scholarly journals A multi-isotope model for simulating soil organic carbon cycling on an eroding landscape (WATEM_C v1.0)

2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Zhengang Wang ◽  
Kristof Van Oost
Keyword(s):  
Organic Carbon ◽  
Soil Organic Carbon ◽  
Soil Properties ◽  
Experimental Studies ◽  
137Cs Activity ◽  
Time Step ◽  
C Isotopes ◽  
C Cycling ◽  
Dynamic Landscape ◽  
Organic Carbon Cycling

Abstract. There is increasing recognition that lateral soil organic carbon (SOC) fluxes due to erosion have imposed an important impact on the global C cycling. Field and experimental studies have been conducted to investigate this topic. It is useful to have a modelling tool that takes into account various soil properties and has flexible resolution and scale options, so that it can be widely used to study relevant processes and evaluate the effect of soil erosion on SOC cycling. This study presents a model that is capable of simulating SOC cycling on a dynamic landscape. It considers all the three C isotopes (12C, 13C and 14C) with flexible time step and vertical solution of the soil profile. The model gives a 3D representation of soil properties such as 137Cs activity, SOC stock, and δ13C and Δ14C values. Using the same C cycling processes in stable, eroding and depositional areas, our model is able to reproduce the observed spatial and vertical patterns of C, δ13C values and Δ14C values. This indicates that physical soil redistribution is the main cause of the spatial variability of these C metrics.

scholarly journals A multi-isotope model for simulating soil organic carbon cycling in eroding landscapes (WATEM_C v1.0)

2020 ◽  
Vol 13 (10) ◽  
pp. 4977-4992
Author(s):  
Zhengang Wang ◽  
Jianxiu Qiu ◽  
Kristof Van Oost
Keyword(s):  
Organic Carbon ◽  
Soil Organic Carbon ◽  
Soil Properties ◽  
Experimental Studies ◽  
Three Dimensional ◽  
137Cs Activity ◽  
C Isotopes ◽  
C Cycling ◽  
Three Dimensional Representation ◽  
Organic Carbon Cycling

Abstract. There is increasing recognition that lateral soil organic carbon (SOC) fluxes due to erosion have imposed an important impact on the global C cycling. Field and experimental studies have been conducted to investigate this topic. It is useful to have a modeling tool that takes into account various soil properties and has flexible resolution and scale options so that it can be widely used to study relevant processes and evaluate the effect of soil erosion on SOC cycling. This study presents a model that is capable of simulating SOC cycling in landscapes that are subjected to erosion. It considers all three C isotopes (12C, 13C and 14C) with flexible time steps and a detailed vertical solution of the soil profile. The model also represents radionuclide cycling in soils that can assist in constraining the lateral and vertical redistribution of soil particles within landscapes. The model gives a three-dimensional representation of soil properties including 137Cs activity, SOC stock, and δ13C and Δ14C values. Using the same C cycling processes in stable, eroding and depositional areas, our model is able to reproduce the observed spatial and vertical patterns of C contents, δ13C values, and Δ14C values. This indicates that at the field scale with a similar C decomposition rate, physical soil redistribution is the main cause of the spatial variability of these C metrics.

scholarly journals From the Ground Up: Prairies on Reclaimed Mine Land—Impacts on Soil and Vegetation

Land ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 9 (11) ◽  
pp. 455
Author(s):  
Rebecca M. Swab ◽  
Nicola Lorenz ◽  
Nathan R. Lee ◽  
Steven W. Culman ◽  
Richard P. Dick
Keyword(s):  
Organic Carbon ◽  
Soil Organic Carbon ◽  
Soil Properties ◽  
Plant Community ◽  
Prairie Restoration ◽  
Native Plant ◽  
Soil Microbial ◽  
Prairie Restorations ◽  
Mine Lands ◽  
The Impact

After strip mining, soils typically suffer from compaction, low nutrient availability, loss of soil organic carbon, and a compromised soil microbial community. Prairie restorations can improve ecosystem services on former agricultural lands, but prairie restorations on mine lands are relatively under-studied. This study investigated the impact of prairie restoration on mine lands, focusing on the plant community and soil properties. In southeast Ohio, 305 ha within a ~2000 ha area of former mine land was converted to native prairie through herbicide and planting between 1999–2016. Soil and vegetation sampling occurred from 2016–2018. Plant community composition shifted with prairie age, with highest native cover in the oldest prairie areas. Prairie plants were more abundant in older prairies. The oldest prairies had significantly more soil fungal biomass and higher soil microbial biomass. However, many soil properties (e.g., soil nutrients, β-glucosoidase activity, and soil organic carbon), as well as plant species diversity and richness trended higher in prairies, but were not significantly different from baseline cool-season grasslands. Overall, restoration with prairie plant communities slowly shifted soil properties, but mining disturbance was still the most significant driver in controlling soil properties. Prairie restoration on reclaimed mine land was effective in establishing a native plant community, with the associated ecosystem benefits.

