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Short-term carbon mineralization in saline–sodic soils

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Abstract

Previous studies have shown that carbon (C) mineralization in saline or sodic soils is affected by various factors including organic C content, salt concentration and water content in saline soils and soil structure in sodic soils, but there is little information about which soil properties control carbon dioxide (CO2) emission from saline-sodic soils. In this study, eight field-collected saline–sodic soils, varying in electrical conductivity (ECe, a measure of salinity, ranging from 3 to 262 dS m−1) and sodium adsorption ratio (SARe, a measure of sodicity, ranging from 11 to 62), were left unamended or amended with mature wheat or vetch residues (2% w/w). Carbon dioxide release was measured over 42 days at constant temperature and soil water content. Cumulative respiration expressed per gram SOC increased in the following order: unamended soil<soil amended with wheat residues (C/N ratio 122)<soil with vetch residue (C/N ratio 18). Cumulative respiration was significantly (p < 0.05) negatively correlated with ECe but not with SARe. Our results show that the response to ECe and SARe of the microbial community activated by addition of organic C does not differ from that of the less active microbial community in unamended soils and that salinity is the main influential factor for C mineralization in saline–sodic soils.

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Acknowledgements

The authors would like to acknowledge Mr. Sean Forrester for MIR analyses and predictions, North and Yorke Natural Resources Management Board, Department of Climate Change and The Future Farm Industries CRC for funding, Merv Lewis, John Snodgrass and Paul March for access to their properties. The first author also acknowledges the scholarship from The University of Adelaide.

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  1. School of Agriculture, Food and Wine and The Waite Research Institute, The University of Adelaide, Adelaide, SA5005, Australia

    Raj Setia, Deepika Setia & Petra Marschner

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  1. Raj Setia
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  2. Deepika Setia
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  3. Petra Marschner
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Correspondence to Raj Setia.

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Setia, R., Setia, D. & Marschner, P. Short-term carbon mineralization in saline–sodic soils. Biol Fertil Soils 48, 475–479 (2012). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00374-011-0643-4

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00374-011-0643-4

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