Outcomes of a quantitative analysis of 46 soil chronosequence studies: Vegetation plays the key role for rates of podzolization in most environments.

Author(s):  
Lisa Zwanzig ◽  
Martin Zwanzig ◽  
Daniela Sauer

<p>Soil formation is controlled by climate, vegetation, organisms, topography, parent material and time. There are various hypotheses on the relative importance of these individual soil-forming factors. The quantitative influence of each soil-forming factor on the expression and rates of soil-forming processes, and in particular the influence of the different factors in combination, have not yet been sufficiently analyzed. The aim of this study was to quantify the influence of the soil-forming factors on the rates of podzolization. For this purpose, we compiled published data from 46 soil chronosequence studies in a database. These studies contained altogether 231 soil profiles of known age, on which we tested existing hypotheses on the influence of different soil-forming factors. The formation of an E horizon and its increase in thickness over time is one of the characteristic features of Podzol formation. As it is one of the few features that was described in all 46 studies, we used it as an indicator of progressive podzolization. Through statistical analysis, we investigated how E horizon thickness is affected by latitude, longitude, mean annual precipitation, mean annual temperature, range between minimum and maximum monthly temperature, annual number of days with frost, vegetation class (pioneer, deciduous and coniferous), sand content, clay content, and soil age.</p><p>Since E horizon thickness exhibited a zero-inflated (semi-)continuous distribution, we opted for a zero-altered gamma (ZAG) model, consisting of a Bernoulli and a Gamma part. The Bernoulli part shows, how the probability of the presence of an E horizon changes with soil age and environmental conditions. The Gamma part of the ZAG model allows for capturing the effects of the covariates on E horizon thickness. Our results indicate that vegetation is the most important factor for both (1) the soil age at which podzolization starts (used indicator: first occurrence of an E horizon), and (2) the rates of podzolization thereafter (used measure: increase of E horizon thickness with soil age). Climatic factors such as mean annual precipitation and range of temperature play subordinate roles. They are important for the soil age at which podzolization starts but less important for the rates of podzolization. We did not identify a significant influence of sand content, neither on the start nor the rates of podzolization. Thus, this statistical assessment of global data provides new insights into the relative importance of the individual soil-forming factors on the onset and temporal course of podzolization.</p>

2018 ◽  
Vol 15 (17) ◽  
pp. 5329-5341 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jiguang Feng ◽  
Jingsheng Wang ◽  
Yanjun Song ◽  
Biao Zhu

Abstract. Soil respiration (Rs), a key process in the terrestrial carbon cycle, is very sensitive to climate change. In this study, we synthesized 54 measurements of annual Rs and 171 estimates of Q10 value (the temperature sensitivity of soil respiration) in grasslands across China. We quantitatively analyzed their spatial patterns and controlling factors in five grassland types, including temperate typical steppe, temperate meadow steppe, temperate desert steppe, alpine grassland, and warm, tropical grassland. Results showed that the mean (±SE) annual Rs was 582.0±57.9 g C m−2 yr−1 across Chinese grasslands. Annual Rs significantly differed among grassland types, and was positively correlated with mean annual temperature, mean annual precipitation, soil temperature, soil moisture, soil organic carbon content, and aboveground biomass, but negatively correlated with soil pH (p<0.05). Among these factors, mean annual precipitation was the primary factor controlling the variation of annual Rs among grassland types. Based on the overall data across Chinese grasslands, the Q10 values ranged from 1.03 to 8.13, with a mean (±SE) of 2.60±0.08. Moreover, the Q10 values varied largely within and among grassland types and soil temperature measurement depths. Among grassland types, the highest Q10 derived by soil temperature at a depth of 5 cm occurred in alpine grasslands. In addition, the seasonal variation of soil respiration in Chinese grasslands generally cannot be explained well by soil temperature using the van't Hoff equation. Overall, our findings suggest that the combined factors of soil temperature and moisture would better predict soil respiration in arid and semi-arid regions, highlight the importance of precipitation in controlling soil respiration in grasslands, and imply that alpine grasslands in China might release more carbon dioxide to the atmosphere under climate warming.


