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Land use effects on soil carbon fractions in the southeastern United States. II. changes in soil carbon fractions along a forest to pasture chronosequence

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Abstract

Since land use change can have significant impacts on regional biogeochemistry, we investigated how conversion of forest and cultivation to pasture impact soil C and N cycling. In addition to examining total soil C, we isolated soil physiochemical C fractions in order to understand the mechanisms by which soil C is sequestered or lost. Total soil C did not change significantly over time following conversion from forest, though coarse (250–2,000 μm) particulate organic matter C increased by a factor of 6 immediately after conversion. Aggregate mean weight diameter was reduced by about 50% after conversion, but values were like those under forest after 8 years under pasture. Samples collected from a long-term pasture that was converted from annual cultivation more than 50 years ago revealed that some soil physical properties negatively impacted by cultivation were very slow to recover. Finally, our results indicate that soil macroaggregates turn over more rapidly under pasture than under forest and are less efficient at stabilizing soil C, whereas microaggregates from pasture soils stabilize a larger concentration of C than forest microaggregates. Since conversion from forest to pasture has a minimal impact on total soil C content in the Piedmont region of Virginia, United States, a simple C stock accounting system could use the same base soil C stock value for either type of land use. However, since the effects of forest to pasture conversion are a function of grassland management following conversion, assessments of C sequestration rates require activity data on the extent of various grassland management practices.

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Acknowledgements

We wish to thank Nasheed Smith, Jen Carter, and Sarah Moculeski for assistance in processing and analyzing soil samples. Thanks also to Billy Wayson for graciously allowing us to collect soil samples in his pastures and forest and providing detailed land use history for the sites. Glenn Johnson was instrumental in identifying a producer willing to participate in our study. Thanks to Jim Hammons, Mark Alley, and the Department of Crop and Soil Environmental Sciences at Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University for field assistance and use of their Giddings rig. Louis W. Heidel, and Jim Sawyer assisted with collection of soil samples. This research was funded by grant 826499-01-0 from the Environmental Protection Agency and by grant DE-FG03-00ER62997 from the Department of Energy. Alain Plante and one anonymous reviewer provided useful comments on an earlier version of this manuscript.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Natural Resource Ecology Laboratory, Colorado State University, Fort Collins, CO, 80523-1499, USA

    Richard T. Conant, Johan Six & Keith Paustian

  2. Department of Agronomy and Range Science, University of California, Davis, CA, 95616, USA

    Johan Six

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  1. Richard T. Conant
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  2. Johan Six
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Correspondence to Richard T. Conant.

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Conant, R.T., Six, J. & Paustian, K. Land use effects on soil carbon fractions in the southeastern United States. II. changes in soil carbon fractions along a forest to pasture chronosequence. Biol Fertil Soils 40, 194–200 (2004). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00374-004-0754-2

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00374-004-0754-2

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