Articles | Volume 13, issue 12
https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-13-3807-2016
© Author(s) 2016. This work is distributed under
the Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 License.
the Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 License.
https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-13-3807-2016
© Author(s) 2016. This work is distributed under
the Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 License.
the Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 License.
Research article
| 
01 Jul 2016
Research article |
| 01 Jul 2016
Subalpine grassland carbon balance during 7 years of increased atmospheric N deposition
Matthias Volk
CORRESPONDING AUTHOR
Agroscope Zürich, Air Pollution/Climate Group, Reckenholzstrasse 191,
8046 Zurich, Switzerland
Jan Enderle
Agroscope Zürich, Air Pollution/Climate Group, Reckenholzstrasse 191,
8046 Zurich, Switzerland
Seraina Bassin
Agroscope Zürich, Air Pollution/Climate Group, Reckenholzstrasse 191,
8046 Zurich, Switzerland
Related authors
Matthias Volk, Matthias Suter, Anne-Lena Wahl, and Seraina Bassin
Biogeosciences, 19, 2921–2937, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-19-2921-2022, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-19-2921-2022, 2022
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Because soils are an important sink for greenhouse gasses, we subjected sub-alpine grassland to a six-level climate change treatment.
Two independent methods showed that at warming > 1.5 °C the grassland ecosystem lost ca. 14 % or ca. 1 kg C m−2 in 5 years.
This shrinking of the terrestrial C sink implies a substantial positive feedback to the atmospheric greenhouse effect.
It is likely that this dramatic C loss is a transient effect before a new, climate-adjusted steady state is reached.
Matthias Volk, Matthias Suter, Anne-Lena Wahl, and Seraina Bassin
Biogeosciences, 18, 2075–2090, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-18-2075-2021, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-18-2075-2021, 2021
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Grassland ecosystem services like forage production and greenhouse gas storage in the soil depend on plant growth.
In an experiment in the mountains with warming treatments, we found that despite dwindling soil water content, the grassland growth increased with up to +1.3 °C warming (annual mean) compared to present temperatures. Even at +2.4 °C the growth was still larger than at the reference site.
This suggests that plant growth will increase due to global warming in the near future.
Matthias Volk, Matthias Suter, Anne-Lena Wahl, and Seraina Bassin
Biogeosciences, 19, 2921–2937, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-19-2921-2022, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-19-2921-2022, 2022
Short summary
Short summary
Because soils are an important sink for greenhouse gasses, we subjected sub-alpine grassland to a six-level climate change treatment.
Two independent methods showed that at warming > 1.5 °C the grassland ecosystem lost ca. 14 % or ca. 1 kg C m−2 in 5 years.
This shrinking of the terrestrial C sink implies a substantial positive feedback to the atmospheric greenhouse effect.
It is likely that this dramatic C loss is a transient effect before a new, climate-adjusted steady state is reached.
Matthias Volk, Matthias Suter, Anne-Lena Wahl, and Seraina Bassin
Biogeosciences, 18, 2075–2090, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-18-2075-2021, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-18-2075-2021, 2021
Short summary
Short summary
Grassland ecosystem services like forage production and greenhouse gas storage in the soil depend on plant growth.
In an experiment in the mountains with warming treatments, we found that despite dwindling soil water content, the grassland growth increased with up to +1.3 °C warming (annual mean) compared to present temperatures. Even at +2.4 °C the growth was still larger than at the reference site.
This suggests that plant growth will increase due to global warming in the near future.
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Marie Spohn and Johan Stendahl
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Biogeosciences, 19, 1675–1689, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-19-1675-2022, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-19-1675-2022, 2022
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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.
Jasmin Fetzer, Emmanuel Frossard, Klaus Kaiser, and Frank Hagedorn
Biogeosciences, 19, 1527–1546, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-19-1527-2022, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-19-1527-2022, 2022
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As leaching is a major pathway of nitrogen and phosphorus loss in forest soils, we investigated several potential drivers in two contrasting beech forests. The composition of leachates, obtained by zero-tension lysimeters, varied by season, and climatic extremes influenced the magnitude of leaching. Effects of nitrogen and phosphorus fertilization varied with soil nutrient status and sorption properties, and leaching from the low-nutrient soil was more sensitive to environmental factors.
