Abstract
Biological transformation of organic matter in soil is a crucial factor affecting the global carbon cycle. In order to understand these complex processes, soils must be investigated by a combination of various methods. This study compares the dynamics of biological mineralization of soil organic matter (SOM) determined via CO2 evolution during an 80-day laboratory incubation with their thermo-oxidative stability determined by thermogravimetry (TG). Thirty-three soil samples, originating from a wide range of geological and vegetation conditions from various German national parks were studied. The results showed a correlation between the amount and rate of respired CO2 and thermal mass losses of air-dried, conditioned soils occurring around 100 °C with linear coefficients of determination up to R 2 = 0.85. Further, correlation of soil respiration with thermal mass losses around 260 °C confirmed previous observations. The comparison of TG profiles from incubated and non-incubated soils underlined the importance of thermal mass losses in these two temperature intervals. Incubated soils had reduced thermal mass losses above 240 °C and conversely an increased mass loss at 100–120 °C. Furthermore, the accurate determination of soil properties by TG such as soil organic carbon content was confirmed, and it was shown that it can be applied to a wider range of carbon contents as was previously thought. It was concluded that results of thermal analysis could be a helpful starting point for estimation of soil respiration and for development of methods revealing processes in soils.
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Acknowledgements
This study was financially supported by the Ministry of Education, Youth and Sport of the Czech Republic, project No. 0021630501. The ongoing research of this study is supported by the German Society of Research “Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (project number SI 488 3–1).”
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An erratum to this article is available at http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s10973-012-2481-5.
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Siewert, C., Demyan, M.S. & Kučerík, J. Interrelations between soil respiration and its thermal stability. J Therm Anal Calorim 110, 413–419 (2012). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10973-011-2099-z
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10973-011-2099-z