2013 ◽  
Vol 43 (1) ◽  
pp. 103-107 ◽  
Author(s):  
Björn Berg ◽  
Chunjiang Liu ◽  
Ryszard Laskowski ◽  
Matthew Davey

Using literature data, we investigated coniferous and broadleaf litter from 58 tree species using a database encompassing concentrations of N and acid-unhydrolyzable residue (AUR) (gravimetric lignin) in newly shed litter, mean annual temperature, and mean annual precipitation. Our aims were to (i) demonstrate any large-scale relationships between concentrations of N and AUR in foliar litter and (ii) determine differences in this respect among litter from Pinus and Quercus. To this end, we had collected foliar litter data for Asia and Europe, forming a climate gradient. Litter from broadleaf and coniferous trees differed significantly in concentrations of N (p < 0.0001, 9.64 versus 5.50 mg/g, respectively) and AUR (p < 0.0001, 219 versus 292 mg/g, respectively). There were highly significant positive linear relationships between concentrations of N and AUR for broadleaf (p < 0.0001) and coniferous litter (p < 0.0001). There were also significant positive relationships for AUR as a function of N concentration for the genera Pinus and Quercus but not within species. That for Scots pine (Pinus sylvestris L.) was negative and that for common oak (Quercus robur L.) not significant.


Botany ◽  
2013 ◽  
Vol 91 (8) ◽  
pp. 514-529 ◽  
Author(s):  
Richard M. Dillhoff ◽  
Thomas A. Dillhoff ◽  
David R. Greenwood ◽  
Melanie L. DeVore ◽  
Kathleen B. Pigg

A flora from Thomas Ranch near Princeton, British Columbia, Canada, is assessed for biodiversity and paleoclimate. This latest Early to early Middle Eocene flora occurs in the Allenby Formation. Seventy-six megafossil morphotypes have been recognized, representing at least 62 species, with 29 identified to genus or species. Common taxa include Ginkgo L., Metasequoia Miki, Sequoia Endl., Abies Mill., Pinus L., Pseudolarix Gordon, Acer L., Alnus Mill., Betula L., Fagus L., Sassafras J Presl, Macginitiea Wolfe & Wehr, Prunus L., and Ulmus L. More than 70 pollen and spore types are recognized, 32 of which are assignable to family or genus. The microflora is dominated by conifers (85%–97% abundance), with Betulaceae accounting for most of the angiosperms. The Climate Leaf Analysis Multivariate Program (CLAMP) calculates a mean annual temperature (MAT) of 9.0 ± 1.7 °C and bioclimatic analysis (BA) calculates a MAT of 12.8 ± 2.5 °C. Coldest month mean temperature (CMMT) was >0 °C. Mean annual precipitation (MAP) was >70 cm/year but is estimated with high uncertainty. Both the CLAMP and BA estimates are at the low end of the MAT range previously published for other Okanagan Highland localities, indicating a temperate climate consistent with a mixed conifer–deciduous forest.


2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (12) ◽  
Author(s):  
Sara E. Rhodes ◽  
Nicholas J. Conard

