accounted for when developing strategies for carbon sequestration in arable soil.
Elizabeth Verhoeven, Matti Barthel, Longfei Yu, Luisella Celi, Daniel Said-Pullicino, Steven Sleutel, Dominika Lewicka-Szczebak, Johan Six, and Charlotte Decock
Biogeosciences, 16, 383–408, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-16-383-2019, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-16-383-2019, 2019
Short summary
Short summary
This study utilized state-of-the-art measurements of nitrogen isotopes to evaluate nitrogen cycling and to assess the biological sources of the potent greenhouse gas, N2O, in response to water-saving practices in rice systems. Water-saving practices did emit more N2O, and high N2O production had a lower 15N isotope signature. Modeling and visual interpretation indicate that these emissions mostly came from denitrification or nitrifier denitrification, controlled upstream by nitrification rates.
Florian Wilken, Michael Sommer, Kristof Van Oost, Oliver Bens, and Peter Fiener
SOIL, 3, 83–94, https://doi.org/10.5194/soil-3-83-2017, https://doi.org/10.5194/soil-3-83-2017, 2017
Short summary
Short summary
Model-based analyses of the effect of soil erosion on carbon (C) dynamics are associated with large uncertainties partly resulting from oversimplifications of erosion processes. This study evaluates the need for process-oriented modelling to analyse erosion-induced C fluxes in different catchments. The results underline the importance of a detailed representation of tillage and water erosion processes. For water erosion, grain-size-specific transport is essential to simulate lateral C fluxes.
Florian Wilken, Peter Fiener, and Kristof Van Oost
Earth Surf. Dynam., 5, 113–124, https://doi.org/10.5194/esurf-5-113-2017, https://doi.org/10.5194/esurf-5-113-2017, 2017
Short summary
Short summary
This study presents a model that accounts for preferential erosion and transport of sediment and soil organic carbon in agricultural landscapes. We applied the model to a small catchment in Belgium for a period of 100 years. After a thorough model evaluation, these simulations shows that sediment and carbon export are highly episodic and that the temporal variability is largely influenced by selective erosion and deposition.
R. Hüppi, R. Felber, A. Neftel, J. Six, and J. Leifeld
SOIL, 1, 707–717, https://doi.org/10.5194/soil-1-707-2015, https://doi.org/10.5194/soil-1-707-2015, 2015
Short summary
Short summary
Biochar is considered an opportunity to tackle major environmental issues in agriculture. Adding pyrolised organic residues to soil may sequester carbon, increase yields and reduce nitrous oxide emissions from soil. It is unknown, whether the latter is induced by changes in soil pH. We show that biochar application substantially reduces nitrous oxide emissions from a temperate maize cropping system. However, the reduction was only achieved with biochar but not with liming.
C. Decock, J. Lee, M. Necpalova, E. I. P. Pereira, D. M. Tendall, and J. Six
SOIL, 1, 687–694, https://doi.org/10.5194/soil-1-687-2015, https://doi.org/10.5194/soil-1-687-2015, 2015
Short summary
Short summary
Further progress in understanding and mitigating N2O emissions from soil lies within transdisciplinary research that reaches across spatial scales and takes an ambitious look into the future.
M. S. Torn, A. Chabbi, P. Crill, P. J. Hanson, I. A. Janssens, Y. Luo, C. H. Pries, C. Rumpel, M. W. I. Schmidt, J. Six, M. Schrumpf, and B. Zhu
SOIL, 1, 575–582, https://doi.org/10.5194/soil-1-575-2015, https://doi.org/10.5194/soil-1-575-2015, 2015
B. Wolf, L. Merbold, C. Decock, B. Tuzson, E. Harris, J. Six, L. Emmenegger, and J. Mohn
Biogeosciences, 12, 2517–2531, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-12-2517-2015, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-12-2517-2015, 2015
S. Doetterl, J.-T. Cornelis, J. Six, S. Bodé, S. Opfergelt, P. Boeckx, and K. Van Oost
Biogeosciences, 12, 1357–1371, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-12-1357-2015, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-12-1357-2015, 2015
Short summary
Short summary
We link the mineralogy of soils affected by erosion and deposition to the distribution of soil carbon fractions, their turnover and microbial activity. We show that the weathering status of soils and their history are controlling the stabilization of carbon with minerals. After burial, aggregated C is preserved more efficiently while non-aggregated C can be released and younger C re-sequestered more easily. Weathering changes the effectiveness of stabilization mechanism limiting this C sink.
E. C. Brevik, A. Cerdà, J. Mataix-Solera, L. Pereg, J. N. Quinton, J. Six, and K. Van Oost
SOIL, 1, 117–129, https://doi.org/10.5194/soil-1-117-2015, https://doi.org/10.5194/soil-1-117-2015, 2015
Short summary
Short summary
This paper provides a brief accounting of some of the many ways that the study of soils can be interdisciplinary, therefore giving examples of the types of papers we hope to see submitted to SOIL.
P. Fiener, K. Auerswald, F. Winter, and M. Disse
Hydrol. Earth Syst. Sci., 17, 4121–4132, https://doi.org/10.5194/hess-17-4121-2013, https://doi.org/10.5194/hess-17-4121-2013, 2013
Related subject area
Soils and biogeochemical cycling
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
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
Freeze-thaw processes correspond to the protection-loss of soil organic carbon through regulating pore structure of aggregates in alpine ecosystems
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
Effect of colloidal particle size on physicochemical properties and aggregation behaviors of two alkaline soils
Depth-dependence of soil organic carbon additional storage capacity in different soil types by the 2050 target for carbon neutrality
Mixed signals: interpreting mixing patterns of different soil bioturbation processes through luminescence and numerical modelling
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
Comprehensive increase in CO2 release by drying-rewetting cycles among Japanese forests and pastureland soils and exploring predictors of increasing magnitude
Interactions of fertilisation and crop productivity on soil nitrogen cycle microbiome and gas emissions
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
Soil organic carbon mineralization is controlled by the application dose of exogenous organic matter
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
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
Modelling of long-term Zn, Cu, Cd and Pb dynamics from soils fertilised with organic amendments
Stable isotope signatures of soil nitrogen on an environmental–geomorphic gradient within the Congo Basin
Iron and aluminum association with microbially processed organic matter via meso-density aggregate formation across soils: organo-metallic glue hypothesis
Land-use perturbations in ley grassland decouple the degradation of ancient soil organic matter from the storage of newly derived carbon inputs
Switch of fungal to bacterial degradation in natural, drained and rewetted oligotrophic peatlands reflected in δ15N and fatty acid composition
Catchment export of base cations: improved mineral dissolution kinetics influence the role of water transit time
Boreal-forest soil chemistry drives soil organic carbon bioreactivity along a 314-year fire chronosequence
Ramped thermal analysis for isolating biologically meaningful soil organic matter fractions with distinct residence times
Variations in soil chemical and physical properties explain basin-wide Amazon forest soil carbon concentrations
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.