scholarly journals Assessing the Effect of Rubber (Hevea brasiliensis (Willd. ex A. Juss.) Muell. Arg.) Leaf Chemical Composition on Some Soil Properties of Differently Aged Rubber Tree Plantations

Agronomy ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 10 (12) ◽  
pp. 1871 ◽  
Author(s):  
Porntip Puttaso ◽  
Weravart Namanusart ◽  
Kanjana Thumanu ◽  
Bhanudacha Kamolmanit ◽  
Alain Brauman ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Chemical Composition ◽  
Organic Carbon ◽  
Soil Organic Carbon ◽  
Soil Properties ◽  
Carbon Content ◽  
Hevea Brasiliensis ◽  
Organic Chemical ◽  
Organic Carbon Content ◽  
Old Trees ◽  
The Impact

Leaf litter plays a major role in carbon and nutrient cycling, as well as in fueling food webs. The chemical composition of a leaf may directly and indirectly influence decomposition rates by influencing rates of biological reactions and by influencing the accumulation of soil organic carbon content, respectively. This study aimed to assess the impact of the chemical composition of rubber (Hevea brasiliensis (Willd. ex A. Juss.) Muell. Arg.) leaves on various soil properties of different ages of rubber (4–5, 11–12, and 22–23 year-old). Synchrotron-based Fourier transform infrared microspectroscopy (Sr-FTIR) was utilized for analyzing the chemical composition of plant leaves. The Sr-FTIR bands illustrated that the epidermis of rubber leaves from 4–5-year-old trees was found to contain a high quantity of polysaccharides while mesophyll from 22–23-year-old trees had a large number of polysaccharides. The change in soil properties in the older rubber plantation could be attributed to its chemical composition. The change in soil properties across all tree ages, i.e., increased litter and organic carbon content, was a relatively strong driver of soil biota evolution. The aliphatic of C-H in the leaves showed high correlation with soil organic carbon (SOC) and permanganate-oxidizable C (POXC) from 22–23 year-old trees. This study shows the differences in the organic chemical composition of leaves that are consequential to soil organic carbon.

scholarly journals Evaluation of Composite Burn Index and Land Surface Temperature for Assessing Soil Burn Severity in Mediterranean Fire-Prone Pine Ecosystems

Forests ◽  
2018 ◽  
Vol 9 (8) ◽  
pp. 494 ◽  
Author(s):  
Elena Marcos ◽  
Víctor Fernández-García ◽  
Alfonso Fernández-Manso ◽  
Carmen Quintano ◽  
Luz Valbuena ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Remote Sensing ◽  
Organic Carbon ◽  
Soil Organic Carbon ◽  
Surface Temperature ◽  
Soil Properties ◽  
Land Surface Temperature ◽  
Land Surface ◽  
Burn Severity ◽  
Soil Burn Severity ◽  
Changes In Soil Properties

We analysed the relationship between burn severity indicators, from remote sensing and field observations, and soil properties after a wildfire in a fire-prone Mediterranean ecosystem. Our study area was a large wildfire in a Pinus pinaster forest. Burn severity from remote sensing was identified by studying immediate post-fire Land Surface Temperature (LST). We also evaluated burn severity in the field applying the Composite Burn Index (CBI) in a total of 84 plots (30 m diameter). In each plot we evaluated litter consumption, ash colour and char depth as visual indicators. We collected soil samples and pH, soil organic carbon, dry aggregate size distribution (MWD), aggregate stability and water repellency were analysed. A controlled heating of soil was also carried out in the laboratory, with soil from the control plots, to compare with the changes produced in soils affected by different severity levels in the field. Our results shown that changes in soil properties affected by wildfire were only observed in soil aggregation in the high severity situation. The laboratory-controlled heating showed that temperatures of about 300 °C result in a significant reduction in soil organic carbon and MWD. Furthermore, soil organic carbon showed a significant decrease when LST values increased. Char depth was the best visual indicator to show changes in soil properties (mainly physical properties) in large fires that occur in Mediterranean pine forests. We conclude that CBI and post-fire LST can be considered good indicators of soil burn severity since both indicate the impact of fire on soil properties.

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