An equivalent soil mass procedure for monitoring soil organic carbon in multiple soil layers

Land-use changes and afforestation activities are widely recognized as possible measures for mitigating climate change through carbon sequestration. The present study was conducted to evaluate the effect of afforestation on (i) soil physical and chemical properties and soil carbon stocks in four mountain ecosystems and (ii) whole ecosystem carbon storage. The four experimental sites, situated in the Western Rhodope Mountains (Bulgaria) were characterized by typical forest-related land-use conversions. The four sites were a Douglas fir (Pseudotsuga menziesii [Mirb.] Franco) plantation (Rd1) established on former cropland, a mixed black pine (Pinus nigra Arn.) with Scots pine (Pinus sylvestris L.) plantation (Rd2) established on former cropland, a cropland (RdA1) and an abandoned land with uncontrolled extensive grazing (RdA2) historically used as cropland. Soil parameters, i.e., sand content, pH, organic C and N contents, C/N ratio and soil organic carbon (SOC) stocks, were significantly affected by land use and land-use history. Conversion from cropland into forestland significantly reduced soil bulk density and coarse fragments at 0-10 cm depth. Compared with adjacent cropland and abandoned land, soils in coniferous plantations were acidified in their upper layers. Sites Rd2 and RdA2 contained the least SOC owing to the previous long-term arable cultivation (>100 years). Analysis of the ecosystem C stock distribution revealed that most of C in forests was stored in the aboveground tree biomass. Our study confirmed that afforestation of cropland turned the soil into a C sink for the selected mountain region, but showed conflicting results when afforestation occurred on abandoned cropland.

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“…The SOC stock at each site was based on equivalent soil masses (Ellert & Bettany 1995, Wendt & Hauser 2013.…”

Section: Soil Sampling and Laboratory Measurementsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Carbon storage and soil property changes following afforestation in mountain ecosystems of the Western Rhodopes, Bulgaria

Zhiyanski¹,

Glushkova²,

Ferezliev³

et al. 2016

iForest

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“…In this paper, besides carbon concentrations, nitrogen stocks expressed in Mg ha −1 and phosphorus stocks expressed in kg ha −1 were calculated for the soil depth intervals 0-10, 0-30, and 0-60 cm for the paired sites and 0-10, and 0-30 cm for the pasture regional survey by sum stocks obtained in each sampling intervals (0-5, 5-10, 10-20, 20-30, 30-40, 40-60 cm). Soil nitrogen and phosphorus stocks were estimated based on a fixed mass in order to correct differences caused by land-use changes in soil density (Wendt and Hauser, 2013) using the methodology proposed by Ellert et al (2008); for details of this correction see Assad et al (2013).…”

Section: Soil Nitrogen and Phosphorus Stocksmentioning

confidence: 99%

Changes in soil carbon, nitrogen, and phosphorus due to land-use changes in Brazil

Groppo

Lins²,

Camargo³

et al. 2015

Biogeosciences

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Abstract. In this paper, soil carbon, nitrogen and phosphorus concentrations and stocks were investigated in agricultural and natural areas in 17 plot-level paired sites and in a regional survey encompassing more than 100 pasture soils In the paired sites, elemental soil concentrations and stocks were determined in native vegetation (forests and savannas), pastures and crop-livestock systems (CPSs). Nutrient stocks were calculated for the soil depth intervals 0-10, 0-30, and 0-60 cm for the paired sites and 0-10, and 0-30 cm for the pasture regional survey by sum stocks obtained in each sampling intervals (0-5, 5-10, 10-20, 20-30, 30-40, 40-60 cm). Overall, there were significant differences in soil element concentrations and ratios between different land uses, especially in the surface soil layers. Carbon and nitrogen contents were lower, while phosphorus contents were higher in the pasture and CPS soils than in native vegetation soils. Additionally, soil stoichiometry has changed with changes in land use. The soil C : N ratio was lower in the native vegetation than in the pasture and CPS soils, and the carbon and nitrogen to available phosphorus ratio (P ME ) decreased from the native vegetation to the pasture to the CPS soils. In the plotlevel paired sites, the soil nitrogen stocks were lower in all depth intervals in pasture and in the CPS soils when compared with the native vegetation soils. On the other hand, the soil phosphorus stocks were higher in all depth intervals in agricultural soils when compared with the native vegetation soils. For the regional pasture survey, soil nitrogen and phosphorus stocks were lower in all soil intervals in pasture soils than in native vegetation soils. The nitrogen loss with cultivation observed here is in line with other studies and it seems to be a combination of decreasing organic matter inputs, in cases where crops replaced native forests, with an increase in soil organic matter decomposition that leads to a decrease in the long run. The main cause of the increase in soil phosphorus stocks in the CPS and pastures of the plot-level paired site seems to be linked to phosphorus fertilization by mineral and organics fertilizers. The findings of this paper illustrate that land-use changes that are currently common in Brazil alter soil concentrations, stocks and elemental ratios of carbon, nitrogen and phosphorus. These changes could have an impact on the subsequent vegetation, decreasing soil carbon and increasing nitrogen limitation but alleviating soil phosphorus deficiency.