Karis J. McFarlane, Heather M. Throckmorton, Jeffrey M. Heikoop, Brent D. Newman, Alexandra L. Hedgpeth, Marisa N. Repasch, Thomas P. Guilderson, and Cathy J. Wilson
Biogeosciences, 19, 1211–1223, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-19-1211-2022, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-19-1211-2022, 2022
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Planetary warming is increasing seasonal thaw of permafrost, making this extensive old carbon stock vulnerable. In northern Alaska, we found more and older dissolved organic carbon in small drainages later in summer as more permafrost was exposed by deepening thaw. Younger and older carbon did not differ in chemical indicators related to biological lability suggesting this carbon can cycle through aquatic systems and contribute to greenhouse gas emissions as warming increases permafrost thaw.
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
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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.
Heleen Deroo, Masuda Akter, Samuel Bodé, Orly Mendoza, Haichao Li, Pascal Boeckx, and Steven Sleutel
Biogeosciences, 18, 5035–5051, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-18-5035-2021, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-18-5035-2021, 2021
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We assessed if and how incorporation of exogenous organic carbon (OC) such as straw could affect decomposition of native soil organic carbon (SOC) under different irrigation regimes. Addition of exogenous OC promoted dissolution of native SOC, partly because of increased Fe reduction, leading to more net release of Fe-bound SOC. Yet, there was no proportionate priming of SOC-derived DOC mineralisation. Water-saving irrigation can retard both priming of SOC dissolution and mineralisation.
Frances A. Podrebarac, Sharon A. Billings, Kate A. Edwards, Jérôme Laganière, Matthew J. Norwood, and Susan E. Ziegler
Biogeosciences, 18, 4755–4772, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-18-4755-2021, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-18-4755-2021, 2021
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Soil respiration is a large and temperature-responsive flux in the global carbon cycle. We found increases in microbial use of easy to degrade substrates enhanced the temperature response of respiration in soils layered as they are in situ. This enhanced response is consistent with soil composition differences in warm relative to cold climate forests. These results highlight the importance of the intact nature of soils rarely studied in regulating responses of CO2 fluxes to changing temperature.
Elisa Bruni, Bertrand Guenet, Yuanyuan Huang, Hugues Clivot, Iñigo Virto, Roberta Farina, Thomas Kätterer, Philippe Ciais, Manuel Martin, and Claire Chenu
Biogeosciences, 18, 3981–4004, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-18-3981-2021, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-18-3981-2021, 2021
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Increasing soil organic carbon (SOC) stocks is beneficial for climate change mitigation and food security. One way to enhance SOC stocks is to increase carbon input to the soil. We estimate the amount of carbon input required to reach a 4 % annual increase in SOC stocks in 14 long-term agricultural experiments around Europe. We found that annual carbon input should increase by 43 % under current temperature conditions, by 54 % for a 1 °C warming scenario and by 120 % for a 5 °C warming scenario.
Rainer Brumme, Bernd Ahrends, Joachim Block, Christoph Schulz, Henning Meesenburg, Uwe Klinck, Markus Wagner, and Partap K. Khanna
Biogeosciences, 18, 3763–3779, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-18-3763-2021, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-18-3763-2021, 2021
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In order to study the fate of litter nitrogen in forest soils, we combined a leaf litterfall exchange experiment using 15N-labeled leaf litter with long-term element budgets at seven European beech sites in Germany. It appears that fructification intensity, which has increased in recent decades, has a distinct impact on N retention in forest soils. Despite reduced nitrogen deposition, about 6 and 10 kg ha−1 of nitrogen were retained annually in the soils and in the forest stands, respectively.
Lorenz Gfeller, Andrea Weber, Isabelle Worms, Vera I. Slaveykova, and Adrien Mestrot
Biogeosciences, 18, 3445–3465, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-18-3445-2021, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-18-3445-2021, 2021
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Our incubation experiment shows that flooding of polluted floodplain soils may induce pulses of both mercury (Hg) and methylmercury to the soil solution and threaten downstream ecosystems. We demonstrate that mobilization of Hg bound to manganese oxides is a relevant process in organic-matter-poor soils. Addition of organic amendments accelerates this mobilization but also facilitates the formation of nanoparticulate Hg and the subsequent fixation of Hg from soil solution to the soil.
Yao Zhang, Jocelyn M. Lavallee, Andy D. Robertson, Rebecca Even, Stephen M. Ogle, Keith Paustian, and M. Francesca Cotrufo
Biogeosciences, 18, 3147–3171, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-18-3147-2021, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-18-3147-2021, 2021
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Soil organic matter (SOM) is essential for the health of soils, and the accumulation of SOM helps removal of CO2 from the atmosphere. Here we present the result of the continued development of a mathematical model that simulates SOM and its measurable fractions. In this study, we simulated several grassland sites in the US, and the model generally captured the carbon and nitrogen amounts in SOM and their distribution between the measurable fractions throughout the entire soil profile.