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.
Ruizhe Wang and Xia Hu
EGUsphere, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2024-1833, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2024-1833, 2024
Short summary
Short summary
In this paper, we studied the impact of seasonal freeze-thaw processes on pore structure and SOC fraction contents of aggregates in typical alpine ecosystems in the Qinghai Lake basin. We sampled soils in four freeze-thaw periods and pore structure was quantified using X-ray compyuted tomography. Also, we revealed that the freezing and thawing corresponded to the protection and loss for SOC of aggregates, respectively, through regulating pore structure.
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.
Yuyang Yan, Xinran Zhang, Chenyang Xu, Junjun Liu, Feinan Hu, and Zengchao Geng
EGUsphere, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2024-1266, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2024-1266, 2024
Short summary
Short summary
With decreasing colloidal particle diameter, the total carbon content, organic carbon, organic functional groups content and illite content all increased. The critical coagulation concentrations (CCCs) values of soil colloids followed the descending order of d < 100 nm, d < 1 μm, d < 2 μm, thus soil nanoparticles exhibited strongest suspension stability.
Clémentine Chirol, Geoffroy Séré, Paul-Olivier Redon, Claire Chenu, and Delphine Derrien
EGUsphere, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2024-1284, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2024-1284, 2024
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 depth that need to be preserved.
W. Marijn van der Meij, Svenja Riedesel, and Tony Reimann
EGUsphere, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2024-1466, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2024-1466, 2024
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 what type of bioturbation processes occur in a soil and a numerical model that can derive quantitative process rates from luminescence measurements.
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.
Yuri Suzuki, Syuntaro Hiradate, Jun Koarashi, Mariko Atarashi-Andoh, Takumi Yomogida, Yuki Kanda, and Hirohiko Nagano
EGUsphere, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2024-419, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2024-419, 2024
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. 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 linkage with the CO2 release increase is unclear yet.
Laura Kuusemets, Ülo Mander, Jordi Escuer-Gatius, Alar Astover, Karin Kauer, Kaido Soosaar, and Mikk Espenberg
EGUsphere, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2024-593, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2024-593, 2024
Short summary
Short summary
We investigated relationships between mineral nitrogen (N) fertilisation rates and additional manure amendment with different crop types through the analysis of soil environmental characteristics and microbiome, soil N2O and N2 emissions, and biomass production. Results show that wheat was growing well at a fertilisation rate of 80 kg N ha−1, and newly introduced sorghum showed good potential for cultivation in temperate climate.
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.
Orly Mendoza, Stefaan De Neve, Heleen Deroo, Haichao Li, Astrid Françoys, and Steven Sleutel
EGUsphere, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2024-107, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2024-107, 2024
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 experiments indicate that smaller application doses might deplete soil organic matter more rapidly. In contrast, applying intermediate or high doses might be a promising strategy for maintaining it.
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.
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.
Claudia Cagnarini, Stephen Lofts, Luigi Paolo D'Acqui, Jochen Mayer, Roman Grüter, Susan Tandy, Rainer Schulin, Benjamin Costerousse, Simone Orlandini, and Giancarlo Renella
SOIL, 7, 107–123, https://doi.org/10.5194/soil-7-107-2021, https://doi.org/10.5194/soil-7-107-2021, 2021
Short summary
Short summary
Application of organic amendments, although considered a sustainable form of soil fertilisation, may cause an accumulation of trace elements (TEs) in the topsoil. In this research, we analysed the concentration of zinc, copper, lead and cadmium in a > 60-year experiment in Switzerland and showed that the dynamic model IDMM adequately predicted the historical TE concentrations in plots amended with farmyard manure, sewage sludge and compost and produced reasonable concentration trends up to 2100.
Simon Baumgartner, Marijn Bauters, Matti Barthel, Travis W. Drake, Landry C. Ntaboba, Basile M. Bazirake, Johan Six, Pascal Boeckx, and Kristof Van Oost
SOIL, 7, 83–94, https://doi.org/10.5194/soil-7-83-2021, https://doi.org/10.5194/soil-7-83-2021, 2021
Short summary
Short summary
We compared stable isotope signatures of soil profiles in different forest ecosystems within the Congo Basin to assess ecosystem-level differences in N cycling, and we examined the local effect of topography on the isotopic signature of soil N. Soil δ15N profiles indicated that the N cycling in in the montane forest is more closed, whereas the lowland forest and Miombo woodland experienced a more open N cycle. Topography only alters soil δ15N values in forests with high erosional forces.
Rota Wagai, Masako Kajiura, and Maki Asano
SOIL, 6, 597–627, https://doi.org/10.5194/soil-6-597-2020, https://doi.org/10.5194/soil-6-597-2020, 2020
Short summary
Short summary
Global significance of metals (extractable Fe and Al phases) to control organic matter (OM) in recognized. Next key questions include the identification of their localization and mechanism behind OM–metal relationships. Across 23 soils of contrasting mineralogy, Fe and Al phases were mainly associated with microbially processed OM as meso-density microaggregates. OM- and metal-rich nanocomposites with a narrow OM : metal ratio likely acted as binding agents. A new conceptual model was proposed.
