Skip to main content

Advertisement

SpringerLink
Log in

Improving estimates of maximal organic carbon stabilization by fine soil particles

  • Published:
Biogeochemistry Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

Organic carbon (C) associated with fine soil particles (<20 μm) is relatively stable and accounts for a large proportion of total soil organic C (SOC). The soil C saturation concept proposes a maximal amount of SOC that can be stabilized in the fine soil fraction, and the soil C saturation deficit (i.e., the difference between current SOC and the maximal amount) is presumed to affect the capacity, magnitude, and rate of SOC storage. In this study, we argue that predictions using current models underestimate maximal organic C stabilization of fine soil particles due to fundamental limitations of using least-squares linear regression. The objective was to improve predictions of maximal organic C stabilization by using two alternative approaches; one mechanistic, based on organic C loadings, and one statistical, based on boundary line analysis. We collected 342 data points on the organic C content of fine soil particles, fine particle mass proportions in bulk soil, dominant soil mineral types, and land use types from 32 studies. Predictions of maximal organic C stabilization using linear regression models are questionable because of the use of data from soils that may not be saturated in SOC and because of the nature of regression itself, resulting in a high proportion of presumed over-saturated samples. Predictions of maximal organic C stabilization using the organic C loading approach fit the data for soils dominated by 2:1 minerals well, but not soils dominated by 1:1 minerals; suggesting that the use of a single value for specific surface area, and therefore a single organic C loading, to represent a large dataset is problematic. In boundary line analysis, only data representing soils having reached the maximal amount (upper tenth percentile) were used. The boundary line analysis estimate of maximal organic C stabilization (78 ± 4 g C kg−1 fraction) was more than double the estimate by the linear regression approach (33 ± 1 g C kg−1 fraction). These results show that linear regression models do not adequately predict maximal organic C stabilization. Soil properties associated with soil mineralogy, such as specific surface area and organic C loading, should be incorporated to generate more mechanistic models for predicting soil C saturation, but in their absence, statistical models should represent the upper envelope rather than the average value.

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
Fig. 3
Fig. 4
Fig. 5

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  • Amelung W, Zech W, Zhang X, Follett RF, Tiessen H, Knox E, Flach KW (1998) Carbon, nitrogen, and sulfur pools in particle-size fractions as influenced by climate. Soil Sci Soc Am J 62(1):172–181

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Balabane M, Plante AF (2004) Aggregation and carbon storage in silty soil using physical fractionation techniques. Eur J Soil Sci 55(2):415–427

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Balesdent J, Besnard E, Arrouays D, Chenu C (1998) The dynamics of carbon in particle-size fractions of soil in a forest-cultivation sequence. Plant Soil 201(1):49–57

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Barthès BG, Kouakoua E, Larré-Larrouy MC, Razafimbelo TM, de Luca EF, Azontonde A, Neves C, de Freitas PL, Feller CL (2008) Texture and sesquioxide effects on water-stable aggregates and organic matter in some tropical soils. Geoderma 143(1–2):14–25

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Bates JAR (1960) Studies on a Nigerian forest soil. 1. The distribution of organic matter in the profile and in various soil fractions. J Soil Sci 11(2):246–256

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Besnard E, Chenu C, Robert M (2001) Influence of organic amendments on copper distribution among particle-size and density fractions in Champagne vineyard soils. Environ Pollut 112(3):329–337

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Bonde TA, Christensen BT, Cerri CC (1992) Dynamics of soil organic matter as reflected by natural 13C abundance in particle-size fractions of forested and cultivated oxisols. Soil Biol Biochem 24(3):275–277

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Campbell CA, Bowren KE, Schnitzer M, Zentner RP, Townleysmith L (1991) Effect of crop rotations and fertilization on soil organic matter and some biochemical properties of a thick Black Chernozem. Can J Soil Sci 71(3):377–387

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Caravaca F, Lax A, Albaladejo J (1999) Organic matter, nutrient contents and cation exchange capacity in fine fractions from semiarid calcareous soils. Geoderma 93(3–4):161–176

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Chenu C, Plante AF (2006) Clay-associated and clay-bound organic matter in a cultivation chronosequence: revisiting the concept of the “primary organo-mineral complex”. Eur J Soil Sci 57(4):596–607

