Skip to main content

Advertisement

SpringerLink
Log in

Associations between soil carbon and ecological landscape variables at escalating spatial scales in Florida, USA

  • Research Article
  • Published:
Landscape Ecology Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

The spatial distribution of soil carbon (C) is controlled by ecological processes that evolve and interact over a range of spatial scales across the landscape. The relationships between hydrologic and biotic processes and soil C patterns and spatial behavior are still poorly understood. Our objectives were to (i) identify the appropriate spatial scale to observe soil total C (TC) in a subtropical landscape with pronounced hydrologic and biotic variation, and (ii) investigate the spatial behavior and relationships between TC and ecological landscape variables which aggregate various hydrologic and biotic processes. The study was conducted in Florida, USA, characterized by extreme hydrologic (poorly to excessively drained soils), and vegetation/land use gradients ranging from natural uplands and wetlands to intensively managed forest, agricultural, and urban systems. We used semivariogram and landscape indices to compare the spatial dependence structures of TC and 19 ecological landscape variables, identifying similarities and establishing pattern–process relationships. Soil, hydrologic, and biotic ecological variables mirrored the spatial behavior of TC at fine (few kilometers), and coarse (hundreds of kilometers) spatial scales. Specifically, soil available water capacity resembled the spatial dependence structure of TC at escalating scales, supporting a multi-scale soil hydrology-soil C process–pattern relationship in Florida. Our findings suggest two appropriate scales to observe TC, one at a short range (autocorrelation range of 5.6 km), representing local soil-landscape variation, and another at a longer range (119 km), accounting for regional variation. Moreover, our results provide further guidance to measure ecological variables influencing C dynamics.

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

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  • Ahn M-Y, Zimmerman AR, Comerford NB, Sickman JO, Grunwald S (2009) Carbon mineralization and labile organic carbon pools in the sandy soils of a North Florida watershed. Ecosystems 12:672–685

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Blöschl G (1999) Scale issues in snow hydrology. Hydrol Process 13:2149–2175

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Blöschl G, Sivapalan M (1995) Scale issues in hydrological modeling: a review. Hydrol Process 9:251–290

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Bruland GL, Grunwald S, Osborne TZ, Reddy KR, Newman S (2006) Spatial distribution of soil properties in Water Conservation Area 3 of the Everglades. Soil Sci Soc Am J 70:1662–1676

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Chilès JP, Delfiner P (1999) Geostatistics: modeling spatial uncertainty. Wiley, New York

    Google Scholar 

  • Corstanje R, Grunwald S, Reddy KR, Osborne TZ, Newman S (2006) Assessment of the spatial distribution of soil properties in a Northern Everglades marsh. J Environ Qual 35:938–949

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission (FWC) (2003) Digital vegetation and land cover data set for Florida derived from 2003 Landsat ETM+ imagery. FWC, Tallahassee

    Google Scholar 

  • Florida Soil Characterization Database (2009) Florida soil characterization data retrieval system. http://flsoils.ifas.ufl.edu. Accessed January 2009

  • Freeman C, Ostle N, Kang H (2001) An enzymic ‘latch’ on a global carbon store. Nature 409:149

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Grunwald S (2006) What do we really know about the space–time continuum of soil-landscapes? In: Grunwald S (ed) Environmental soil-landscape modeling: geographic information technologies and pedometrics. CRC Press, Boca Raton, pp 3–36

    Google Scholar 

  • Guo LB, Gifford RM (2002) Soil carbon stocks and land use change: a meta analysis. Glob Change Biol 8:345–360

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hancock GR, Murphy D, Evans KG (2010) Hillslope and catchment scale soil organic carbon concentration: an assessment of the role of geomorphology and soil erosion in an undisturbed environment. Geoderma 155:36–45

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Hay GJ, Marceau DJ, Dubé P, Bouchard A (2001) A multiscale framework for landscape analysis: object-specific analysis and upscaling. Landscape Ecol 16:471–490

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hengl T, Heuvelink GBM, Stein A (2004) A generic framework for spatial prediction of soil variables based on regression-kriging. Geoderma 120:75–93