Marco Panettieri, Denis Courtier-Murias, Cornelia Rumpel, Marie-France Dignac, Gonzalo Almendros, and Abad Chabbi
SOIL, 6, 435–451, https://doi.org/10.5194/soil-6-435-2020, https://doi.org/10.5194/soil-6-435-2020, 2020
Short summary
Short summary
In the context of global change, soil has been identified as a potential C sink, depending on land-use strategies. This work is devoted to identifying the processes affecting labile soil C pools resulting from changes in land use. We show that the land-use change in ley grassland provoked a decoupling of the storage and degradation processes after the grassland phase. Overall, the study enables us to develop a sufficient understanding of fine-scale C dynamics to refine soil C prediction models.
Miriam Groß-Schmölders, Pascal von Sengbusch, Jan Paul Krüger, Kristy Klein, Axel Birkholz, Jens Leifeld, and Christine Alewell
SOIL, 6, 299–313, https://doi.org/10.5194/soil-6-299-2020, https://doi.org/10.5194/soil-6-299-2020, 2020
Short summary
Short summary
Degradation turns peatlands into a source of CO2. There is no cost- or time-efficient method available for indicating peatland hydrology or the success of restoration. We found that 15N values have a clear link to microbial communities and degradation. We identified trends in natural, drained and rewetted conditions and concluded that 15N depth profiles can act as a reliable and efficient tool for obtaining information on current hydrology, restoration success and drainage history.
Martin Erlandsson Lampa, Harald U. Sverdrup, Kevin H. Bishop, Salim Belyazid, Ali Ameli, and Stephan J. Köhler
SOIL, 6, 231–244, https://doi.org/10.5194/soil-6-231-2020, https://doi.org/10.5194/soil-6-231-2020, 2020
Short summary
Short summary
In this study, we demonstrate how new equations describing base cation release from mineral weathering can reproduce patterns in observations from stream and soil water. This is a major step towards modeling base cation cycling on the catchment scale, which would be valuable for defining the highest sustainable rates of forest harvest and levels of acidifying deposition.
Benjamin Andrieux, David Paré, Julien Beguin, Pierre Grondin, and Yves Bergeron
SOIL, 6, 195–213, https://doi.org/10.5194/soil-6-195-2020, https://doi.org/10.5194/soil-6-195-2020, 2020
Short summary
Short summary
Our study aimed to disentangle the contribution of several drivers to explaining the proportion of soil carbon that can be released to CO2 through microbial respiration. We found that boreal-forest soil chemistry is an important driver of the amount of carbon that microbes can process. Our results emphasize the need to include the effects of soil chemistry into models of carbon cycling to better anticipate the role played by boreal-forest soils in carbon-cycle–climate feedbacks.
Jonathan Sanderman and A. Stuart Grandy
SOIL, 6, 131–144, https://doi.org/10.5194/soil-6-131-2020, https://doi.org/10.5194/soil-6-131-2020, 2020
Short summary
Short summary
Soils contain one of the largest and most dynamic pools of carbon on Earth, yet scientists still struggle to understand the reactivity and fate of soil organic matter upon disturbance. In this study, we found that with increasing thermal stability, the turnover time of organic matter increased from decades to centuries with a concurrent shift in chemical composition. In this proof-of-concept study, we found that ramped thermal analyses can provide new insights for understanding soil carbon.
Carlos Alberto Quesada, Claudia Paz, Erick Oblitas Mendoza, Oliver Lawrence Phillips, Gustavo Saiz, and Jon Lloyd
SOIL, 6, 53–88, https://doi.org/10.5194/soil-6-53-2020, https://doi.org/10.5194/soil-6-53-2020, 2020
Short summary
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.
Cited articles
Angst, G., Messinger, J., Greiner, M., Häusler, W., Hertel, D., Kirfel, K., Kögel-Knabner, I., Leuschner, C., Rethemeyer, J., and Mueller, C. W.:
Soil organic carbon stocks in topsoil and subsoil controlled by parent material, carbon input in the rhizosphere, and microbial-derived compounds,
Soil Biol. Biochem.,
122, 19–30, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.soilbio.2018.03.026, 2018.
Allison, S. D. and Vitousek, P. M.:
Responses of extracellular enzymes to simple and complex nutrient inputs,
Soil Biol. Biochem.,
37, 937–944, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.soilbio.2004.09.014, 2005.
Bascomb, C. L.:
Distribution of pyrophosphate-extractable iron and organic carbon in soils of various groups,
J. Soil Sci.,
19, 251–268, https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1365-2389.1968.tb01538.x, 1968.
Berhe, A. A., Harte, J., Harden, J. W., and Torn, M. S.:
The significance of the erosion-induced terrestrial carbon sink,
BioScience,
57, 337–346, https://doi.org/10.1641/B570408, 2007.
Berhe, A. A., Harden, J. W., Torn, M. S., Kleber, M., Burton, S. D., and Harte, J.:
Persistence of soil organic matter in eroding versus depositional landform positions,
J. Geophys. Res.,
117, 1–16, https://doi.org/10.1029/2011JG001790, 2012.
Blagodatskaya, E., Blagodatsky, S., Khomyakov, N., Myachina, O., and Kuzyakov, Y.:
Temperature sensitivity and enzymatic mechanisms of soil organic matter decomposition along an altitudinal gradient on Mount Kilimanjaro,
Sci. Rep.-UK,
6, 1–11, https://doi.org/10.1038/srep22240, 2016.
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, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.soilbio.2010.01.009, 2010.
Bukombe, B., Fiener, P., Hoyt, A. M., and Doetterl, S.: Controls on heterotrophic soil respiration and carbon cycling in geochemically distinct African tropical forest soils, SOIL Discuss. [preprint], https://doi.org/10.5194/soil-2020-96, in review, 2021.