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Christensen BT (1985) Carbon and nitrogen in particle size fractions isolated from Danish arable soils by ultrasonic dispersion and gravity sedimentation. Acta Agric Scand 35(2):175–187

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Christensen BT (1986) Straw incorporation and soil organic matter in macro-aggregates and particle size separates. J Soil Sci 37(1):125–135

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Christensen BT (1987) Decomposability of organic matter in particle size fractions from field soils with straw incorporation. Soil Biol Biochem 19(4):429–435

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Christensen BT (1998) Carbon in primary and secondary organo-mineral complexes. In: Carter MR, Stewart BA (eds) Structure and organic matter storage in agricultural soils. CRC Press, Boca Raton, pp 97–165

    Google Scholar 

  • Chung HG, Grove JH, Six J (2008) Indications for soil carbon saturation in a temperate agroecosystem. Soil Sci Soc Am J 72(4):1132–1139

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Dalal RC, Mayer RJ (1986) Long-term trends in fertility of soils under continuous cultivation and cereal cropping in southern Queensland. 3. Distribution and kinetics of soil organic carbon in particle-size fractions. Aust J Soil Res 24(2):293–300

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Denef K, Six J, Merckx R, Paustian K (2004) Carbon sequestration in microaggregates of no-tillage soils with different clay mineralogy. Soil Sci Soc Am J 68(6):1935–1944

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Elliott JA, Dejong E (1993) Prediction of field denitrification rates: a boundary line approach. Soil Sci Soc Am J 57(1):82–87

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Feller C, Beare MH (1997) Physical control of soil organic matter dynamics in the tropics. Geoderma 79(1–4):69–116

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Gregorich EG, Beare MH, McKim UF, Skjemstad JO (2006) Chemical and biological characteristics of physically uncomplexed organic matter. Soil Sci Soc Am J 70(3):975–985

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Guggenberger G, Christensen BT, Zech W (1994) Land-use effects on the composition of organic matter in particle-size separates of soils.1. Lignin and carbohydrate signature. Eur J Soil Sci 45(4):449–458

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Guggenberger G, Zech W, Haumaier L, Christensen BT (1995) Land-use effects on the composition of organic matter in particle-size separates of soils. 2. CPMAS and solution 13C-NMR analysis. Eur J Soil Sci 46(1):147–158

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Guibert H, Fallavier P, Roméro JJ (1999) Carbon content in soil particle size and consequence on cation exchange capacity of alfisols. Commun Soil Sci Plant Anal 30(17–18):2521–2537

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Gulde S, Chung H, Amelung W, Chang C, Six J (2008) Soil carbon saturation controls labile and stable carbon pool dynamics. Soil Sci Soc Am J 72(3):605–612

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hassink J (1997) The capacity of soils to preserve organic C and N by their association with clay and silt particles. Plant Soil 191(1):77–87

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Jandl G, Leinweber P, Schulten HR, Eusterhues K (2004) The concentrations of fatty acids in organo-mineral particle-size fractions of a Chernozem. Eur J Soil Sci 55(3):459–470

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Kahle M, Kleber M, Jahn R (2002a) Carbon storage in loess derived surface soils from Central Germany: influence of mineral phase variables. J Plant Nutr Soil Sci Z Pflanzenernahr Bodenkd 165(2):141–149

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Kahle M, Kleber M, Jahn R (2002b) Predicting carbon content in illitic clay fractions from surface area, cation exchange capacity and dithionite-extractable iron. Eur J Soil Sci 53(4):639–644

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Kahle M, Kleber M, Torn MS, Jahn R (2003) Carbon storage in coarse and fine clay fractions of illitic soils. Soil Sci Soc Am J 67(6):1732–1739

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Kaiser K, Guggenberger G (2003) Mineral surfaces and soil organic matter. Eur J Soil Sci 54(2):219–236

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Keil RG, Tsamakis E, Fuh CB, Giddings JC, Hedges JI (1994) Mineralogical and textural controls on the organic composition of coastal marine-sediments—hydrodynamic separation using SPLITT-fractionation. Geochim Cosmochim Acta 58(2):879–893

