Substrate quality and the temperature sensitivity of soil organic matter decomposition

Hartley, Iain P.; Ineson, Phil

doi:10.1016/j.soilbio.2008.01.007

Cited by 211 publications

(131 citation statements)

References 43 publications

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“…Enzyme activities were activated by temperature and oxygen during incubation, increasing carbon mineralization, which in turn may supply more available N to soil microbes. Our results also confirmed that the high quantity of soil C is not a conclusive factor in peat carbon decomposition; carbon diversity and microorganism availability are also critical in soil carbon decomposition (Hartley and Ineson, 2008;Kirschbaum, 2004;Tucker et al, 2013).…”

Section: Roles Of Microbes Soil Enzyme and Soil Substratesupporting

confidence: 77%

“…In addition, soil nutrient characteristics (C/N ratio) govern the accessibility of SOM to soil microorganism (Briones et al, 2014;Fierer et al, 2005;Hartley and Ineson, 2008;Kirschbaum, 2004;Treat et al, 2014). Carbon cycle is faster with larger quantity of labile C and N, or lower C/N ratio (Aerts, 1997;Lee et al, 2012).…”

Section: Roles Of Microbes Soil Enzyme and Soil Substratementioning

confidence: 99%

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Responses of peat carbon at different depths to simulated warming and oxidizing

Liu

Chen

Zhu

et al. 2016

Science of The Total Environment

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Section: Roles Of Microbes Soil Enzyme and Soil Substratesupporting

confidence: 77%

Section: Roles Of Microbes Soil Enzyme and Soil Substratementioning

confidence: 99%

Responses of peat carbon at different depths to simulated warming and oxidizing

Liu

Chen

Zhu

et al. 2016

Science of The Total Environment

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“…While biological activity and the quality of organic matter [25] are arguably the most important factors governing decomposition of plant matter into soils, temperature is also often cited (e.g. Davidson and Janssens [26]) as a key driver.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Carbon Inputs from Miscanthus Displace Older Soil Organic Carbon Without Inducing Priming

et al. 2016

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The carbon (C) dynamics of a bioenergy system are key to correctly defining its viability as a sustainable alternative to conventional fossil fuel energy sources. Recent studies have quantified the greenhouse gas mitigation potential of these bioenergy crops, often concluding that C sequestration in soils plays a primary role in offsetting emissions through energy generation. Miscanthus is a particularly promising bioenergy crop and research has shown that soil C stocks can increase by more than 2 t C ha −1 yr −1 . In this study, we use a stable isotope ( 13 C) technique to trace the inputs and outputs from soils below a commercial Miscanthus plantation in Lincolnshire, UK, over the first 7 years of growth after conversion from a conventional arable crop. Results suggest that an unchanging total topsoil (0-30 cm) C stock is caused by Miscanthus additions displacing older soil organic matter. Further, using a comparison between bare soil plots (no new Miscanthus inputs) and undisturbed Miscanthus controls, soil respiration was seen to be unaffected through priming by fresh inputs or rhizosphere. The temperature sensitivity of old soil C was also seen to be very similar with and without the presence of live root biomass. Total soil respiration from control plots was dominated by Miscanthus-derived emissions with autotrophic respiration alone accounting for ∼50 % of CO 2 . Although total soil C stocks did not change significantly over time, the Miscanthus-derived soil C accumulated at a rate of 860 kg C ha −1 yr −1 over the top 30 cm. Ultimately, the results from this study indicate that soil C stocks below Miscanthus plantations do not necessarily increase during the first 7 years.

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“…In contrast to other studies on unmanaged organic soils reporting no trend or increasing Q 10 values with depth (Scanlon and Moore, 2000; Wang et al, 2010;Hardie et al, 2011;Hilasvuori et al, 2013), the cropland and grassland profiles in our study had a lower Q 10 below the 60 cm depth. Various studies on SOM decomposition used Q 10 values as an indicator of SOM recalcitrance (Hogg et al, 1992;Biasi et al, 2005;Davidson and Janssens, 2006;Conant et al, 2008Conant et al, , 2011Hartley and Ineson, 2008;Hilasvuori et al, 2013). Considering that the presence of labile crop residues would decrease Q 10 in the topsoil rather than in the subsoil, the higher topsoil Q 10 may be explained by an extended accumulation of recalcitrant moieties.…”

Section: Co 2 Emissions and Temperature Sensitivity Of Decompositionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Peat decomposability in managed organic soils in relation to land use, organic matter composition and temperature

et al. 2018

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Abstract. Organic soils comprise a large yet fragile carbon (C) store in the global C cycle. Drainage, necessary for agriculture and forestry, triggers rapid decomposition of soil organic matter (SOM), typically increasing in the order forest < grassland < cropland. However, there is also large variation in decomposition due to differences in hydrological conditions, climate and specific management. Here we studied the role of SOM composition on peat decomposability in a variety of differently managed drained organic soils. We collected a total of 560 samples from 21 organic cropland, grassland and forest soils in Switzerland, monitored their CO 2 emission rates in lab incubation experiments over 6 months at two temperatures (10 and 20 • C) and related them to various soil characteristics, including bulk density, pH, soil organic carbon (SOC) content and elemental ratios (C / N, H / C and O / C). CO 2 release ranged from 6 to 195 mg CO 2 -C g −1 SOC at 10 • C and from 12 to 423 mg g −1 at 20 • C. This variation occurring under controlled conditions suggests that besides soil water regime, weather and management, SOM composition may be an underestimated factor that determines CO 2 fluxes measured in field experiments. However, correlations between the investigated chemical SOM characteristics and CO 2 emissions were weak. The latter also did not show a dependence on land-use type, although peat under forest was decomposed the least. High CO 2 emissions in some topsoils were probably related to the accrual of labile crop residues. A comparison with published CO 2 rates from incubated mineral soils indicated no difference in SOM decomposability between these soil classes, suggesting that accumulation of recent, labile plant materials that presumably account for most of the evolved CO 2 is not systematically different between mineral and organic soils. In our data set, temperature sensitivity of decomposition (Q 10 on average 2.57 ± 0.05) was the same for all land uses but lowest below 60 cm in croplands and grasslands. This, in turn, indicates a relative accumulation of recalcitrant peat in topsoils.

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Substrate quality and the temperature sensitivity of soil organic matter decomposition

Cited by 211 publications

References 43 publications

Responses of peat carbon at different depths to simulated warming and oxidizing

Responses of peat carbon at different depths to simulated warming and oxidizing

Carbon Inputs from Miscanthus Displace Older Soil Organic Carbon Without Inducing Priming

Peat decomposability in managed organic soils in relation to land use, organic matter composition and temperature

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