Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

Influence of dolomitic lime on DOC and DON leaching in a forest soil

  • Published:
Biogeochemistry Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

The influence of liming on leaching and distribution of dissolved organic carbon (DOC) and nitrogen (DON) in mineral soil was investigated in a leaching experiment with soil columns. Soil samples from separate horizons (O, A and B horizons) were collected from control and limed plots in a field liming experiment in a spruce forest in southern Sweden. The field liming (0.88 kg m−2) had been carried out 8 years before sampling. To minimize the variation among replicates, soil profiles were reconstructed in the laboratory so that the dry weight was the same for each individual soil horizon regardless of treatment. Two soil column types were used with either the O+A horizons or the O+A+B horizons. One Norway spruce seedling (Picea abies (L.) Karst) was planted in each soil column. Average pH in the leachate water was greater in the limed treatment than in the control treatment (5.0 versus 4.0 for O+A columns and 4.3 versus 3.8 for O+A+B columns). After reaching an approximate steady state, the leaching of DOC was 3–4 times greater from the limed O+A and O+A+B columns than from the corresponding control columns but the leaching of DON increased (3.5 times) only in the limed O+A columns. There was a significant correlation between DOC and DON in the leachates from all columns except for the control O+A+B columns, which indicated a decoupling of DOC and DON retention in the B horizon in the control treatment. This might be explained by a selective adsorption of nitrogen poor hydrophobic compounds (C/N ratio: 32–77) while there was a lower retention of nitrogen rich hydrophilic compounds (C/N ratio: 14–20). Proportionally more hydrophobic compounds were leached from the limed soil compared to the unlimed soil. These hydrophobic compounds also became more enriched in nitrogen after liming so in the limed treatment nitrogen might be adsorbed at nearly the same proportion as carbon, which might explain the fact that there was no decoupling of leached DOC and DON from the B horizon after liming.

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

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  • Andersson S, Valeur I & Nilsson I (1994) Influence of lime on soil respiration, leaching of DOC, and C/S relationships in the mor humus of a Haplic Podsol. Environ. Int. 20: 81–88

    Google Scholar 

  • Bringmark L & Kvarnäs H (1995) Leaching of nitrogen from small forest catchments having different deposition and different stores of nitrogen. Water Air Soil Pollut. 85: 1167–1172

    Google Scholar 

  • Brunner W & Blaser P (1989) Mineralization of soil organic matter and added carbon substrates in two acidic soils with high non-exchangeable aluminium. Z. Pflanzenernähr. Bodenk. 152: 367–372

    Google Scholar 

  • Christ MJ & David MB (1996) Temperature and moisture effects on the production of dissolved organic carbon in a Spodosol. Soil Biol. Biochem. 28: 1191–1199

    Google Scholar 

  • Cronan CS & Aiken GR (1985) Chemistry and transport of soluble humic substances in forested watersheds of the Adirondack Park, New York. Geochim. Cosmochim. Acta 49: 1697–1705

    Google Scholar 

  • Cronan CS, Lakshman S & Patterson HH (1992) Effects of disturbance and soil amendments on dissolved organic carbon and organic acidity in red pine forest floors. J. Environ. Qual. 21: 457–463

    Google Scholar 

  • Curtin D & Smillie GW (1983) Soil solution composition as affected by liming and incubation. Soil Sci. Soc. Am. J. 47: 701–707

    Google Scholar 

  • David MB & Zech W (1990) Adsorption of dissolved organic carbon and sulfate by acid forest soils in the Fichtelgebirge, FRG. Z. Pflanzenernähr. Bodenk. 153: 379–384

    Google Scholar 

  • David MB, Vance GF & Krzyszowska AJ (1995) Carbon controls on Spodosol nitrogen, sulfur, and phosphorus cycling. In: McFee WW & Kelly JM (Eds) Carbon Forms and Functions in Forest Soils (pp 329–353). Soil Science Society of America, Madison, WI, U.S.A.

    Google Scholar 

  • Easthouse KB, Mulder J, Christophersen N & Seip HM (1992) Dissolved organic carbon fractions in soil and stream water during variable hydrological conditions at Birkenes, southern Norway. Water Resour. Res. 28: 1585–1596

    Google Scholar 

  • Eriksson HM, Berdén M, Rosén K & Nilsson SI (1996) Nutrient distribution in a Norway spruce stand after long-term application of ammonium nitrate and superphosphate. Water Air Soil Pollut. 92: 451–467

    Google Scholar 

  • Evans A Jr, Zelazny LW & Zipper CE (1988) Solution parameters influencing dissolved organic carbon levels in three forest soils. Soil Sci. Soc. Am. J. 52: 1789–1792

    Google Scholar 

  • FAO (Food and Agricultural Organization) (1988) Soil Map of the World. Revised Legend. World Soil Resources Report 60, FAO-UNESCO

  • Fog K (1988) The effect of added nitrogen on the rate of decomposition of organic matter. Biol. Rev. 63: 433–462