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Keitt TH, Urban DL, Milne BT (1997) Detecting critical scales in fragmented landscapes. Conserv Ecol 1:4. http://www.consecol.org/vol1/iss1/art4. Accessed January 2010

  • Liu D, Wang Z, Zhang B, Song K, Li X, Li J, Li F, Duan H (2006) Spatial distribution of soil organic carbon and analysis of related factors in croplands of the black soil region, Northeast China. Agric Ecosyst Environ 113:73–81

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • McBratney AB (1998) Some considerations on methods for spatially aggregating and disaggregating soil information. Nutr Cycl Agroecosyst 50:51–62

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • McBratney AB, Pringle MJ (1999) Estimating average and proportional variograms of soil properties and their potential use in precision agriculture. Precis Agric 1:125–152

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • McGarigal K, Cushman SA, Neel MC, Ene E (2002) FRAGSTATS: spatial pattern analysis program for categorical maps. http://www.umass.edu/landeco/research/fragstats/fragstats.html. Accessed January 2010

  • McGrath D, Zhang C (2003) Spatial distribution of soil organic carbon concentrations in grassland of Ireland. Appl Geochem 18:1629–1639

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Moody A, Woodcock CE (1995) The influence of scale and the spatial characteristics of landscapes on land-cover mapping using remote sensing. Landscape Ecol 10:363–379

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Mueller TG, Pierce FJ (2003) Soil carbon maps: enhancing spatial estimates with simple terrain attributes at multiple scales. Soil Sci Soc Am J 67:258–267

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Murty D, Kirschbaum MUF, McMurtrie RE, McGilvray H (2002) Does conversion of forest to agricultural land change soil carbon and nitrogen? A review of the literature. Glob Change Biol 8:105–123

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • National Climatic Data Center (NCDC), National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (2008) Monthly surface data. NCDC, Asheville. http://www.ncdc.noaa.gov/oa/ncdc.html. Accessed February 2008

  • Natural Resources Conservation Service, U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) (1996) Soil survey laboratory methods manual. Version 3.0. Soil survey investigations report, vol 42. USDA, Washington, DC

  • Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS), U.S. Department of Agriculture (2006) State Soil Geographic (STATSGO) database. NRCS, Fort Worth

    Google Scholar 

  • Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS), U.S. Department of Agriculture (2009) Soil Survey Geographic (SSURGO) database. NRCS, Fort Worth

    Google Scholar 

  • Ostle NJ, Levy PE, Evans CD, Smith P (2009) UK land use and soil carbon sequestration. Land Use Policy 26S:S274–S283

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Parton WJ, Schimel DS, Cole CV, Ojima DS (1987) Analysis of factors controlling soil organic matter levels in Great Plains grasslands. Soil Sci Soc Am J 51:1173–1179

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Pei T, Qin C-Z, Zhu A-X, Yang L, Luo M, Li B, Zhou C (2010) Mapping soil organic matter using the topographic wetness index: a comparative study based on different flow-direction algorithms and kriging methods. Ecol Indic 10:610–619

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Phachomphon K, Dlamini P, Chaplot V (2010) Estimating carbon stocks at a regional level using soil information and easily accessible auxiliary variables. Geoderma 155:372–380

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Post WM, Kwon KC (2000) Soil carbon sequestration and land-use change: processes and potential. Glob Change Biol 6:317–327

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Reddy KR, Patrick WH Jr (1975) Effect of alternate aerobic and anaerobic conditions on redox potential, organic matter decomposition and nitrogen loss in a flooded soil. Soil Biol Biochem 7:87–94

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Rivero RG, Grunwald S, Osborne TZ, Reddy KR, Newman S (2007) Characterization of the spatial distribution of soil properties in Water Conservation Area 2A, Everglades, Florida. Soil Sci 172:149–166

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Simbahan GC, Dobermann A, Goovaerts P, Ping J, Haddix ML (2006) Fine-resolution mapping of soil organic carbon based on multivariate secondary data. Geoderma 132:471–489

