Abstract
We studied the effect of different land uses (woodland, grassland and arable land) in two depths of a temperate silt-rich Typic Hapludalf on the storage of total organic C (TOC), readily oxidizable C (ROC), hot water-Extractable C (HWC), and cold water-Extractable C (CWC) fractions in bulk soil (<2 mm) and macroaggregates fractionated into small (1–2 mm), medium (2–4 mm) and large (5–8 mm) classes. A 120-day incubation was conducted to measure depletion of all C fractions. The highest C concentrations were associated with the macroaggregate-size classes but stored within the 1–2 mm aggregates for each of the soils. TOC and ROC concentrations depletion ranged from 1 to 14 % across the land uses throughout the incubation period. However, the concentrations of labile fractions (HWC; CWC) declined significantly during the incubation by 40–59 % and 3–35 % for the topsoil and subsoil respectively. This suggests that C fluxes are largely controlled by the highly bio-reactive labile fractions. Consequently, labile C is a promising measure for detecting changes in TOC following land use change. Woodland contained three to four times more TOC than grassland and arable land soils. Cultivation reduced C storage of this soil by >70 %.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution.
Buying options
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
Learn about institutional subscriptionsReferences
Adisa SJ, Nortcliff S (2011) Carbon fractions associated with silt-size particles in surface and subsurface soil horizons. Soil Sci Soc Am J 75:79–91
Ahn MY, 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
Belay-Tedla A, Zhou X, Su B, Wan S, Luo Y (2009) Labile, recalcitrant, and microbial carbon and nitrogen pools of a tallgrass prairie soil in the US Great Plains subjected to experimental warming and clipping. Soil Biol Biochem 41:110–116
Davidson EA, Ackerman IL (1993) Changes in soil carbon inventories following cultivation of previously untilled soils. Biogeochemistry 20:161–193
Don A, Scholten T, Schulze ED (2009) Conversion of cropland into grassland: implications for soil organic-carbon stocks in two soils with different texture. J Plant Nutr Soil Sci 172:53–62
Elliot ET (1986) Aggregate structure and carbon, nitrogen, and phosphorus in native and cultivated soils. Soil Sci Soc Am J 50:627–633
Gal A, Vyn TJ, Micheli E, Kladivko EJ, McFee WW (2007) Soil carbon and nitrogen accumulation with long-term no-till versus moldboard plowing overestimated with tilled-zone sampling depths. Soil Tillage Res 96:42–51
Ghani A, Dexter M, Perrott KW (2003) Hot-water extractable carbon in soils: a sensitive measurement for determining impacts of fertilisation, grazing and cultivation. Soil Biol Biochem 35:1231–1243
Gregorich EG, Beare MH, Stoklas U, St-Georges P (2003) Biodegradability of soluble organic matter in maize-cropped soils. Geoderma 113:237–252
Jarvis RA (1968) Soils of the Reading district (Sheet 268). Memoirs of the Soil Survey of Great Britain, England and Wales, Harpenden
John B, Yamashita T, Ludwig B, Flessa H (2005) Storage of organic carbon in aggregate and density fractions of silty soils under different types of land use. Geoderma 128:63–79
Kong AYY, Six J, Bryant DC, Denison RF, van Kessel C (2005) The relationship between carbon input aggregation, and soil organic carbon stabilization in sustainable cropping systems. Soil Sci Soc Am J 69:1078–1085
Lal R (2005) Forest soils and carbon sequestration. For Ecol Manag 220:242–258
Madari B, Machado PLOA, Torres E, de Andrade AG, Valencia LIO (2005) No tillage and crop rotation effects on soil aggregation and organic carbon in a Rhodic Ferralsol from southern Brazil. Soil Tillage Res 80:185–200
Marriott EE, Wander MM (2006) Total and labile soil organic matter in organic and conventional farming systems. Soil Sci Soc Am J 70:950–959
McGill WB, Cannon KR, Robertson JA, Cook FD (1986) Dynamics of soil microbial biomass and water soluble C in Breton L after 50 years of cropping to rotation. Can J Soil Sci 66:1–19
Mikha MM, Rice CW (2004) Tillage and manure effects on soil and aggregate-associated carbon and nitrogen. Soil Sci Soc Am J 68:809–816
Rowell DL (1994) Soil science: methods and applications. Longman Scientific and Technical/Long Group, London/Marlow
Rumpel C, Kögel-Knabner I (2011) Deep soil organic matter-a key but poorly understood component of terrestrial C cycle. Plant Soil 338:143–158
Sarkhot DV, Grunwald S, Ge Y, Morgan CLS (2012) Total and available soil carbon fractions under the perennial grass Cynodon dactylon (L.) Pers and the bioenergy crop Arundo donax L. Biomass Bioenergy 41:122–130
Schrumpf M, Kaiser K, Guggenberger G, Persson T, Kögel-Knabner I, Schulze E-D (2013) Storage and stability of organic carbon in soils as related to depth, occlusion within aggregates, and attachment to minerals. Biogeosciences 10:1675–1691
Spohn M, Giani L (2011) Total, hot water extractable, and oxidation-resistant carbon in sandy hydromorphic soils-analysis of a 220-year chronosequence. Plant Soil 338:183–192
Tisdall JM, Oades JM (1982) Organic matter and water-stable aggregates in soil. J Soil Sci 33:141–163
Yang Z, Singh BR, Hansen S (2007) Aggregate associated carbon, nitrogen and sulfur and their ratios in long-term fertilized soils. Soil Tillage Res 95:161–171
Zhang J, Song C, Yang W (2006) Land use effects on the distribution of labile organic carbon fractions through soil profiles. Soil Sci Soc Am J 70:660–667
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Editor information
Editors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 2014 Springer International Publishing Switzerland
About this chapter
Cite this chapter
Akinsete, S.J., Nortcliff, S. (2014). Storage of Total and Labile Soil Carbon Fractions Under Different Land-Use Types: A Laboratory Incubation Study. In: Hartemink, A., McSweeney, K. (eds) Soil Carbon. Progress in Soil Science. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-04084-4_21
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-04084-4_21
Published:
Publisher Name: Springer, Cham
Print ISBN: 978-3-319-04083-7
Online ISBN: 978-3-319-04084-4
eBook Packages: Earth and Environmental ScienceEarth and Environmental Science (R0)