Zhongkui Luo, Raphael A. Viscarra-Rossel, and Tian Qian
Biogeosciences, 18, 2063–2073, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-18-2063-2021, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-18-2063-2021, 2021
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Using the data from 141 584 whole-soil profiles across the globe, we disentangled the relative importance of biotic, climatic and edaphic variables in controlling global SOC stocks. The results suggested that soil properties and climate contributed similarly to the explained global variance of SOC in four sequential soil layers down to 2 m. However, the most important individual controls are consistently soil-related, challenging current climate-driven framework of SOC dynamics.
Debjani Sihi, Xiaofeng Xu, Mónica Salazar Ortiz, Christine S. O'Connell, Whendee L. Silver, Carla López-Lloreda, Julia M. Brenner, Ryan K. Quinn, Jana R. Phillips, Brent D. Newman, and Melanie A. Mayes
Biogeosciences, 18, 1769–1786, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-18-1769-2021, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-18-1769-2021, 2021
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Humid tropical soils are important sources and sinks of methane. We used model simulation to understand how different kinds of microbes and observed soil moisture and oxygen dynamics contribute to production and consumption of methane along a wet tropical hillslope during normal and drought conditions. Drought alters the diffusion of oxygen and microbial substrates into and out of soil microsites, resulting in enhanced methane release from the entire hillslope during drought recovery.
Mathieu Chassé, Suzanne Lutfalla, Lauric Cécillon, François Baudin, Samuel Abiven, Claire Chenu, and Pierre Barré
Biogeosciences, 18, 1703–1718, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-18-1703-2021, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-18-1703-2021, 2021
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Evolution of organic carbon content in soils could be a major driver of atmospheric greenhouse gas concentrations over the next century. Understanding factors controlling carbon persistence in soil is a challenge. Our study of unique long-term bare-fallow samples, depleted in labile organic carbon, helps improve the separation, evaluation and characterization of carbon pools with distinct residence time in soils and gives insight into the mechanisms explaining soil organic carbon persistence.
Melisa A. Diaz, Christopher B. Gardner, Susan A. Welch, W. Andrew Jackson, Byron J. Adams, Diana H. Wall, Ian D. Hogg, Noah Fierer, and W. Berry Lyons
Biogeosciences, 18, 1629–1644, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-18-1629-2021, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-18-1629-2021, 2021
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Water-soluble salt and nutrient concentrations of soils collected along the Shackleton Glacier, Antarctica, show distinct geochemical gradients related to latitude, longitude, elevation, soil moisture, and distance from coast and glacier. Machine learning algorithms were used to estimate geochemical gradients for the region given the relationship with geography. Geography and surface exposure age drive salt and nutrient abundances, influencing invertebrate habitat suitability and biogeography.
Marion Schrumpf, Klaus Kaiser, Allegra Mayer, Günter Hempel, and Susan Trumbore
Biogeosciences, 18, 1241–1257, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-18-1241-2021, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-18-1241-2021, 2021
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A large amount of organic carbon (OC) in soil is protected against decay by bonding to minerals. We studied the release of mineral-bonded OC by NaF–NaOH extraction and H2O2 oxidation. Unexpectedly, extraction and oxidation removed mineral-bonded OC at roughly constant portions and of similar age distributions, irrespective of mineral composition, land use, and soil depth. The results suggest uniform modes of interactions between OC and minerals across soils in quasi-steady state with inputs.
Lena Rohe, Bernd Apelt, Hans-Jörg Vogel, Reinhard Well, Gi-Mick Wu, and Steffen Schlüter
Biogeosciences, 18, 1185–1201, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-18-1185-2021, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-18-1185-2021, 2021
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Total denitrification, i.e. N2O and (N2O + N2) fluxes, of repacked soil cores were analysed for different combinations of soils and water contents. Prediction accuracy of (N2O + N2) fluxes was highest with combined proxies for oxygen demand (CO2 flux) and oxygen supply (anaerobic soil volume fraction). Knowledge of denitrification completeness (product ratio) improved N2O predictions. Substitutions with cheaper proxies (soil organic matter, empirical diffusivity) reduced prediction accuracy.