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Kleber M, Mikutta R, Torn MS, Jahn R (2005) Poorly crystalline mineral phases protect organic matter in acid subsoil horizons. Eur J Soil Sci 56(6):717–725

    Google Scholar 

  • Kögel-Knabner I, Guggenberger G, Kleber M, Kandeler E, Kalbitz K, Scheu S, Eusterhues K, Leinweber P (2008) Organo-mineral associations in temperate soils: integrating biology, mineralogy, and organic matter chemistry. J Plant Nutr Soil Sci Z Pflanzenernahr Bodenkd 171(1):61–82

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Kölbl A, von Lützow M, Kögel-Knabner I (2006) Decomposition and distribution of 15N-labelled mustard litter (Sinapis alba) in physical soil fractions of a cropland with high- and low-yield field areas. Soil Biol Biochem 38(11):3292–3302

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Larré-Larrouy MC, Albrecht A, Blanchart E, Chevallier T, Feller C (2003) Carbon and monosaccharides of a tropical Vertisol under pasture and market-gardening: distribution in primary organomineral separates. Geoderma 117(1–2):63–79

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Leinweber P, Reuter G (1992) The influence of different fertilization practices on concentrations of organic carbon and total nitrogen in particle-size fractions during 34 years of a soil formation experiment in loamy marl. Biol Fertil Soils 13(2):119–124

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Liang AZ, Yang XM, Zhang XP, McLaughlin N, Shen Y, Li WF (2009) Soil organic carbon changes in particle-size fractions following cultivation of Black soils in China. Soil Tillage Res 105(1):21–26

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Lugato E, Paustian K, Giardini L (2007) Modelling soil organic carbon dynamics in two long-term experiments of north-eastern Italy. Agric Ecosyst Environ 120(2–4):423–432

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Mayer LM (1994) Relationships between mineral surfaces and organic carbon concentrations in soils and sediments. Chem Geol 114(3–4):347–363

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Mayer LM, Xing BS (2001) Organic matter-surface area relationships in acid soils. Soil Sci Soc Am J 65(1):250–258

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • McKeague JA (1971) Organic matter in particle-size fractions and specific gravity fractions of some Ah horizons. Can J Soil Sci 51(3):499–505

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Mikutta R, Mikutta C, Kalbitz K, Scheel T, Kaiser K, Jahn R (2007) Biodegradation of forest floor organic matter bound to minerals via different binding mechanisms. Geochim Cosmochim Acta 71(10):2569–2590

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Milne AE, Wheeler HC, Lark RM (2006) On testing biological data for the presence of a boundary. Ann Appl Biol 149(2):213–222

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Mitchell JK, Soga K (2005) Fundamentals of soil behavior. Wiley, Hobocken

    Google Scholar 

  • Nacro HB, Benest D, Abbadie L (1996) Distribution of microbial activities and organic matter according to particle size in a humid savanna soil (Lamto, Cote d’Ivoire). Soil Biol Biochem 28(12):1687–1697

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Ngole VM, Ekosse GE (2009) Physico-chemistry and mineralogy related to productivity of aernosol, luvisol and vertisol. Iran J Sci Technol Trans A Sci 32(A2):99–108

    Google Scholar 

  • Oades JM (1988) The retention of organic matter in soils. Biogeochemistry 5(1):35–70

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Schmidt U, Thöni H, Kaupenjohann M (2000) Using a boundary line approach to analyze N2O flux data from agricultural soils. Nutr Cycl Agroecosys 57(2):119–129

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Schneider MPW, Scheel T, Mikutta R, van Hees P, Kaiser K, Kalbitz K (2010) Sorptive stabilization of organic matter by amorphous Al hydroxide. Geochim Cosmochim Acta 74(5):1606–1619

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Schulten HR, Leinweber P (2000) New insights into organic-mineral particles: composition, properties and models of molecular structure. Biol Fertil Soils 30(5–6):399–432

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Schulten HR, Leinweber P, Sorge C (1993) Composition of organic matter in particle size fractions of an agricultural soil. J Soil Sci 44(4):677–691