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Terra JA, Shaw JN, Reeves DW, Raper RL, van Santen E, Mask PL (2004) Soil carbon relationships with terrain attributes, electrical conductivity, and soil survey in a coastal plain landscape. Soil Sci 169:819–831

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • United States Geological Survey (USGS) (1984) Digital elevation model (DEM) of Florida. USGS, Reston

    Google Scholar 

  • United States Geological Survey (USGS) (1999) National Elevation Dataset (NED). USGS, Sioux Falls

  • van Meirvenne M, Pannier J, Hofman G, Louwagie G (1996) Regional characterization of the long-term change in soil organic carbon under intensive agriculture. Soil Use Manag 12:86–94

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Vasques GM, Grunwald S, Comerford NB, Sickman JO (2010a) Regional modelling of soil carbon at multiple depths within a subtropical watershed. Geoderma 156:326–336

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Vasques GM, Grunwald S, Comerford NB, Sickman JO (2010b) Upscaling of dynamic soil organic carbon pools in a north-central Florida watershed. Soil Sci Soc Am J 74:870–879

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Walkley A, Black IA (1934) An examination of the Degtjareff method for determining soil organic matter and a proposed modification of the chromic acid titration method. Soil Sci 37:29–38

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Wang H, Hall CAS, Cornell JD, Hall MHP (2002) Spatial dependence and the relationship of soil organic carbon and soil moisture in the Luquillo Experimental Forest, Puerto Rico. Landscape Ecol 17:671–684

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Zhang C, McGrath D (2004) Geostatistical and GIS analyses on soil organic carbon concentrations in grassland of southeastern Ireland from two different periods. Geoderma 119:261–275

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Zhou T, Shi P, Luo J, Shao Z (2008) Estimation of soil organic carbon based on remote sensing and process model. Front For China 3:139–147

    Article  Google Scholar 

Download references

Acknowledgments

We thank Nicholas B. Comerford, Christine M. Bliss, Gregory L. Bruland, Wade Hurt, Willie G. Harris, Chunhao Xu, Deoyani Sarkhot, and Sanjay Lamsal for their support in soil sampling, analysis, and data preparation. We also thank the Soil and Water Science Department at the University of Florida, the Natural Resources Conservation Service, and the Florida Department of Transportation for funding and support to produce the Florida Soil Characterization database. Funding for this research was provided from various projects including “Linking Experimental and Soil Spectral Sensing for Prediction of Soil Carbon Pools and Carbon Sequestration at Landscape Scales” (Cooperative Ecosystem Studies Unit, Natural Resources Conservation Service, U.S. Department of Agriculture), and “Rapid Assessment and Trajectory Modeling of Changes in Soil Carbon across a Southeastern Landscape” (core project of the North American Carbon Program) (Agriculture and Food Research Initiative, National Institute of Food and Agriculture, U.S. Department of Agriculture), and from the University of Florida Alumni Fellowship program.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. National Center of Soil Research, Brazilian Agricultural Research Corporation, Rua Jardim Botânico, 1024, Rio de Janeiro, RJ, 22460-000, Brazil

    Gustavo M. Vasques

  2. Agricultural Research Service, United States Department of Agriculture, 269 Agricultural Engineering Bldg., Columbia, MO, 65211, USA

    D. B. Myers

  3. Soil and Water Science Department, University of Florida, 2169 McCarty Hall, P.O. Box 110290, Gainesville, FL, 32611-0290, USA

    Sabine Grunwald

Authors
  1. Gustavo M. Vasques
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Sabine Grunwald
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. D. B. Myers
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Sabine Grunwald.

Additional information

G. M. Vasques and D. B. Myers were formerly at Soil and Water Science Department, University of Florida.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Cite this article

Vasques, G.M., Grunwald, S. & Myers, D.B. Associations between soil carbon and ecological landscape variables at escalating spatial scales in Florida, USA. Landscape Ecol 27, 355–367 (2012). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10980-011-9702-3

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10980-011-9702-3

Keywords

Search

Navigation