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The development of soil organic matter in restored biodiverse Jarrah forests of South-Western Australia as determined by ASE and GCMS

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Abstract

Background, aim and scope

Soil organic matter (SOM) is known to increase with time as landscapes recover after a major disturbance; however, little is known about the evolution of the chemistry of SOM in reconstructed ecosystems. In this study, we assessed the development of SOM chemistry in a chronosequence (space for time substitution) of restored Jarrah forest sites in Western Australia.

Materials and methods

Replicated samples were taken at the surface of the mineral soil as well as deeper in the profile at sites of 1, 3, 6, 9, 12, and 17 years of age. A molecular approach was developed to distinguish and quantify numerous individual compounds in SOM. This used accelerated solvent extraction in conjunction with gas chromatography mass spectrometry. A novel multivariate statistical approach was used to assess changes in accelerated solvent extraction (ASE)-gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GCMS) spectra. This enabled us to track SOM developmental trajectories with restoration time.

Results

Results showed total carbon concentrations approached that of native forests soils by 17 years of restoration. Using the relate protocol in PRIMER, we demonstrated an overall linear relationship with site age at both depths, indicating that changes in SOM chemistry were occurring.

Conclusions

The surface soils were seen to approach native molecular compositions while the deeper soil retained a more stable chemical signature, suggesting litter from the developing diverse plant community has altered SOM near the surface. Our new approach for assessing SOM development, combining ASE-GCMS with illuminating multivariate statistical analysis, holds great promise to more fully develop ASE for the characterisation of SOM.

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Acknowledgements

We would like to thank Tim Morald, Chris Parker and Trudy Worthington for their assistance in the field; Gary Cass, Michael Smirk and Darryl Roberts for technical support; Pooja Subramanya for assistance in completing basic soil analysis, and Kliti Grice for the use of the ASE and laboratories at Curtin University. We thank Brad Stokes and Stephen Vlahos for assistance with site access and data for study sites. Financial support was provided by BHP Billiton Worsley Alumina and the Centre of Land Rehabilitation. PJS acknowledges support from the UK Natural Environment research Council.

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Author notes

  1. Paul F. Greenwood

    Present address: John De Laeter Mass Spectrometry and WA Biogeochemistry Centres (M090), The University of Western Australia, 35 Stirling Hwy, Crawley, WA, 6009, Australia

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Centre for Land Rehabilitation, School of Earth and Environment, The University of Western Australia, Crawley, WA, Australia

    Deborah S. Lin, Paul F. Greenwood, Suman George & Mark Tibbett

  2. Plymouth Marine Laboratory, Plymouth, United Kingdom

    Paul J. Somerfield

Authors
  1. Deborah S. Lin
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  2. Paul F. Greenwood
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  3. Suman George
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  4. Paul J. Somerfield
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  5. Mark Tibbett
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Correspondence to Mark Tibbett.

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Responsible editor: Zhihong Xu

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Lin, D.S., Greenwood, P.F., George, S. et al. The development of soil organic matter in restored biodiverse Jarrah forests of South-Western Australia as determined by ASE and GCMS. Environ Sci Pollut Res 18, 1070–1078 (2011). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11356-010-0433-9

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11356-010-0433-9

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