Severin-Luca Bellè, Asmeret Asefaw Berhe, Frank Hagedorn, Cristina Santin, Marcus Schiedung, Ilja van Meerveld, and Samuel Abiven
Biogeosciences, 18, 1105–1126, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-18-1105-2021, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-18-1105-2021, 2021
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Controls of pyrogenic carbon (PyC) redistribution under rainfall are largely unknown. However, PyC mobility can be substantial after initial rain in post-fire landscapes. We conducted a controlled simulation experiment on plots where PyC was applied on the soil surface. We identified redistribution of PyC by runoff and splash and vertical movement in the soil depending on soil texture and PyC characteristics (material and size). PyC also induced changes in exports of native soil organic carbon.
Michael Rinderer, Jaane Krüger, Friederike Lang, Heike Puhlmann, and Markus Weiler
Biogeosciences, 18, 1009–1027, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-18-1009-2021, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-18-1009-2021, 2021
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We quantified the lateral and vertical subsurface flow (SSF) and P concentrations of three beech forest plots with contrasting soil properties during sprinkling experiments. Vertical SSF was 2 orders of magnitude larger than lateral SSF, and both consisted mainly of pre-event water. P concentrations in SSF were high during the first 1 to 2 h (nutrient flushing) but nearly constant thereafter. This suggests that P in the soil solution was replenished fast by mineral or organic sources.
Kirsty C. Paterson, Joanna M. Cloy, Robert M. Rees, Elizabeth M. Baggs, Hugh Martineau, Dario Fornara, Andrew J. Macdonald, and Sarah Buckingham
Biogeosciences, 18, 605–620, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-18-605-2021, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-18-605-2021, 2021
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Soil organic carbon sequestration across agroecosystems worldwide can contribute to mitigating the effects of climate change by reducing levels of atmospheric carbon dioxide. The maximum carbon sequestration potential is frequently estimated using the linear regression equation developed by Hassink (1997). This work examines the suitability of this equation for use in grasslands across the United Kingdom. The results highlight the need to ensure the fit of equations to the soils being studied.
Hannah Gies, Frank Hagedorn, Maarten Lupker, Daniel Montluçon, Negar Haghipour, Tessa Sophia van der Voort, and Timothy Ian Eglinton
Biogeosciences, 18, 189–205, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-18-189-2021, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-18-189-2021, 2021
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Understanding controls on the persistence of organic matter in soils is essential to constrain its role in the carbon cycle. Emerging concepts suggest that the soil carbon pool is predominantly comprised of stabilized microbial residues. To test this hypothesis we isolated microbial membrane lipids from two Swiss soil profiles and measured their radiocarbon age. We find that the ages of these compounds are in the range of millenia and thus provide evidence for stabilized microbial mass in soils.
Frederick Büks, Gilles Kayser, Antonia Zieger, Friederike Lang, and Martin Kaupenjohann
Biogeosciences, 18, 159–167, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-18-159-2021, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-18-159-2021, 2021
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Ultrasonication/density fractionation is a common method used to extract particulate organic matter (POM) and, recently, microplastic (MP) from soil samples. In this study, ultrasonic treatment with mechanical stress increasing from 0 to 500 J mL−1 caused comminution and a reduced recovery rate of soil-derived POMs but no such effects with MP particles. In consequence, the extraction of MP from soils is not affected by particle size and recovery rate artifacts.
Hang Wen, Pamela L. Sullivan, Gwendolyn L. Macpherson, Sharon A. Billings, and Li Li
Biogeosciences, 18, 55–75, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-18-55-2021, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-18-55-2021, 2021
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Carbonate weathering is essential in regulating carbon cycle at the century timescale. Plant roots accelerate weathering by elevating soil CO2 via respiration. It however remains poorly understood how and how much rooting characteristics modify flow paths and weathering. This work indicates that deepening roots in woodlands can enhance carbonate weathering by promoting recharge and CO2–carbonate contact in the deep, carbonate-abundant subsurface.
Marcus Schiedung, Severin-Luca Bellè, Gabriel Sigmund, Karsten Kalbitz, and Samuel Abiven
Biogeosciences, 17, 6457–6474, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-17-6457-2020, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-17-6457-2020, 2020
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The mobility of pyrogenic organic matter (PyOM) in soils is largely unknow, while it is a major and persistent component of the soil organic matter. With a soil column experiment, we identified that only a small proportion of PyOM can migrate through the soil, but its export is continuous. Aging and associated oxidation increase its mobility but also its retention in soils. Further, PyOM can alter the vertical mobility of native soil organic carbon during its downward migration.
