Roots contribute more to refractory soil organic matter than above-ground crop residues, as revealed by a long-term field experiment

Kätterer, Thomas; Bolinder, Martin A.; Andrén, Olof; Kirchmann, Holger; Menichetti, Lorenzo

doi:10.1016/j.agee.2011.02.029

Cited by 426 publications

(337 citation statements)

References 53 publications

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“…Inorganic N fertiliser as calcium nitrate is added annually during spring at a rate of 80 kg N ha −1 year −1 in the N-fertilised treatments. Straw (stems and leaves of winter wheat) was applied biannually in the autumn at a rate of 1.77 Mg C ha −1 year −1 (Kätterer et al 2011). Straw properties are described in detail by Peltre et al (2012).…”

Section: Study Sitementioning

confidence: 99%

“…From 1956 to 1999, annual crops with a C3 photosynthetic pathway, such as oats, spring barley, beet, rape, turnip and mustard, were cultivated. Since the start of the experiment, tillage of plots has been managed manually (Kätterer et al 2011;Kirchmann et al 1996). Tillage was normal and homogenous across all treatments.…”

Section: Study Sitementioning

confidence: 99%

“…The mass of SOC deriving from maize was then calculated by multiplying f M by the SOC mass to 0-20 cm depth. The SOC stocks (Table 2) were calculated from SOC concentrations in the soil samples from 1999 and 2014 using bulk density values that were measured in 2009 in the different treatments (Kätterer et al 2011). …”

Section: Estimation Of C3-and C4-derived Socmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…A variety of biochemical, physical and chemical processes protect organic C from decomposition in soils, and knowledge of the resulting persistence of SOC pools/fractions in soil is vital in understanding their contribution to the global C cycle. Stabilisation of SOC in soil depends on numerous factors such as soil type, climate, substrate quality, input pathway and nutrient regime (Kätterer et al 2011;Kirkby et al 2013). In a mechanistic perspective, four major mechanisms may explain the stability of SOM in soil: (i) spatial inaccessibility of SOM to decomposers due to aggregation, (ii) recalcitrance due to the chemical structure, (iii) stabilisation of SOM by interaction with mineral surfaces and (iv) energetical limitation microbes to decompose organic matter (Mueller et al 2014;von Lützow et al 2006;Fontaine et al 2007).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Using a detailed balancing approach, Kätterer et al (2011) showed that root-derived C was preferentially retained in soil and contributed 2.3-fold more to the C pool than aboveground residues. Potential reasons for this, as elegantly summarised by Rasse et al (2005), are as follows: (i) roots are relatively more recalcitrant than shoots; (ii) the physico-chemical protection of root C by aggregates and mineral surfaces is higher than for shoot C; and (iii) the decomposability of roots is lower due to accumulation of metal ions.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Fate of straw- and root-derived carbon in a Swedish agricultural soil

2017

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To maximise carbon (C) storage in soils, understanding the fate of C originating from aboveground and belowground residues and their interaction with fertiliser under field conditions is critically important. The use of 13 C natural abundance provides unique opportunities to separate both C sources. We investigated the effect of 16 years of C3 straw and C4 root input, with and without nitrogen (N) addition, on SOC stocks and C distribution in soil fractions in the long-term frame trial at Ultuna, Sweden. The straw C input was fixed at 1.77 Mg ha −1 year −1 , while the root input depended on maize plant growth, enabling studies on how N fertilisation affected (i) stabilisation of residues and (ii) plant C allocation to belowground organs. Four treatments were investigated: only maize roots (Control), maize roots with N (Control + N), maize roots and straw (Straw) and maize roots, straw and N (Straw + N). After 16 years, 5.6-8.9% of the total SOC stock in the 0-20 cm soil layer was maize-derived. In all four treatments, the relatively labile SOC fractions decreased, while the proportion of more refractory fractions increased. Based on allometric calculation of root inputs, retention of maize roots was 38, 26, 36 and 18% in the Control, Control + N, Straw and Straw + N treatments, respectively. The estimated retention coefficient of C3 straw in the Straw + N treatment was higher than that in the Straw-N treatment. We interpreted these results thus (1) roots were better stabilised in the soil than straw; (2) N fertilisation caused a shift in root to shoot ratio, with relatively more roots being present in Ndeficient soil; and (3) N fertilisation caused greater stabilisation of residues, presumably due to increased microbial C use efficiency.

