Abstract
Stable isotope ratios of pedogenic carbonate and organic matter were measured in a prairie-transition-forest soil biosequence near Ames, Iowa to determine the vegetation succession. The modern vegetation is dominated by non-native C3 plants which have been introduced by agricultural practices. The δ13C values of soil organic matter from the prairie and forest endmembers indicate C4 and C3 dominated ecosystems, respectively, during the accumulation of soil organic matter. Pedogenic carbonate from all soils, including rare pedogenic carbonate from the forested soil, has an average δ13C of-2.0‰, indicating that the carbonate formed under a C4 vegetation. These results indicate that the ecosystem was a C4-dominated prairie and therefore suggest a recent arrival of forests and other C3 plants in the area. This study also implies that the primary features of the transitional Lester soil series, which has soil properties intermediate between Alfisols and Molisolls, formed under prairie conditions and were overprinted by an invading forest.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Amundson RG, Chadwick OA, Sowers JM, Doner HE (1988) The relationship between modern climate and vegetation and the stable isotope chemistry of Mojave Desert soils. Quat Res 29:245–254
Balesdent J, Mariotti A, Guillet B (1987) Natural 13C abundance as a tracer for studies of soil organic matter dynamics. Soil Biol Biochem 19:25–30
Betancourt JL, Van Devender TR, Martin PS (1990) Packrat Middens —The Last 40,000 Years of Biotic Change. The University of Arizona Press, Tucson, pp 1–447
Cerling TE (1984) The stable isotopic composition of modern soil carbonate and its relationship to climate. Earth Plan Sci Lett 71:229–240
Cerling TE, Hay RL (1986) An isotopic study of paleosol carbonates from Olduvai Gorge, Tanzania. Quat Res 25: 63–78
Cerling TE, Bowman JR, O'Neil JR (1988) An isotopic study of a fluviallacustrine sequence: the Plio-Pleistocene koobi fora sequence, east Africa. Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology 63:335–356
Cerling TE, Quade J, Wang Y, Bowman JR (1989) Carbon isotopes in soils and paleosols as ecology and paleoecology indicators. Nature 341:138–139
Craig H (1954) The geochemistry of the stable carbon isotopes. Geochim Cosmochim Acta 3:53–92
Cambardella CA, Elliott ET (1992) Particulate soil organic-matter changes across a grassland cultivation sequence. Soil Sci Soc Am J 56:777–783
Deines P (1980) The isotopic composition of reduced organic carbon. In: Fritz P, Fontes JC (eds) Handbook of Environmental Isotope Geochemistry (The Terrestrial Environment), vol 1. Elsevier, Amsterdam, pp 329–406
DeWitt TA (1981) Soil Survey of Story County, Iowa, United States Department of Agriculture Soil Conservation Service
Dorr H, Munnich KO (1980) Carbon-14 and carbon-13 in soil CO2. Radiocarbon 22: 909–918
Dzurec RS, Boutton TW, Caldwell MM, Smith BN (1985) Carbon isotope ratios of soil organic matter and their use in assessing community composition changes in Curlew Valley, Utah. Oecologia 66:17–24
Ehleringer JR, Sage RF, Flanagan LB, Pearcy RW (1991) Climate change and the evolution of C4 photosynthesis. Trends Ecol Evol 6:95–99
Farquhar GD, Ehleringer JR, Hubick KT (1989) Carbon isotope discrimination and photosynthesis. Annu Rev Plant Physiol Plant Mol Biol 40:503–537
Friedman I, O'Neil JR (1977) Compilation of Stable Isotope Fractionation Factors of Geochemical Interest. United State Geological Survey Professional Paper 440-KK
Guillet B, Faivre P, Mariotti A, Khobzi J (1988) The 14C dates and 13C/12C ratios of soil organic matter as a means of studying the past vegetation in intertropical regions: examples from Colombia (South America). Paleogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology 65:51–58