    Google Scholar 

  • Gödde M, David MB, Christ MJ, Kaupenjohann M & Vance GF (1996) Carbon mobilization from the forest floor under red spruce in the northeastern USA. Soil Biol. Biochem. 28: 1181–1189

    Google Scholar 

  • Göttlein A, Kreutzer K & Schierl R (1991) Beiträge zur Charakterisierung organischer Stoffe in wässrigen Bodenextrakten unter dem Einfluss von saurer Beregnung und Kalkung. Forstwissenschaftliche Forschungen Heft 39: 212–220

    Google Scholar 

  • Guggenberger G & Zech W (1992) Retention of dissolved organic carbon and sulfate in aggregated acid forest soils. J. Environ. Qual. 21: 643–653

    Google Scholar 

  • Guggenberger G & Zech W (1993) Dissolved organic carbon control in acid forest soils of the Fichtelgebirge (Germany) as revealed by distribution patterns and structural composition analyses. Geoderma 59: 109–129

    Google Scholar 

  • Ingestad T & Lund A-B (1986) Theory and techniques for steady state mineral nutrition and growth of plants. Scand. J. For. Res. 1: 439–453

    Google Scholar 

  • Jardine PM, Weber NL & McCarthy JF (1989) Mechanisms of dissolved organic carbon adsorption on soil. Soil Sci. Soc. Am. J. 53: 1378–1385

    Google Scholar 

  • Johnson DW, Walker RF & Ball JT (1995) Lessons from lysimeters: soil N release from disturbance compromises controlled environment study. Ecol. Applications 5: 395–400

    Google Scholar 

  • Kaiser K, Guggenberger G & Zech. W (1996) Sorption of DOM and DOM fractions forest soils. Geoderma 74: 281–303

    Google Scholar 

  • Leenheer JA (1981) Comprehensive approach to preparative isolation and fractionation of dissolved organic carbon from natural waters and wastewaters. Environ. Sci. Technol. 15: 578–587

    Google Scholar 

  • McDowell WH & Likens GE (1988) Origin, composition, and flux of dissolved organic carbon in the Hubbard Brook Valley. Ecol. Monogr. 58: 177–195

    Google Scholar 

  • Nömmik H & Vahtras K (1982) Retention and fixation of ammonium and ammonia in soils. In: Stevenson FJ, Bremner JM, Hauck RD & Keeney DR (Eds) Nitrogen in Agricultural Soils, Agronomy Monograph 22 (pp 123–172). American Society of Agronomy, Madison, WI, U.S.A.

    Google Scholar 

  • Norman RJ, Kurtz LT & Stevenson FJ (1987) Solubilization of soil organic matter by liquid anhydrous ammonia. Soil Sci. Soc. Am. J. 51: 809–812

    Google Scholar 

  • Persson T, Rudebeck A & Wirén A (1995) Pools and fluxes of carbon and nitrogen in 40-year-old forest liming experiments in southern Sweden. Water Air Soil Pollut. 85: 901–906

    Google Scholar 

  • Qualls RG & Haines BL (1991) Geochemistry of dissolved organic nutrients in water percolating through a forest ecosystem. Soil Sci. Soc. Am. J. 55: 1112–1123

    Google Scholar 

  • Smolander A, Kitunen V, Priha O & Mälkönen E (1995) Nitrogen transformations in limed and nitrogen fertilized soil in Norway spruce stands. Plant soil 172: 107–115

    Google Scholar 

  • Soil Survey Staff (1990) Keys to Soil Taxonomy (3rd edn). Soil Management Support Services Technical Monograph No 6. Ithaca, NY, U.S.A.

  • Vance GF & David MB (1989) Effect of acid treatment on dissolved organic carbon retention by a spodic horizon. Soil Sci. Soc. Am. J. 53: 1242–1247

    Google Scholar 

  • Vance GF & David MB (1991) Forest soil response to acid and salt additions of sulfate: III. Solubilization and composition of dissolved organic carbon. Soil Sci. 151: 297–305

    Google Scholar 

  • Yavitt JB & Fahey TJ (1984) An experimental analysis of solution chemistry in a lodgepole pine forest floor. Oikos 43: 222–234

    Google Scholar 

  • Zech W, Guggenberger G & Schulten H-R (1994) Budgets and chemistry of dissolved organic carbon in forest soils: effects of anthropogenic soil acidification. Sci. Total Environ. 152: 49–62

    Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Soil Sciences, Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences, SE-750 07, Uppsala, Sweden

    Stefan Andersson & Ingvar Nilsson

  2. University of Lund, Ecology Building, SE-223 62, Lund, Sweden

    Inger Valeur

Authors
  1. Stefan Andersson
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Ingvar Nilsson
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. Inger Valeur
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Cite this article

Andersson, S., Nilsson, I. & Valeur, I. Influence of dolomitic lime on DOC and DON leaching in a forest soil. Biogeochemistry 47, 297–317 (1999). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00992911

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Accepted:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00992911

Key words

Search

Navigation