AbstractEnsuring comparability between results is a key goal of all paleoecological reconstructions. Quantitative estimates of meteorological variables, as opposed to relative qualitative descriptions, provide the opportunity to compare local paleoenvironmental records against global estimates and incrementally build regional paleoclimatic records. The Bioclimatic Method provides quantitative and qualitative estimates of past landscape composition and climate along with measures of statistical accuracy by applying linear discriminant functions analysis and transfer functions to faunal taxonomic abundance data. By applying this method to the rodent data from Geißenklösterle and Hohle Fels, two Paleolithic cave sites located in the Ach Valley of southwestern Germany, we classify the regional vegetation according to Walters’ zonobiome model. We also present new estimates of meteorological variables including mean annual temperature, mean annual precipitation, and vegetative activity period of the Ach Valley for the period spanning ~ 60,000 to 35,000 cal BP. The results suggest the Ach Valley contained a non-analogous landscape of arctic tundra and temperate deciduous woodland with occasional arid steppe expansion. Meteorological estimates suggest the climate was significantly colder during the Middle and Upper Paleolithic than today, with higher annual precipitation and dramatic temperature shifts between seasons. These results fit well with climatic reconstructions from Switzerland and the Netherlands based on a variety of proxies. They also provide further evidence of a localized climatic response within southwestern Germany to the stadial-interstadial shifts preceding the Heinrich 4 event. Finally, these results reinforce our previous claims that climatic volatility was not a driving force in the loss of Neanderthal groups throughout the Swabian Jura during OIS 3.


2021 ◽  
pp. 1-10
Author(s):  
Yu Fukasawa ◽  
Kimiyo Matsukura ◽  
Yoko Ando ◽  
Satoshi N. Suzuki ◽  
Kunihiro Okano ◽  
...  

Wood-inhabiting fungi are critically important for the decomposition of coarse woody debris (CWD). To evaluate the relative importance of climate, vegetation, and spatial factors in the functional composition of fungal communities that inhabit CWD in discontinuously distributed subalpine Hondo spruce (Picea jezoensis (Sieb. & Zucc.) Carr. var. hondoensis (Mayr) Rehder) forests, a metabarcoding analysis was conducted on spruce deadwood samples obtained from six subalpine forests in central Japan using a high-throughput DNA sequencing technique. We detected 454 fungal operational taxonomic units (OTUs) from 67 spruce CWDs and determined that spatial factors explained a larger fraction of community variation than environmental (climate and vegetation) factors at all six study sites. However, environmental factors explained a larger fraction than spatial factors if we excluded data from one site that is geographically distant from other study sites. The OTU number and the occurrence of brown-rot fungi were positively associated with mean annual temperature and negatively associated with mean annual precipitation. Similarly, the principal component of forest vegetation significantly affected the OTU number and occurrence of brown-rot fungi. Precipitation seasonality was positively associated with the OTU number of undefined saprotrophs. These results suggest that fungal OTUs belonging to different functional groups respond differently to environmental variables.


2020 ◽  
Vol 47 (2) ◽  
pp. 418
Author(s):  
Juan M. Robledo ◽  
Maricel Y. Horn ◽  
Claudia I. Galli ◽  
Luisa M. Anzótegui

The continental sedimentary rocks that constitute the Palo Pintado Formation of the late Miocene from Salta province, presents a great paleoclimatic interest due to the environmental conditions prevailing during this geochronologic interval. The geological and paleobotanical data suggest that during the sedimentary rocks accumulation of the Palo Pintado Formation (Angastaco Basin), wetter conditions would have existed comparing with other nearby and contemporary Formations, for example the Playa del Zorro Aloformation (late Miocene of Catamarca) and the Chiquimil (late Miocene of Tucumán), Salicas and the Toro Negro Formations (both from the late Miocene of La Rioja). In this study, the margin and the foliar area of the leaves contained on rocks from the Palo Pintado Formation are analyzed, in order to obtain the mean annual temperature (MAT) and the mean annual precipitation (MAP). The resulting values were: 23.98 °C and 330.8 mm. These results are coincident by the interpretation of different authors, who consider that the Palo Pintado Formation would have been deposited under a relatively humid environment, possibly as a consequence of the rains that affected locally the Angastaco basin región.