Cerri, C., Feller, C., Balesdent, J., Victoria, R., and Plenecassagne, A.:
Application du traçage isotopique naturel en 13C, à l'étude de la dynamique de la matière organique dans les sols,
C. R. Acad. Sci. II,
300, 423–427, 1985.
Chenu, C. and Plante, A. F.:
Clay-sized organo-mineral complexes in a cultivation chronosequence: revisiting the concept of the `primary organo-mineral complex',
Eur. J. Soil Sci.,
57, 596–607, https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1365-2389.2006.00834.x, 2006.
Cooper, M., Vidal-Torrado, P., and Chaplot, V.:
Origin of microaggregate in soils with ferralic horizons,
Scienta Agricola,
62, 256–263, https://doi.org/10.1590/S0103-90162005000300009, 2005.
Cotrufo, M. F., Wallenstein, M. D., Boot, C. M., Denef, K., and Paul, E.:
The microbial efficiency-matrix stabilization (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, https://doi.org/10.1111/gcb.12113, 2013.
Czimczik, C. I. and Masiello, C. A.:
Controls on black carbon storage in soils,
Global Biogeochem. Cy.,
21, 1–8, https://doi.org/10.1029/2006GB002798, 2007.
Dahlgren, R. A.:
Quantification of allophane and imogolite, quantitative methods in soil mineralogy,
in: Quantitative Methods in Soil Mineralogy,
edited by: Chairs, J. E. and Stucki, J. W.,
Soil Sci. Soc. Am. J., Madison, Wisconsin, USA, 430–451, 1994.
Davidson, E. A. and Janssens, I. A.:
Temperature sensitivity of soil carbon decomposition and feedbacks to Climate Change,
Nature,
440, 165–173, https://doi.org/10.1038/nature04514, 2006.
Day, R. W. and Quinn, G. P.:
Comparisons of treatments after an analysis of variance in ecology,
Ecol. Monogr.,
59, 433–463, https://doi.org/10.2307/1943075, 1989.
Denef, K. and Six, J.:
Clay mineralogy determines the importance of biological versus abiotic processes for macroaggregate formation and stabilization,
Eur. J. Soil Sci.,
56, 469–479, https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1365-2389.2004.00682.x, 2005.
Denef, K. and Six, J.:
Contributions of incorporated residue and living roots to aggregate-associated and microbial carbon in two soils with different clay mineralogy,
Eur. J. Soil Sci.,
57, 774–786, https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1365-2389.2005.00762.x, 2006.
Denef, K., Six, J., Merckx, R., and Paustian, K.:
Carbon sequestration in microaggregates of no-tillage soils with different clay mineralogy,
Soil Sci. Soc. Am. J.,
68, 1935–1944, https://doi.org/10.2136/sssaj2004.1935, 2004.
Denef, K., Zotarelli, L., Boddey, R. M., and Six, J.:
Microaggregate-associated carbon as a diagnostic fraction for management-induced changes in soil organic carbon in two Oxisols,
Soil Biol. Biochem.,
5, 1165–1172, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.soilbio.2006.12.024, 2007.
Detto, M., Muller-Landau, H. C., Mascaro, J., and Asner, G. P.:
Hydrological networks and associated topographic variation as templates for the spatial organization of tropical forest vegetation,
PloS One,
8, 1–13, https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0076296, 2013.
Doetterl, S., Cornelis, J.-T., Six, J., Bodé, S., Opfergelt, S., Boeckx, P., and Van Oost, K.: Soil redistribution and weathering controlling the fate of geochemical and physical carbon stabilization mechanisms in soils of an eroding landscape, Biogeosciences, 12, 1357–1371, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-12-1357-2015, 2015a.
Doetterl, S., Stevens, A., Six, J., Merckx, R., van Oost, K., Pinto, M. C., Casanova-Katny, A., Muñoz, C., Boudin, M., Venegas, E. Z., and Boeckx, P.:
Soil carbon storage controlled by interactions between geochemistry and climate,
Nat. Geosci.,
8, 780–783, https://doi.org/10.1038/ngeo2516, 2015b.
Doetterl, S., Berhe, A. A., Nadeu, E., Wang, Z., Sommer, M., and Fiener, P.:
Erosion, deposition and soil carbon: a review of process-level controls, experimental tools and models to address C cycling in dynamic landscapes,
Earth-Sci. Rev.,
154, 102–122, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.earscirev.2015.12.005, 2016.
Doetterl, S., Berhe, A. A., Arnold, C., Bodé, S., Fiener, P., Finke, P., Fuchslueger, L., Griepentrog, M., Harden, J. W., Nadeu, E., Schnecker, J., Six, J., Trumbore, S., van Oost, K., Vogel, C., and Boeckx, P.:
Links among warming, carbon and microbial dynamics mediated by soil mineral weathering,
Nat. Geosci.,
11, 589–593, https://doi.org/10.1038/s41561-018-0168-7, 2018.
Doetterl, S., Asifiwe, R., Baert, G., Bamba, F., Bauters, M., Boeckx, P., Bukombe, B., Cadisch, G., Cooper, M., Cizungu, L., Hoyt, A., Kabaseke, C., Kalbitz, K., Kidinda, L., Maier, A., Mainka, M., Mayrock, J., Muhindo, D., Mujinya, B., Mukotanyi, S., Nabahungu, L., Reichenbach, M., Rewald, B., Six, J., Stegmann, A., Summerauer, L., Unseld, R., Vanlauwe, B., Van Oost, K., Verheyen, K., Vogel, C., Wilken, F., and Fiener, P.: Organic matter cycling along geochemical, geomorphic and disturbance gradients in forests and cropland of the African Tropics – Project TropSOC Database Version 1.0, Earth Syst. Sci. Data Discuss. [preprint], https://doi.org/10.5194/essd-2021-73, in review, 2021a.