Patrick Wordell-Dietrich, Anja Wotte, Janet Rethemeyer, Jörg Bachmann, Mirjam Helfrich, Kristina Kirfel, Christoph Leuschner, and Axel Don
Biogeosciences, 17, 6341–6356, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-17-6341-2020, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-17-6341-2020, 2020
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The release of CO2 from soils, known as soil respiration, plays a major role in the global carbon cycle. However, the contributions of different soil depths or the sources of soil CO2 have hardly been studied. We quantified the CO2 production for different soil layers (up to 1.5 m) in three soil profiles for 2 years. We found that 90 % of CO2 production occurs in the first 30 cm of the soil profile, and that the CO2 originated from young carbon sources, as revealed by radiocarbon measurements.
Antonio Rodríguez, Rosa Maria Canals, Josefina Plaixats, Elena Albanell, Haifa Debouk, Jordi Garcia-Pausas, Leticia San Emeterio, Àngela Ribas, Juan José Jimenez, and M.-Teresa Sebastià
Biogeosciences, 17, 6033–6050, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-17-6033-2020, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-17-6033-2020, 2020
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The novelty of our work is that it presents a series of potential interactions between drivers of soil organic carbon at broad scales in temperate mountain grasslands. The most relevant contribution of our work is that it illustrates the importance of grazing management for soil carbon stocks, indicating that interactions between grazing species and soil nitrogen and herbage quality may be promising paths in order to design further management policies for palliating climate change.
Curt A. McConnell, Jason P. Kaye, and Armen R. Kemanian
Biogeosciences, 17, 5309–5333, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-17-5309-2020, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-17-5309-2020, 2020
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Soil phosphorus (P) management is a critical challenge for agriculture worldwide; yet, simulation models of soil P processes lag those of other essential nutrients. In this review, we identify hindrances to measuring and modeling soil P pools and fluxes. We highlight the need to clarify biological and mineral interactions by defining P pools explicitly and using evolving techniques, such as tracing P in phosphates using oxygen isotopes.
Greta Formaglio, Edzo Veldkamp, Xiaohong Duan, Aiyen Tjoa, and Marife D. Corre
Biogeosciences, 17, 5243–5262, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-17-5243-2020, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-17-5243-2020, 2020
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The intensive management of large-scale oil palm plantations may result in high nutrient leaching losses which reduce soil fertility and potentially pollute water bodies. The reduction in management intensity with lower fertilization rates and with mechanical weeding instead of the use of herbicide results in lower nutrient leaching losses while maintaining high yield. Lower leaching results from lower nutrient inputs from fertilizer and from higher retention by enhanced cover vegetation.
Isabelle Basile-Doelsch, Jérôme Balesdent, and Sylvain Pellerin
Biogeosciences, 17, 5223–5242, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-17-5223-2020, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-17-5223-2020, 2020
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The 4 per 1000 initiative aims to restore carbon storage in soils to both mitigate climate change and contribute to food security. The French National Institute for Agricultural Research conducted a study to determine the carbon storage potential in French soils and associated costs. This paper is a part of that study. It reviews recent advances concerning the mechanisms that controls C stabilization in soils. Synthetic figures integrating new concepts should be of pedagogical interest.
Jolanda E. Reusser, René Verel, Daniel Zindel, Emmanuel Frossard, and Timothy I. McLaren
Biogeosciences, 17, 5079–5095, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-17-5079-2020, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-17-5079-2020, 2020
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Inositol phosphates (IPs) are a major pool of organic P in soil. However, information on their diversity and abundance in soil is limited. We isolated IPs from soil and characterised them using solution nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) spectroscopy. For the first time, we provide direct spectroscopic evidence for the existence of a multitude of lower-order IPs in soil extracts previously not detected with NMR. Our findings will help provide new insight into the cycling of IPs in ecosystems.
Katharina Hildegard Elisabeth Meurer, Claire Chenu, Elsa Coucheney, Anke Marianne Herrmann, Thomas Keller, Thomas Kätterer, David Nimblad Svensson, and Nicholas Jarvis
Biogeosciences, 17, 5025–5042, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-17-5025-2020, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-17-5025-2020, 2020
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We present a simple model that describes, for the first time, the dynamic two-way interactions between soil organic matter and soil physical properties (porosity, pore size distribution, bulk density and layer thickness). The model was able to accurately reproduce the changes in soil organic carbon, soil bulk density and surface elevation observed during 63 years in a field trial, as well as soil water retention curves measured at the end of the experimental period.
