Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

Variations in Carbon and Nitrogen Isotopes in Soils along the Barguzinsky Ridge, Eastern Baikal Region, Russia

  • Published:
Moscow University Soil Science Bulletin Aims and scope

Abstract

The soils along the western exposed slopes of the Barguzinsky Ridge are characterized by a clear altitudinal zoning. The lower part of the catena transect is dominated by soddy–podzolized brown soils and brown forest soils, whereas higher altitudes are characterized by Leptosols, Umbrisols, and Cryosols. Typical features of these soils are shallowness, thick litter layers, and low pH values. Corg and N decrease with increasing soil depth, and C/N ratios are also relatively high. Bulk δ13С values vary from –28.45 to –22.10‰ generally increasing with soil depth and indicating the C3-vegetation. At higher altitudes, δ13С values of the uppermost mineral horizons increase from –26.82 (500 m a.s.l.) to –22.66‰ (1700 m a.s.l.) most likely due to the reduction in the average annual air temperature. In contrast to δ13С, δ15N values of the uppermost mineral layer decrease from 10.04‰ at 500 m a.s.l. to 8.77‰ at 1700 m a.s.l. indicating the N cycles to be more closed at lower average annual air temperatures. The relationship between average annual temperature and δ13С values makes it possible to conclude that with a decrease by 1°С, δ13С will decrease by 0.89‰ in the litter and by 0.67‰ in the mineral horizon.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Fig. 1.
Fig. 2.

Similar content being viewed by others

REFERENCES

  1. Golubtsov, V.A., Stable carbon isotopic composition of organic matter of the Late Pleistocene and Holocene soils of the Baikal Region, Eurasian Soil Sci., 2020, vol. 53, no. 6, pp. 724–739.

    Article  ADS  CAS  Google Scholar 

  2. Golubtsov, V.A., Vanteeva, Yu.V., and Voropai, N.N., Effect of humidity on the stable carbon isotopic composition of soil organic matter in the Baikal Region, Eurasian Soil Sci., 2021, vol. 54, no. 10, pp. 1463–1475.

    Article  ADS  CAS  Google Scholar 

  3. Klassifikatsiya i diagnostika pochv (Classification and Diagnostics for Soils), Smolensk: Oikumena, 2004.

  4. Kuzavkova, Z.O., Spatial organization for geosystems at western slope of the Barguzinskii ridge, Extended Abstract of Cand. Sci. (Geogr.) Dissertation, Irkutsk, 2019.

  5. Makarov, M.I., The nitrogen isotopic composition in soils and plants: its use in environmental studies (a review), Eurasian Soil Sci., 2009, vol. 42, no. 12, pp. 1335–1348.

    Article  ADS  Google Scholar 

  6. Menyailo, O.V. and Hungate, B.A., Carbon and nitrogen stable isotopes in forest soils of Siberia, Dokl. Earth Sci., 2006, vol. 409, no. 5, pp. 747–750.

    Article  ADS  CAS  Google Scholar 

  7. Morgun, E.G., Kovda, I.V., Ryskov, Ya.G., et al., Prospects and problems of using the methods of geochemistry of stable carbon isotopes in soil studies, Eurasian Soil Sci., 2008, vol. 41, no. 3, pp. 265–276.

    Article  ADS  Google Scholar 

  8. Nikitin, A.V. and Nenakhov, V.M., Geological problems of Angara-Vitim batholite, Vestn. Samar. Gos. Univ., Ser. Geol., 2002, no. 2.

  9. Results of long term monitoring of natural complexes of North-East Baikal Region, in Trudy gosudarstvennogo prirodnogo biosfernogo zapovednika “Barguzinskii” (Scientific Works of Barguzinskii State Biosphere Reserve), Ananin, A.A., Ananina, T.L., Chernikin, E.M., et al., Eds., Ulan-Ude, 2002, issue 8.

  10. Tyulina, L.I., Vlazhnyi Pribaikal’skii tip poyasnosti rastitel’nosti (Humid Type of Vegetation Belt for Baikal Region), Novosibirsk, 1976.

    Google Scholar 

  11. Ustinov, M.T., Catenography and ecological-melioration estimation of soil cover by means of transect-caten, Sib. Ekol. Zh., 2001, vol. 6, no. 3.

