Technosols, which are soils strongly impacted by human activity, are becoming increasingly common. To date, there has been little study of the share of the global soil carbon budget made up of carbon in Technosols or the contribution of Technosols to climate mitigation. A meta-analysis is proposed based on
Purpose. Urbanization is a major driver of land use change and can affect the soil organic carbon (SOC) pools. This study aimed to understand the urbanization impact on SOC stocks and pools at profile scale (0-100 cm). Methods. The SOC was studied at 0-30 and 0-100 cm depths in park and sealed soils of three French cities (Marseille, Nancy and Nantes). Physical fractionation was performed to gain insight on the size of different SOC pools (particulate and organo-mineral soil fractions). Results. The SOC stocks were seven to ten times higher in parks than in sealed soils, but lower than in natural soils according to literature data. The contribution of the first 30 cm to profile SOC stock was around 40%, with strong heterogeneity, especially in sealed soils. Considering the whole 0-100 cm profile, SOC stocks in particulate organic matter fractions (light fraction > 50 µm) were 25-48 times higher in parks than in sealed soils, while SOC stocks in mineralassociated fractions (< 50 µm) were only 4-6 times higher in parks than in sealed soils. An unexpectedly high proportion of SOC was found in the heavy fraction > 50 µm, particularly in sealed soils (11% in average at 0-100 cm depth). This fraction associated to sand is usually poor in SOC in natural or agricultural soils. In these urban soils, it might be bitumen, a dense organic artifact.
Conclusion.The SOC stocks up to 100 cm depth and their heterogeneity pleaded to strengthen and expand SOC studies in all urban soils.
scite is a Brooklyn-based organization that helps researchers better discover and understand research articles through Smart Citations–citations that display the context of the citation and describe whether the article provides supporting or contrasting evidence. scite is used by students and researchers from around the world and is funded in part by the National Science Foundation and the National Institute on Drug Abuse of the National Institutes of Health.