Doetterl, S., Bukombe, B., Cooper, M., Kidinda, L., Muhindo, D., Reichenbach, M., Stegmann, A., Summerauer, L., Wilken, F., and Fiener, P.:
TropSOC Database, Version 1.0. GFZ Data Services [data set], Helmholtz Centre Potsdam – GFZ German Research Centre for Geosciences
Public Law Foundation, Potsdam, Germany, https://doi.org/10.5880/fidgeo.2021.009, 2021b.
Dove, N. C., Arogyaswamy, K., Billings, S. A., Botthoff, J. K. Carey, C. J. Caitlin, C., DeForest, J. L., Dawson, F., Fierer, N., Gallery, R. E., Kaye, J. P., Lohse, K. A., Maltz, M. R., Mayorga, E., Pett-Ridge, J., Yang, W. H., Hart, S. C., and Aronson, E. L.:
Continental-scale patterns of extracellular enzyme activity in the subsoil: an overlooked reservoir of microbial activity,
Environ. Res. Lett.,
15, 1040a1, https://doi.org/10.1088/1748-9326/abb0b3, 2020.
Eusterhues, K., Rumpel, C., Kleber, M., and Kögel-Knabner, I.:
Stabilisation of soil organic matter by interactions with minerals as revealed by mineral dissolution and oxidative degradation,
Org. Geochem.,
34, 1591–1600, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.orggeochem.2003.08.007, 2003.
Evanko, C. R. and Dzombak, D. A.:
Influence of structural features on sorption of NOM-analoque organic acids to goethite,
Environ. Sci. Technol.,
32, 2846–2855, https://doi.org/10.1021/es980256t, 1998.
Fang, K., Qin, S., Chen, L., Zhang, Q., and Yang, Y.:
Al/Fe mineral controls on soil organic carbon stock across Tibetan alpine grasslands,
J. Geophys. Res.-Biogeo.,
124, 247–259, https://doi.org/10.1029/2018JG004782, 2019.
FAO:
Guidelines for soil description, 4th edn.,,
available at http://www.fao.org/3/a-a0541e.pdf (last access: 15 June 2021),
FAO, Rome, 2006.
FAO:
World references base for soil resources 2014. International soil classification system for naming soils and creating legends for soil maps, Update 2015,
Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, Rome, Italy, 203 pp., 2014.
Feng, W., Liang, J., Hale, L. E., Jung, C. G., Chen, J., Zhou, J., Xu, M., Yuan, M., Wu, L., Bracho, R., Pegoraro, E., Schuur, E. A. G., and Luo, Y.:
Enhanced decomposition of stable soil organic carbon and microbial catabolic potentials by long-term field warming,
Glob. Change Biol.,
23, 4765–4776, https://doi.org/10.1111/gcb.13755, 2017.
Fiantis, D., Nelson, M., Shamshuddin, J., Goh, T. B., and van Ranst, E.:
Determination of the geochemical weathering indices and trace elements content of new volcanic ash deposits from Mt. Talang (West Sumatra) Indonesia,
Eurasian Soil Sci.+,
43, 1477–1485, https://doi.org/10.1134/S1064229310130077, 2010.
Fick, S. E. and Hijmans, R. J.:
WorldClim 2: new 1-km spatial resolution climate surfaces for global land areas,
Int. J. Climatol.,
37, 4302–4315, https://doi.org/10.1002/joc.5086, 2017.
Finke, P. A. and Hutson, J. L.:
Modelling soil genesis in calcareous loess,
Geoderma,
145, 462–479, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.geoderma.2008.01.017, 2008.
Fontaine, S., Bardoux, G., Abbadie, L., and Mariotti, A.:
Carbon input to soil may decrease soil carbon content,
Ecol. Lett.,
7, 314–320, https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1461-0248.2004.00579.x, 2004.
Gregorich, E. G., Greer, K. J., Anderson, D. W., and Liang, B. C.:
Carbon distribution and losses: erosion and deposition effects,
Soil Till. Res.,
47, 291–302, https://doi.org/10.1016/S0167-1987(98)00117-2, 1998.
Grömping, U.:
Relative importance for linear regression in R: the package relaimpo,
J. Stat. Softw.,
17, 1–27, https://doi.org/10.18637/jss.v017.i01, 2006.
Harden, J. W., Sharpe, J. M., Parton, W. J., Ojima, D. S., Fries, T. L., Huntington, T. G., and Dabney, S. M.:
Dynamic replacement and loss of soil carbon on eroding cropland,
Global Biogeochem. Cy.,
13, 885–901, https://doi.org/10.1029/1999GB900061, 1999.
Hemingway, J. D., Hilton, R. G., Hovius, N., Eglinton, T. I., Haghipour, N., Wacker, L., Chen, M.-C., and Galy, V. V.:
Microbial oxidation of lithospheric organic carbon in rapidly eroding tropical mountain soils,
Science,
360, 209–212, https://doi.org/10.1126/science.aao6463, 2018.
IBM:
SPSS Statistics for Windows,
IBM Corp., 2019.
Ito, A. and Wagai, R.:
Data descriptor: global distribution of clay-size minerals on land surface for biogeochemical and climatological studies,
Sci. Data,
4, 1–11, https://doi.org/10.1038/sdata.2017.103, 2017.
Jagadamma, S., Mayes, M. A., Zinn, Y. L., Gísladóttir, G., and Russell, A. E.:
Sorption of organic carbon compounds to the fine fraction of surface and subsurface soils,
Geoderma,
213, 79–86, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.geoderma.2013.07.030, 2014.
Kaiser, K., and Zech, W.:
Defects in estimation of aluminum in humus complexes of podzolic soils by pyrophosphate extraction,
Soil Sci.,
161, 452–458, https://doi.org/10.1097/00010694-199607000-00005, 1996.
Kalks, F., Noren, G., Mueller, C. W., Helfrich, M., Rethemeyer, J., and Don, A.: Geogenic organic carbon in terrestrial sediments and its contribution to total soil carbon, SOIL, 7, 347–362, https://doi.org/10.5194/soil-7-347-2021, 2021.