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Section: Study Sitementioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Study Sitementioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Estimation Of C3-and C4-derived Socmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Fate of straw- and root-derived carbon in a Swedish agricultural soil

2017

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Evaluation and improvement of a global land model against soil carbon data using a Bayesian Markov chain Monte Carlo method

2014

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Long-term land carbon (C) cycle feedback to climate change is largely determined by dynamics of soil organic carbon (SOC). However, most evaluation studies conducted so far indicate that global land models predict SOC poorly. This study was conducted to evaluate predictions of SOC by the Community Land Model with Carnegie-Ames-Stanford Approach biogeochemistry submodel (CLM-CASA'), investigate underlying causes of mismatches between model predictions and observations, and calibrate model parameters to improve the prediction of SOC. We compared modeled SOC to the SOC pools from a globally gridded observation data product and found that CLM-CASA' on average underestimated SOC pools by 65% (r 2 = 0.28). We applied data assimilation to CLM-CASA' to estimate SOC residence times, C partitioning coefficients among the pools, and temperature sensitivity of C decomposition. The model with calibrated parameters explained 41% of the global variability in the observed SOC, which was substantial improvement from the initial 27%. The SOC and litter C feedback to changing climate differed between models with original and calibrated parameters: after 95 years of climate change (2006-2100), soils released 48 Pg C less in the calibrated than in the noncalibrated model and litter released 6.5 Pg C less in the calibrated than the noncalibrated model. Thus, assimilating estimated soil carbon data into the model improved model performance and reduced the amount of C released under changing climate. To further reduce the uncertainty in the soil carbon prediction, we need to explore alternative model structures, improve representation of ecosystems, and develop additional global datasets for constraining model parameters.

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Long‐term rotation diversity and nitrogen effects on soil organic carbon and nitrogen stocks

Schmer

Jin

Wienhold

et al. 2020

Agrosystems Geosci & Env

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Understanding the impacts of long‐term fertilizer management and rotation diversity on soil C and N is needed under a changing climate. The objective of this study was to evaluate the effects of N fertilizer level and crop rotation diversity on soil organic carbon (SOC) and soil N stocks from a 34‐yr study located in eastern Nebraska. Seven crop rotations (three continuous cropping systems; two 2‐yr crop rotations; and two 4‐yr crop rotations) and three N levels were compared. Soil samples were taken to a depth of 150 cm. Differences in SOC stocks were largely confined to the 0‐ to 7.5‐cm depth, with greater SOC (P = .0002) in rotations than continuous cropping systems and greater SOC (P = .0004) in 4‐yr vs. 2‐yr rotations. Total soil N was greater with increased crop rotation diversity for the 0‐ to 30‐cm soil profile. Greater SOC levels occurred with N fertilization for the 0‐ to 7.5‐cm depth. At the 0‐ to 150‐cm soil depth, SOC stocks were similar between N levels and greater for the 4‐yr vs. 2‐yr crop rotations (P = .0492). Trends in total N stocks were similar to those of SOC stocks. Overall, crop rotation had a larger effect on SOC and N stocks than N fertilizer.

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Roots contribute more to refractory soil organic matter than above-ground crop residues, as revealed by a long-term field experiment

Cited by 426 publications

References 53 publications

Fate of straw- and root-derived carbon in a Swedish agricultural soil

Fate of straw- and root-derived carbon in a Swedish agricultural soil

Evaluation and improvement of a global land model against soil carbon data using a Bayesian Markov chain Monte Carlo method

Long‐term rotation diversity and nitrogen effects on soil organic carbon and nitrogen stocks

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