  12. Tsybenov, Yu.B., Chimitdorzhieva, G.D., Egorova, R.A., et al., The pool of organic carbon and its isotopic composition in cryomorphic quasi-gley chernozems of the Trans-Baikal Region, Eurasian Soil Sci., 2016, vol. 49, no. 1, pp. 8–15.

    Article  ADS  CAS  Google Scholar 

  13. Andreeva, D., Leiber, K., Glaser, B., et al., Genesis and properties of black soils in buryatia, Southeastern Siberia, Russia, Quat. Int., 2011, vol. 243, no. 2, pp. 313–326.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  14. Andreeva, D., Zech, M., Glaser, B., et al., Stable isotope (δ13C, δ15N, δ18O) record of soils in Buryatia, Southern Siberia: implications for biogeochemical and paleoclimatic interpretations, Quat. Int., 2013, vol. 290–291, pp. 82–94.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  15. Boutton, T.W., Stable carbon isotope ratios of soil organic matter and their use as indicators of vegetation and climate change, in Mass Spectrometry of Soils, Boutton, T.W. and S.-i. Yamasaki, Eds., New York, Basel, Hong Kong: Marcel Dekker, 1996, pp. 47–82.

    Google Scholar 

  16. Ehleringer, J.R., Buchmann, N., and Flanagan, L.B., Carbon isotope ratios in belowground carbon cycle processes, Ecol. Appl., 2000, no. 10.

  17. Fick, S.E. and Hijmans, R.J., WorldClim 2: new 1-km spatial resolution climate surfaces for global land areas, Int. J. Climatol., 2017, vol. 37, no. 2.

  18. Högberg, P., 15N natural abundance in soil-plant systems, New Phytol., 1997, vol. 137, no. 2, pp. 179–203.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  19. IUSS Working Group WRB, World Reference Base for Soil Resources 2014, Update 2015 International Soil Classification System for Naming Soils and Creating Legends for Soil Maps. World Soil Resources Reports, Rome: FAO, 2015, no. 106.

  20. Mekonnen, B., Zech, W., Glaser, B., et al., Chemotaxonomic patterns of vegetation and soils along altitudinal transects of the Bale Mountains, Ethiopia, and implications for paleovegetation reconstructions – part 1: stable isotopes and sugar biomarkers, E&G Quat. Sci. J., 2019, vol. 68, no. 2, pp. 177–188.

    Google Scholar 

  21. Robinson, D., δ15N as an integrator of the nitrogen cycle, Trends Ecol. Evol., 2001, vol. 16, no. 3, pp. 153–162.

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  22. Zech, M., Bimuller, C., Hemp, A., et al., Human and climate impact on 15N natural abundance of plants and soils in high-mountain ecosystems: a short review and two examples from the Eastern Pamirs and Mt. Kilimanjaro, Isotopes Environ. Health Stud., 2011, vol. 47, no. 3, pp. 286–296.

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

Download references

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

We are grateful to the Program of the German Academic Exchange Service for the support of D.B. Andreeva.

Funding

This work was carried out under a state order to the Institute of General and Experimental Biology, Siberian Branch, Russian Academy of Sciences, project no. 121030100228-4.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Institute of General and Experimental Biology, Siberian Branch, Russian Academy of Sciences, 670047, Ulan-Ude, Russia

    D. B. Andreeva, L. D. Balsanova, I. N. Lavrent’eva, B. N. Gonchikov & V. Ts. Tsybikdorzhiev

  2. Martin Luther University Halle–Wittenberg, 06120, Halle, Germany

    B. Glaser

  3. Bayreuth University, 95440, Bayreuth, Germany

    W. Zech

Authors
  1. D. B. Andreeva
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. L. D. Balsanova
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. I. N. Lavrent’eva
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  4. B. N. Gonchikov
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  5. V. Ts. Tsybikdorzhiev
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  6. B. Glaser
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  7. W. Zech
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to D. B. Andreeva.

Ethics declarations

They authors declare that they have no conflict of interest.

Additional information

Translated by E. Maslennikova

About this article

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this article

Andreeva, D.B., Balsanova, L.D., Lavrent’eva, I.N. et al. Variations in Carbon and Nitrogen Isotopes in Soils along the Barguzinsky Ridge, Eastern Baikal Region, Russia. Moscow Univ. Soil Sci. Bull. 77, 277–283 (2022). https://doi.org/10.3103/S0147687422040020

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Revised:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.3103/S0147687422040020

Keywords:

Search

Navigation