Keiluweit, M., Bougoure, J. J., Nico, P. S., Pett-Ridge, J., Weber, P. K., and Kleber, M.: Mineral protection of soil carbon counteracted by root exudates, Nat. Clim. Change, 5, 588–595, https://doi.org/10.1038/nclimate2580, 2015.
Kidinda, L. K., Olagoke, F. K., Vogel, C., Kalbitz, K., and Doetterl, S.: Patterns of microbial processes shaped by parent material and soil depth in tropical rainforest soils, SOIL Discuss. [preprint], https://doi.org/10.5194/soil-2020-80, 2020.
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, https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1365-2389.2005.00706.x, 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,
Elsevier, Oxford, UK, 2015.
Knicker, H.:
Pyrogenic organic matter in soil: its origin and occurrence, its chemistry and survival in soil environments,
Quatern. Int.,
243, 251–263, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.quaint.2011.02.037, 2011.
Köchy, M., Hiederer, R., and Freibauer, A.: Global distribution of soil organic carbon – Part 1: Masses and frequency distributions of SOC stocks for the tropics, permafrost regions, wetlands, and the world, SOIL, 1, 351–365, https://doi.org/10.5194/soil-1-351-2015, 2015.
Kögel-Knabner, I., Guggenberger, G., Kleber, M., Kandeler, E., Kalbitz, K., Scheu, S., Eusterhues, K., and Leinweber, P.:
Organo-mineral associations in temperate soils: integrating biology, mineralogy, and organic matter chemistry,
J. Plant Nutr. Soil Sc.,
171, 61–82, https://doi.org/10.1002/jpln.200700048, 2008.
Kramer, M. G. and Chadwick, O. A.:
Climate-driven thresholds in reactive mineral retention of soil carbon at the global scale,
Nat. Clim. Change,
8, 1104–1108, https://doi.org/10.1038/s41558-018-0341-4, 2018.
Lacrose, D. T.:
Discovering knowledge in data. An introduction to data mining,
John Wiley & Sons, Hoboken, New Jersey, USA, 222 pp., 2004.
Lehmann, J., Kinyangi, J., and Solomon, D.:
Organic matter stabilization in soil microaggregates: implications from spatial heterogeneity of organic carbon contents and carbon forms,
Biogeochemistry,
85, 45–57, https://doi.org/10.1007/s10533-007-9105-3, 2007.
Levene, H.:
Robust tests for equality of variances, contribution to probability and statistics essays in honor of Harold Hotelling,
Stanford University Press, Stanford, USA, 1960.
Liu, J., Chen, J., Chen, G., Guo, J., and Li, Y.:
Enzyme stoichiometry indicates the variation of microbial nutrient requirements at different soil depths in subtropical forests,
PLoS ONE 15,
e0220599, https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0220599, 2020.
Martinez, P. and Souza, I. F.:
Genesis of pseudo-sand structure in Oxisols from Brazil – a review,
Geoderma Regional,
22, e00292, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.geodrs.2020.e00292, 2020.
Mehra, O. P. and Jackson, M. L.:
Iron oxide removal from soils and clays by a dithionite-citrate system buffered with sodium bicarbonate,
Clay. Clay Miner.,
7, 317–327, https://doi.org/10.1346/CCMN.1958.0070122, 1958.
Minasny, B., Stockmann, U., Hartemink, A. E., and McBratney A. B.:
Measuring and modelling soil depth functions,
in: Digital Soil Morphometrics, Process in Soil Science,
edited by: Hartemink A. and Minansny B.,
Springer, Chambridge, UK, https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-28295-4_14, 2016.
Moder, K.:
How to keep the type I error rate in ANOVA if variances are heteroscedastic,
Austrian Journal of Statistics,
36, 179–188, https://doi.org/10.17713/ajs.v36i3.329, 2007.
Murphy, E. M., Zachara, J. M., Smith, S. C., and Phillips, J. L.:
The sorption of humic acids to mineral surfaces and their role in contaminant binding,
Sci. Total Environ.,
117/118, 413–423, https://doi.org/10.1016/0048-9697(92)90107-4, 1992.
NASA JPL:
NASA shuttle radar topography mission global 1 arc second, 2013, distributed by NASA EOSDIS Land Processes DAAC,
NASA JPL, https://doi.org/10.5067/MEaSUREs/SRTM/SRTMGL1.003, 2013.
Oades, J. M.:
Soil organic matter and structural stability: mechanisms and implications for management,
Plant Soil,
76, 319–337, https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02205590, 1984.
Oades, J. M.:
The retention of organic matter in soils,
Biogeochemistry,
5, 35–70, https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02180317,1988.
Pan, Y., Birdey, R. A., Fang, J., Houghton, R., Kauppi, P. E., Kurz, W. A., Phillips, O. L., Shvidenko, A., Lewis, S. L., Canadell, J. G., Ciais, P., Jackson, R. B., Pacala, S. W., McGuire, A. G., Piao, S., Rautiainen, A., Sitch, S., and Hayes, D.:
A large and persistent carbon sink in the world's forests,
Science,
333, 988–993, https://doi.org/10.1126/science.1204588, 2011.
Porder, S., Paytan, A., and Vitousek, P. M.:
Erosion and landscape development affect plant nutrient status in the Hawaiian Islands,
Oecologia,
142, 440–449, https://doi.org/10.1007/s00442-004-1743-8, 2005.
Quesada, C. A., Paz, C., Oblitas Mendoza, E., Phillips, O. L., Saiz, G., and Lloyd, J.: Variations in soil chemical and physical properties explain basin-wide Amazon forest soil carbon concentrations, SOIL, 6, 53–88, https://doi.org/10.5194/soil-6-53-2020, 2020.
R Core Team:
A language and environment for statistical computing,
R Foundation for Statistical Computing, 2020.
Raich, J. W., Russell, A. E., Kitayama, K., Parton, W. J., and Vitousek, P. M.:
Temperature influences carbon accumulation in moist tropical forests,
Ecology,
87, 76–87, https://doi.org/10.1890/05-0023, 2006.