Martin A, Mariotti A, Balesdent J, Lavelle P, Vuattoux R (1990) Estimate of organic matter turnover rate in a savanna soil by 13C natural abundance measurements. Soil Biol Biochem 22:517–523
McComb AL, Riecken FF (1961) Effect of vegetation on soils in the forestprairie region. Forest vegetation and soil. Reprinted from Recent Advances in Botany. Published by the University of Toronto Press
McCrea JM (1950) On the isotope chemistry of carbonates and a paleotemperature scale. J Chem Phys 18:849–857
Northfelt DW, DeNiro MJ, Epstein S (1981) Hydrogen and carbon isotopic ratios of cellulose nitrate and saponifiable lipid fractions prepared from annual growth rings of a California redwood, Geochim. Cosmochim Acta 45:1895–1898
O'Brien BJ (1978) Movement and turnover of soil organic matter as indicated by carbon isotope measurements. Soil Biol Biochem 10: 309–317
Ode DJ, Tieszen LL, Lerman JC (1980) The seasonal contribution of C3 and C4 Plant species to primary production in a mixed prairie. Ecology 61:1304–1311
O'Leary M (1981) Carbon isotope fractionation in plants. Phytochemistry 20:553–567
O'Leary MH (1988) Carbon isotopes in photosynthesis. Bioscience 38: 328–335
Oschwald WR, Riecken FF, Dideriksen RI, Scholtes WH, Schaller FW (1965) Principal soils of Iowa. Iowa State University of Science and Technology Cooperative Extension Service, Ames, Iowa, pp 1–76
Reardon EJ, Allison G, Fritz P (1979) Seasonal chemical and isotopic variations of soil CO2 at Trout Creek, Ontario. J Hydrol 43:355–371
Ruhe RV (1950) Graphic analysis of drift topographies. Am J Sci 248:435–443
Ruhe RV (1969) Qauternary Landscapes in Iowa. Iowa State University Press, Ames, Iowa, pp 1–255
Ruhe RV, Scholtes WH (1959) Important elements in the classification of the Wisconsin glacial stage—a discussion. J Geol 67:585–593
Schlesinger WH (1992) Evidence from chronosequence studies for a low carbon-storage potential of soils. Nature 348:232–234
Schwartz D, Mariotti A, Lanfranchi R, Guillet B (1986) 13C/12C ratios of soil organic matter as indicators of vegetation changes in the Congo. Geoderma 39:97–103
Teeri JA, Stowe LG (1976) Climatic patterns and the distribution of C4 grasses in North America. Oecologia 23:1–12
Vogel JC (1980) Fractionation of the carbon isotopes during photosynthesis. Springer, Heidelberg New York, pp 1–29
Vogel JC, Fuls A (1978) The geographical distribution of Kranz Grasses in South Africa. SA J Scien 74:209–215
Volkoff B, Cerri CC (1987) Carbon isotopic fractionation in subtropical Brazilian grassland soils. Comparison with tropical forest soils. Plant Soil 102: 27–31
Walker PH (1966) Postglacial environments in relation to landscape and soils on the Cary Drift, Iowa. Iowa Agr Exp Sta Res Bul 549:838–875
Webb T, Cushing EJ, Wright HE Jr (1983) Holocene Changes in the Vegetation of the Midwest. Late-Quaternary Environments of the United States. Vol. 2. University of Minnesota Press, Minneapolis
White EM, Riecken FF (1955) Brunizem-gray brown podsolic soil biosequence. Soil Sci Soc Am Proc 19:504–509
Wright HE Jr, Ruhe RV (1965) Glaciation of Minnesota and Iowa. The Quaternary of the United States. Vol. 2. Princeton University Press
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Wang, Y., Cerling, T.E. & Effland, W.R. Stable isotope ratios of soil carbonate and soil organic matter as indicators of forest invasion of prairie near Ames, Iowa. Oecologia 95, 365–369 (1993). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00320990
Received:
Accepted:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00320990