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Six J, Conant RT, Paul EA, Paustian K (2002) Stabilization mechanisms of soil organic matter: implications for C-saturation of soils. Plant Soil 241(2):155–176

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Sollins P, Homann P, Caldwell BA (1996) Stabilization and destabilization of soil organic matter: mechanisms and controls. Geoderma 74(1–2):65–105

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Steffens M, Kölbl A, Kögel-Knabner I (2009) Alteration of soil organic matter pools and aggregation in semi-arid steppe topsoils as driven by organic matter input. Eur J Soil Sci 60(2):198–212

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Thuriès L, Larré-Larrouy MC, Feller C (2000) Influences of organic fertilization and solarization in a greenhouse on particle-size fractions of a Mediterranean sandy soil. Biol Fertil Soils 32(6):449–457

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Turchenek LW, Oades JM (1979) Fractionation of organo-mineral complexes by sedimentation and density techniques. Geoderma 21(4):311–343

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Virto I, Barre P, Chenu C (2008) Microaggregation and organic matter storage at the silt-size scale. Geoderma 146(1–2):326–335

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Virto I, Moni C, Swanston C, Chenu C (2010) Turnover of intra- and extra-aggregate organic matter at the silt-size scale. Geoderma 156(1–2):1–10

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • von Lützow M, Kögel-Knabner I, Ekschmitt K, Matzner E, Guggenberger G, Marschner B, Flessa H (2006) Stabilization of organic matter in temperate soils: mechanisms and their relevance under different soil conditions—a review. Eur J Soil Sci 57(4):426–445

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Wagai R, Mayer LM, Kitayama K (2009) Extent and nature of organic coverage of soil mineral surfaces assessed by a gas sorption approach. Geoderma 149(1–2):152–160

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Wattel-Koekkoek EJW, van Genuchten PPL, Buurman P, van Lagen B (2001) Amount and composition of clay-associated soil organic matter in a range of kaolinitic and smectitic soils. Geoderma 99(1–2):27–49

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Webb RA (1972) Use of boundary line in analysis of biological data. J Horticult Sci Biotechnol 47(3):309–320

    Google Scholar 

  • Wiseman CLS, Püttmann W (2005) Soil organic carbon and its sorptive preservation in central Germany. Eur J Soil Sci 56(1):65–76

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Wiseman CLS, Püttmann W (2006) Interactions between mineral phases in the preservation of soil organic matter. Geoderma 134(1–2):109–118

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Yong RN, Mohamed AMO, Wang BW (1992) Influence of amorphous silica and iron hydroxide on interparticle action and soil surface properties. Can Geotech J 29(5):803–818

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Zhang H, Thompson ML, Sandor JA (1988) Compositional differences in organic matter among cultivated and uncultivated Argiudolls and Hapludalfs derived from loess. Soil Sci Soc Am J 52(1):216–222

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Zhao LP, Sun YJ, Zhang XP, Yang XM, Drury CF (2006) Soil organic carbon in clay and silt sized particles in Chinese mollisols: relationship to the predicted capacity. Geoderma 132(3–4):315–323

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Zinn YL, Lal R, Bigham JM, Resck DVS (2007) Edaphic controls on soil organic carbon retention in the Brazilian Cerrado: texture and mineralogy. Soil Sci Soc Am J 71(4):1204–1214

    Article  Google Scholar 

Download references

Acknowledgments

Funding was provided by DOE-BER grant # ER63912.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Earth & Environmental Science, University of Pennsylvania, Hayden Hall, 240 South 33rd Street, Philadelphia, PA, 19104-6316, USA

    Wenting Feng & Alain F. Plante

  2. Department of Plant Sciences, University of California, Davis, CA, 95616, USA

    Johan Six

Authors
  1. Wenting Feng
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Alain F. Plante
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. Johan Six
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Alain F. Plante.

Electronic supplementary material

Below is the link to the electronic supplementary material.

Supplementary material 1 (DOC 684 kb)

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Cite this article

Feng, W., Plante, A.F. & Six, J. Improving estimates of maximal organic carbon stabilization by fine soil particles. Biogeochemistry 112, 81–93 (2013). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10533-011-9679-7

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10533-011-9679-7

Keywords

Search

Navigation