Schimel, D., Pavlick, R., Fisher, J. B., Asner, G. P., Saatchi, S., Townsend, P., Miller, C., Frankenberg, C., Hibbard, K., and Cox, P.:
Observing terrestrial ecosystems and the carbon cycle from space,
Glob. Change Biol.,
21, 1762–1776, https://doi.org/10.1111/gcb.12822, 2015.
Schlüter, T. and Trauth, M. H.:
Geological atlas of Africa: with notes on stratigraphy, tectonics, economic geology, geohazards and geosites of each country,
Springer, Berlin, New York, 272 pp., 2006.
Schmidt, M. W. I., Torn, M. S., Abiven, S., Dittmar, T., Guggenberger, G., Janssens, I. A., Kleber, M., Kögel-Knabner, I., Lehmann, J., Manning, D. A. C., Nannipieri, P., Rasse, D. P., Weiner, S., and Trumbore, S. E.:
Persistence of soil organic matter as an ecosystem property,
Nature,
478, 49–56, https://doi.org/10.1038/nature10386, 2011.
Schuppli, P. A., Ross, G. J., and McKeague, J. A.:
The effective removal of suspended materials from pyrophosphate extracts of soils from tropical and temperate regions,
Soil Sci. Soc. Am. J.,
47, 1026–1032, https://doi.org/10.2136/sssaj1983.03615995004700050037x, 1983.
Shi, Z., Allison, S. D., He, Y., Levine, P. A., Hoyt, A. M., Beem-Miller, J., Zhu, Q., Wieder, W. R., Trumbore, S. E., and Randerson, J. T.:
The age distribution of global soil carbon inferred from radiocarbon measurements,
Nat. Geosci.,
13, 555–559, https://doi.org/10.1038/s41561-020-0596-z, 2020.
Silver, W. L., Lugo, A. E., and Keller, M.:
Soil oxygen availability and biogeochemistry along rainfall and topographic gradients in upland wet tropical forest soils,
Biogeochemistry,
44, 301–328, https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1006034126698, 1999.
Simpson, R. T., Frey, S. D., Six, J., and Thiet, R. K.:
Preferential accumulation of microbial carbon in aggregate structures of no-tillage soils,
Soil Sci. Soc. Am. J.,
68, 1249–1255, https://doi.org/10.2136/sssaj2004.1249, 2004.
Six, J., Elliot, E. T., and Paustian, K.:
Soil macroaggregate turnover and microaggregate formation: a mechanism for C sequestration under no-tillage agriculture,
Soil Biol. Biochem.,
32, 2099–2103, https://doi.org/10.1016/S0038-0717(00)00179-6, 2000a.
Six, J., Paustian, K., Elliot, E. T., and Combrink, C.:
Soil structure and organic matter: I. distribution of aggregate-size classes and aggregate-associated carbon,
Soil Sci. Soc. Am. J.,
64, 681–689, 2000b.
Six, J., Feller, C., Denef, K., Ogle, S., de Moraes Sa, J. C., and Albrect, A.:
Soil organic matter, biota and aggregation in temperate and tropical soils – effects of no tillage,
Agronomie,
22, 755–775, https://doi.org/10.1051/agro:2002043, 2002.
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, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.still.2004.03.008, 2004.
Smith, K.:
Metal sorption on mineral surfaces: an overview with examples relating to mineral deposits,
Rev. Econ. Geol.,
6, 161–198, https://doi.org/10.5382/Rev.06.07, 1999.
Souza, I. F., Almeida, L. F. J., Jesus, G. L., Kleber, M., and Silva, I. R.:
The mechanisms of organic carbon protection and dynamics of C-saturation in Oxisols vary with particle-size distribution,
Eur. J. Soil Sci.,
68, 726–739, https://doi.org/10.1111/ejss.12463, 2017.
Stewart, C. E., Plante, A. F., Paustian, K., Conant, R. T., and Six, J.:
Soil carbon saturation: linking concept and measurable carbon pools,
Soil Biol. Biochem.,
72, 379–392, https://doi.org/10.2136/sssaj2007.0104, 2008.
Stone, M. M., DeForest, J. L., and Plante, A. F.:
Changes in extracellular enzyme activity and microbial community structure with soil depth at the Luquillo Critical Zone Observatory,
Soil Biol. Biochem.,
75, 237–247, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.soilbio.2014.04.017, 2014.
Stucki, J. W., Goodman, B. A., and Schwertmann, U.:
Iron in soils and clay minerals,
Springer, Dordrecht, Netherlands, 894 pp., 1988.
Stuiver, M. and Polach, A. H.:
Discussion reporting of 14C data,
Radiocarbon,
19, 355–363, https://doi.org/10.1017/S0033822200003672, 1977.
Tamhane, A. C.:
A comparison of procedures for multiple comparisons of means with unequal variances,
J. Am. Stat. Assoc.,
74, 471–480, https://doi.org/10.2307/2286358, 1979.
Tardy, Y. and Nahon, D.:
Geochemistry of laterites, stability of Al-goethite, Al-hematite, and Fe3+-kaolinite in bauxites and ferricretes: an approach to the mechanism of concretion formation,
Am. J. Sci.,
285, 865–903, 1985.
Trumbore, S.:
Age of soil organic matter and soil respiration: radiocarbon constraints on belowground C dynamics,
Ecol. Appl.,
10, 399–411, https://doi.org/10.1890/1051-0761(2000)010[0399:AOSOMA]2.0.CO;2, 2000.