Marion Nyberg and Mark J. Hovenden
Biogeosciences, 17, 4405–4420, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-17-4405-2020, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-17-4405-2020, 2020
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Experimental warming increased soil respiration (RS) by more than 25 % in a Tasmanian C-rich soil, but there was no impact on microbial respiration in laboratory experiments. Plant community composition had no effect on RS, suggesting the response is likely due to enhanced belowground plant respiration and C supply through rhizodeposition and root exudates. Results imply we need studies of both C inputs and losses to model net ecosystem C exchange of these crucial, C-dense systems effectively.
Akane O. Abbasi, Alejandro Salazar, Youmi Oh, Sabine Reinsch, Maria del Rosario Uribe, Jianghanyang Li, Irfan Rashid, and Jeffrey S. Dukes
Biogeosciences, 17, 3859–3873, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-17-3859-2020, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-17-3859-2020, 2020
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In this study, we provide a holistic view of soil responses to precipitation changes. A total of 16 meta-analyses focusing on the effects of precipitation changes on 42 soil response variables were compared. A strong agreement was found that the belowground carbon and nitrogen cycling accelerate under increased precipitation and slow under decreased precipitation, while bacterial and fungal communities are relatively resistant to decreased precipitation. Knowledge gaps were also identified.
Isabel Prater, Sebastian Zubrzycki, Franz Buegger, Lena C. Zoor-Füllgraff, Gerrit Angst, Michael Dannenmann, and Carsten W. Mueller
Biogeosciences, 17, 3367–3383, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-17-3367-2020, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-17-3367-2020, 2020
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Large amounts of soil organic matter stored in permafrost-affected soils from Arctic Russia are present as undecomposed plant residues. This large fibrous organic matter might be highly vulnerable to microbial decay, while small mineral-associated organic matter can most probably attenuate carbon mineralization in a warmer future. Labile soil fractions also store large amounts of nitrogen, which might be lost during permafrost collapse while fostering the decomposition of soil organic matter.
Patrick Liebmann, Patrick Wordell-Dietrich, Karsten Kalbitz, Robert Mikutta, Fabian Kalks, Axel Don, Susanne K. Woche, Leena R. Dsilva, and Georg Guggenberger
Biogeosciences, 17, 3099–3113, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-17-3099-2020, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-17-3099-2020, 2020
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We studied the contribution of litter-derived carbon (C) in the formation of subsoil organic matter (OM). Soil core sampling, 13C field labeling, density fractionation, and water extractions were used to track its contribution to different functional OM fractions down to the deep subsoil. We show that while migrating down the soil profile, OM undergoes a sequence of repeated sorption, microbial processing, and desorption. However, the contribution of litter-derived C to subsoil OM is small.
Artem G. Lim, Martin Jiskra, Jeroen E. Sonke, Sergey V. Loiko, Natalia Kosykh, and Oleg S. Pokrovsky
Biogeosciences, 17, 3083–3097, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-17-3083-2020, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-17-3083-2020, 2020
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To better understand the mercury (Hg) content in northern soils, we measured Hg concentration in peat cores across a 1700 km permafrost gradient in Siberia. We demonstrated a northward increase in Hg concentration in peat and Hg pools in frozen peatlands. We revised the 0–30 cm northern soil Hg pool to be 72 Gg, which is 7 % of the global soil Hg pool of 1086 Gg. The results are important for understanding Hg exchange between soil, water, and the atmosphere under climate change in the Arctic.
Caitlin Hicks Pries, Alon Angert, Cristina Castanha, Boaz Hilman, and Margaret S. Torn
Biogeosciences, 17, 3045–3055, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-17-3045-2020, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-17-3045-2020, 2020
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The apparent respiration quotient (ARQ) changes according to which substrates microbes consume, allowing sources of soil respiration to be traced. In a forest soil warming experiment, ARQ had a strong seasonal pattern that reflected a shift from respiration being fueled by sugars and organic acids derived from roots during the growing season to respiration being fueled by dead microbes during winter. ARQ values also changed with experimental warming.
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
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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.
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Short summary
Grasslands hold 28 % of global soil organic carbon (SOC). We studied carbon-fluxes and -pools in subalpine grassland under atmospheric nitrogen (N) deposition (air pollution) treatment. Unlike plant yield, SOC and CO2 gains were largest at intermediate, not maximum N deposition. Thus, N deposition driven plant yield increases may not be considered as a valid proxy for ecosystem C-pool increases and the biological sink for CO2 greenhouse gas may be smaller under higher N deposition.
Grasslands hold 28 % of global soil organic carbon (SOC). We studied carbon-fluxes and -pools...
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