2012 ◽  
Vol 35 (4) ◽  
pp. 333
Author(s):  
Cuauhtémoc Sáenz-Romero ◽  
Gerald E. Rehfeldt ◽  
Nicholas L. Crookston ◽  
Pierre Duval ◽  
Jean Beaulieu

Climate data from 149 weather stations of Michoacán State, at Western México, were extracted from a spline climate model developed for México’s contemporary climate (1961-1990), and for climate projected for the decades centered in years 2030, 2060 and 2090. The model was constructed using outputs from three general circulation models (GCMs: Canadian, Hadley and Geophysical Fluid Dynamics) from two emission scenarios (A “pessimistic” and B “optimistic”). Mean annual temperature (MAT), mean annual precipitation (MAP), annual degree days > 5 °C (DD5), and annual aridity index (DD50.5/MAP) were mapped for Michoacán at an 1 km2 scale, and means were estimated averaging all weather stations. The state average in GCMs and emission scenarios point out that mean annual temperature would increase 1.4 °C by year 2030, 2.2 °C by year 2060 and 3.6 °C by year 2090; whereas annual precipitation would decrease 5.6 % by year 2030, 5.9 % by year 2060 and 7.8 % by year 2090. Climate models can be used for inferring plant-climate relationships and for developing programs to counteract global warming effects. Climate variables were estimated also at Pinus hartwegii and Pinus pseudostrobus growth locations, at Pico de Tancítaro in Central Western Michoacán and Nuevo San Juan Parangaricutiro (near Tancítaro), respectively. According to the annual aridity index values estimated for such locations, it is necessary to conduct assisted migration to match current genotypes to projected climates. This translates into an altitudinal shift of 400 to 450 m higher to match 2030 climates predicted by Canadian Model scenario A2, and 600 to 800 m to match 2060 climates.


2014 ◽  
Vol 2014 ◽  
pp. 1-13 ◽  
Author(s):  
Lili Tang ◽  
Tanbao Li ◽  
Dengwu Li ◽  
Xiaxia Meng

The elevational distribution of plant diversity is a popular issue in ecology and biogeography, and several studies have examined the determinants behind plant diversity patterns. In this study, using published data of the local flora of Taibai Mountain, we explored the effects of spatial and climatic factors on plant species richness. We also evaluated Rapoport’s elevational rule by examining the relationship between elevational range size and midpoint. Species richness patterns were regressed against area, middle domain effect (MDE), mean annual temperature (MAT), and mean annual precipitation (MAP). The results showed that richness of overall plants, seed plants, bryophytes, and ferns all showed hump-shaped patterns along the elevational gradient, although the absolute elevation of richness peaks differed in different plant groups. Species richness of each plant group was all associated strongly with MAT and MAP. In addition to climatic factors, overall plants and seed plants were more related to area in linear regression models, while MDE was a powerful explanatory variable for bryophytes. Rapoport’s elevational rule on species richness was not supported. Our study suggests that a combined interaction of spatial and climatic factors influences the elevational patterns of plant species richness on Taibai Mountain, China.


1992 ◽  
Vol 37 (3) ◽  
pp. 323-332 ◽  
Author(s):  
M. J. Singer ◽  
P. Fine ◽  
K. L. Verosub ◽  
O. A. Chadwick

AbstractAs the age of the soils in a chronosequence on the California coast increases, the difference between the magnetic susceptibility of eluvial and illuvial horizons increases, and the residual susceptibility after extraction with citrate-bicarbonate-dithionite (CBD) decreases. Enhanced susceptibility results from the conversion of nonferrimagnetic minerals to secondary ferrimagnetic forms (most likely maghemite) and the preferential accumulation of inherited and pedogenic magnetic minerals. Little enhancement occurs for pedons younger than 40,000 yr. By 124,000 yr, most of the magnetic susceptibility can be attributed to forms soluble in CBD. Magnetic susceptibility appears to vary systematically over time for three chronosequences from areas with mean annual precipitation ranging from 650 to 1500 mm yr−1. Magnetic susceptibility enhancement may be a useful parameter for estimating soil age in certain climates.


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