Trumbore, S.:
Radiocarbon and soil carbon dynamics,
Annu. Rev. Earth Pl. Sc.,
37, 47–66, https://doi.org/10.1146/annurev.earth.36.031207.124300, 2009.
van Breugel, P., Kindt, R., Lillesø, J. P. B., Bingham, M., Demissew, S., Dudley, C., Friis, I., Gachathi, F., Kalema, J., Mbago, F., Moshi, H. N., Mulumba, J., Namaganda, M., Ndangalasi, H. J., Ruffo, C. K., Védaste, M., Jamnadass, R., and Graudal, L.:
Potential natural vegetation map of Eastern Africa (Burundi, Ethiopia, Kenya, Malawi, Rwanda, Tanzania, Uganda and Zambia): Version 2.0,
Forest and Landscape (Denmark) and World Agroforestry Centre (ICRAF), Nairobi, Kenia & Copenhagen, Denmark, 2020.
van der Voort, T. S., Mannu, U., Hagedorn, F., McIntyre, C., Walthert, L., Schleppi, P., Haghipour, N., and Eglinton, T. I.: Dynamics of deep soil carbon – insights from 14C time series across a climatic gradient, Biogeosciences, 16, 3233–3246, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-16-3233-2019, 2019.
Van Hemelryck, H., Fiener, P., Van Oost, K., Govers, G., and Merckx, R.: The effect of soil redistribution on soil organic carbon: an experimental study, Biogeosciences, 7, 3971–3986, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-7-3971-2010, 2010.
van Keulen, H.:
(Tropical) soil organic matter modelling: problems and prospects,
Nutr. Cycl. Agroecosys.,
2001, 33–39, https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1013372318868, 2001.
von Lützow, M., Kögel-Knabner, I., Ekschmitt, K., Flessa, H., Guggenberger, G., Matzner, E., and Marschner, B.:
SOM fractionation methods: relevance to functional pools and to stabilization mechanisms,
Soil Biol. Biochem.,
39, 2183–2207, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.soilbio.2007.03.007, 2007.
Vereecken, H., Schnepf, A., Hopmans, J. W., Javaux, M., Or, D., Roose, T., Vanderborght, J., Young, M. H., Amelung, W., Aitkenhead, M., Allison, S. D., Assouline, S., Baveye, P., Berli, M., Brüggemann, N., Finke, P., Flury, M., Gaiser, T., Govers, G., Ghezzehei, T., Hallett, P., Hendricks Franssen, H. J., Heppell, J., Horn, R., Huisman, J. A., Jacques, D., Jonard, F., Kollet, S., Lafolie, F., Lamorski, K., Leitner, D., McBratney, A., Minasny, B., Montzka, C., Nowak, W., Pachepsky, Y., Padarian, J., Romano, N., Roth, K., Rothfuss, Y., Rowe, E. C., Schwen, A., Šimůnek, J., Tiktak, A., van Dam, J., van der Zee, S. E. A. T. M., Vogel, H. J., Vrugt, J. A., Wöhling, T., and Young, I. M.:
Modeling soil processes: review, key challenges, and new perspectives,
Vadose Zone J.,
15, 1–57, vzj2015.09.0131, https://doi.org/10.2136/vzj2015.09.0131, 2016.
Verhegghen, A., Mayaux, P., de Wasseige, C., and Defourny, P.: Mapping Congo Basin vegetation types from 300 m and 1 km multi-sensor time series for carbon stocks and forest areas estimation, Biogeosciences, 9, 5061–5079, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-9-5061-2012, 2012.
Vitousek, P., Chadwick, O., Matson, P., Allison, S., Derry, L., Kettley, L., Luers, A., Mecking, E., Monastra, V., and Porder, S.:
Erosion and the rejuvenation of weathering-derived nutrient supply in an old tropical landscape,
Ecosystems,
6, 762–772, https://doi.org/10.1007/s10021-003-0199-8, 2003.
Wang, J., Sun, J., Xia, J., He, N., Li, M., and Niu, S.:
Soil and vegetation carbon turnover times from tropical to boreal forests,
Funct. Ecol.,
32, 71–82, https://doi.org/10.1111/1365-2435.12914, 2018.
Wang, Y. P., Law, R. M., and Pak, B.: A global model of carbon, nitrogen and phosphorus cycles for the terrestrial biosphere, Biogeosciences, 7, 2261–2282, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-7-2261-2010, 2010.
Wattel-Koekkoek, E. J. W., Buurman, P., van der Plicht, J., Wattel, E., and van Breemen, N.:
Mean residence time of soil organic matter associated with Kaolinite and Smectite,
Eur. J. Soil Sci.,
54, 269–278, https://doi.org/10.1046/j.1365-2389.2003.00512.x, 2003.
West, G. and Dumbleton, M. J.:
The mineralogy of tropical weathering illustrated by some west Malaysian soils,
Q. J. Eng. Geol. Hydroge.,
3, 25–40, https://doi.org/10.1144/GSL.QJEG.1970.003.01.02, 1970.
Wilcke, W., Yasin, S., Abramowski, U., Valarezo, C., and Zech, W.:
Nutrient storage and turnover in organic layers under tropical montane rain forest in Ecuador,
Eur. J. Soil Sci.,
53, 15–27, https://doi.org/10.1046/j.1365-2389.2002.00411.x, 2002.
Wilken, F., Sommer, M., Van Oost, K., Bens, O., and Fiener, P.: Process-oriented modelling to identify main drivers of erosion-induced carbon fluxes, SOIL, 3, 83–94, https://doi.org/10.5194/soil-3-83-2017, 2017.
Wood, T. E., Cavaleri, M. A., and Reed, S. C.:
Tropical forest carbon balance in a warmer world: a critical review spanning microbial- to ecosystem-scale processes,
Biol. Rev.,
87, 912–927, https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1469-185X.2012.00232.x, 2012.
Zhang, L., Zeng, G., and Tong, C.:
A review on the effects of biogenic elements and biological factors on wetland soil carbon mineralization,
Acta Ecologica Sinica,
31, 5387–5395, 2011.
Zotarelli, L., Alves, B. J. R., Urquiaga, S., Torres, E., dos Santos, H. P., Paustian, K., Boddey, R. M., and Six, J.:
Impact of tillage and crop rotation on aggregate-associated carbon in two Oxisols,
Soil Sci. Soc. Am. J.,
69, 482–491, 2005.
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.
In deeply weathered tropical rainforest soils of Africa, we found that patterns of soil organic...