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“…Soil carbon stocks were estimated based on a fixed mass in order to correct for differences caused by land use changes in soil density (Wendt and Hauser, 2013) Ellert et al (2008), which is briefly described below. Cumulative soil mass was estimated for soil depths according to the following equations:…”

Section: Soil Carbon Stocksmentioning

confidence: 99%

Changes in soil carbon stocks in Brazil due to land use: paired site comparisons and a regional pasture soil survey

et al. 2013

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Abstract. In this paper we calculated soil carbon stocks in Brazil studying 17 paired sites where soil stocks were determined in native vegetation, pastures and crop-livestock systems (CPS), and in other regional samplings encompassing more than 100 pasture soils, from 6.58 to 31.53 • S, involving three major Brazilian biomes: Cerrado, Atlantic Forest, and the Pampa. The average native vegetation soil carbon stocks at 10, 30 and 60 cm soil depth were equal to approximately 29, 64, and 92 Mg ha −1 , respectively. In the paired sites, carbon losses of 7.5 Mg ha −1 and 11.6 Mg ha −1 in CPS systems were observed at 10 cm and 30 cm soil depths, respectively. In pasture soils, carbon losses were similar and equal to 7.5 Mg ha −1 and 11.0 Mg ha −1 at 10 cm and 30 cm soil depths, respectively. Differences at 60 cm soil depth were not significantly different between land uses. The average soil δ 13 C under native vegetation at 10 and 30 cm depth were equal to −25.4 ‰ and −24.0 ‰, increasing to −19.6 ‰ and −17.7 ‰ in CPS, and to −18.9 ‰, and −18.3 ‰ in pasture soils, respectively; indicating an increasing contribution of C 4 carbon in these agrosystems. In the regional survey of pasture soils, the soil carbon stock at 30 cm was equal to approximately 51 Mg ha −1 , with an average δ 13 C value of −19.6 ‰. Key controllers of soil carbon stock in pasture sites were sand content and mean annual temperature. Collectively, both could explain approximately half of the variance of soil carbon stocks. When pasture soil carbon stocks were compared with the average soil carbon stocks of native vegetation estimated for Brazilian biomes and soil types by Bernoux et al. (2002) there was a carbon gain of 6.7 Mg ha −1 , which is equivalent to a carbon gain of 15 % compared to the carbon soil stock of the native vegetation. The findings of this study are consistent with differences found between regional comparisons like our pasture sites and plot-level paired study sites in estimating soil carbon stocks changes due to land use changes.

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An equivalent soil mass procedure for monitoring soil organic carbon in multiple soil layers

Cited by 287 publications

References 9 publications

Carbon storage and soil property changes following afforestation in mountain ecosystems of the Western Rhodopes, Bulgaria

Carbon storage and soil property changes following afforestation in mountain ecosystems of the Western Rhodopes, Bulgaria

Changes in soil carbon, nitrogen, and phosphorus due to land-use changes in Brazil

Changes in soil carbon stocks in Brazil due to land use: paired site comparisons and a regional pasture soil survey

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