The Effect of Erosion on Losses of Soil Organic Matter

Slater, C. S.; Carleton, Everett A.

doi:10.2136/sssaj1939.036159950003000c0026x

Cited by 27 publications

(12 citation statements)

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“…Linear correlation between SOC with 137 Cs and 210 Pb ex was observed in our study, suggesting that SOC in the soil decreased with increased soil erosion, in agreement with previous studies [ Polyakov and Lal , 2004; Li et al , 2006]. Other studies proposed that SOC content and redistribution were directly related to the quantity of soil eroded [ Slater and Carleton , 1938; Kreznor et al , 1992; Bernard and Laverdiere , 2000; Pennock and Frick , 2001], but most of them gave only a qualitative description and few quantifying relationships. The positive relationship was further supported by our previous results [ Li et al , 2006] that showed that SOC redistribution, 137 Cs and 210 Pb ex inventories have the same physical mechanism moving soil and SOC over the cultivated hillslope.…”

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 91%

Changes in soil organic carbon induced by tillage and water erosion on a steep cultivated hillslope in the Chinese Loess Plateau from 1898–1954 and 1954–1998

Li¹,

Zhang²,

Reicosky³

et al. 2007

J. Geophys. Res.

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Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 91%

Changes in soil organic carbon induced by tillage and water erosion on a steep cultivated hillslope in the Chinese Loess Plateau from 1898–1954 and 1954–1998

Li¹,

Zhang²,

Reicosky³

et al. 2007

J. Geophys. Res.

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“…Second, while it is certain that soil respiration has signi®cantly contributed to observed SOC declines in cultivated soils, the contribution of soil erosion is not negligible. Our model output as well as data from others (Slater and Carleton, 1938;Gregorich and Anderson, 1985;De Jong and Kachanoski, 1988;Pennock et al,1995;Gregorich et al,1998) support this view. In an evaluation of SOC evolution in Missouri croplands, Slater and Carleton (1938) stated that SOC loss due to erosion was several times greater than that due to biological oxidation.…”

Section: Model Outputsupporting

confidence: 78%

“…Our model output as well as data from others (Slater and Carleton, 1938;Gregorich and Anderson, 1985;De Jong and Kachanoski, 1988;Pennock et al,1995;Gregorich et al,1998) support this view. In an evaluation of SOC evolution in Missouri croplands, Slater and Carleton (1938) stated that SOC loss due to erosion was several times greater than that due to biological oxidation. Gregorich and Anderson (1985) estimated that 20±70 per cent of historic SOC losses in Canada's chernozemic soils is attributable to erosion.…”

Section: Model Outputsupporting

confidence: 78%

A mass balance approach to assess carbon dioxide evolution during erosional events

2001

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The accelerated greenhouse effect and the degradation of land resources by water and wind erosion are two major, yet interrelated global environmental challenges. Accelerated decomposition of soil organic carbon (SOC) in cultivated soils results in decline in SOC stocks over time and also contributes to increased levels of CO 2 in the atmosphere. Off-site transport of SOC in runoff waters during erosional events also contributes to SOC depletion, but there is a paucity of data in the literature documenting erosional SOC losses and the fate of eroded SOC. In this paper, we present a mass balance approach to compute CO 2 evolved from mineralization of SOC during transport and deposition of eroded soils. Erosion-induced CO 2 emission rates ranging between 6 and 52 g C m À 2 yr À 1 were computed using data on SOC stocks and dynamics from a series of long-term experiments conducted across a range of ecological regions. For the cropland of the world, we estimated an annual¯ux of 0 Á 37 Pg CO 2 -C to the atmosphere due to water erosion. This¯ux is signi®cant and suggests that water erosion must be taken into consideration when constructing global and regional C budgets. Through its contribution to atmospheric CO 2 increase, water erosion can have a positive feedback on the accelerated greenhouse effect.

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“…Soil erosion may not explain large losses ofC on a regional scale (Schlesinger 1986), but has a major impact on redistribution of organic C within ecosystems (Slater and Carleton 1938 Newton et al 1945;Davidson et al 1967). Although soil organic matter storage does increase with concentration, estimates in more recent publications account for the simple fact that storage of soil organic matter and nutrients per unit area or volume increase with concentration as well as soil bulk density and thickness.…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

Calculation of organic matter and nutrients stored in soils under contrasting management regimes

Ellert¹,

Bettany²

1995

Can. J. Soil. Sci.

1,318

751

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. 1995. Calculation of organic matter and nutrients stored in soils under contrasting management regimes. Can. J. Soit Sci. 75: 529-538 Assessments of managemenrinduced changes in soil organic matter depend on the methods used to calculate the quantities of organic C and N stored in soils. Chemical analyses in the laboratory indicate the concentrations of elements in soils, but the thickniss and bulk density of the soil layers in the fieid must be considered to estimate the quantities of elements per unit area. Conventional methods that calculate organic matter storage as the product of concentration, bulk density and thickness do not fully account for variations in soil mass. Comparisons between the quantities of organic C, N, P and S in bray Luviscl soils under nitive aspen forest and various cropping systems were hampered by differences in the mass of soil under consideraiion. The influence of these differences was eliminated by calculating the masses of C, N, P and S in an "equivalent soil mass" (i.e. the mass of soil in a standard or reference surface layer). Reassessment of previously published data also indicated that estimates of organic matter storage depended on soil mass. Appraisals of organic matter depletion or accumrlation usually were different for cimparisonr u-ong element masses in an equivalent soil mass than for comparisons among element massei in genetic horizons or in frxed sampling depths. Unless soil erosion or deposition had altered the mass of topsoil per unit area, comparisons among unequal soil massei were unjustified and erroneous. For management-induced changes in soil organic matter and nutrient storage to be assessed reliably, the masses of soil being compared must be equivalent. Consider the amount of soil organic C in a soil before and after tillage without any gains or losses of soil or C (Fig. 1).The assumed concentration remains constant at 2Vo or 20 kg C Mg-l^soil. Before tillage the soil has a bulk density of 1.6 Mg --3, such that the 0 to 150 mm layer consists of 2400Mg soil ha-l and contains 48 Mg C ha-l. Then consider the impact of a single tillage operation that decreases soil bulk density to 1.2 Mg m-3 without changing the soil C concentration or causing lateral redishibution of the soil (Fig. 1) Analyses for C, N, S and P were performed on finely ground subsamples (< 150 pm). Methods used to determine total and inorganic C, N, S, P, and sulfate-S are outlined in Roberts et al. (1989). Organic C, N, S, P, and sulfate-S were calculated as differences between the concentrations of total and inorganic elements. Ideally, management-induced changes in organic matter can be assessed from comparisons among similar soils (i'e. identical original thickness, bulk density, texture) with contrasting management histories. Thus, management effects can be inferred simply from changes in element concentrations in the surface horizons, provided that changes in horizon thickness exactly compensate for changes in bulk density, such that soil masses are identical. In practice, however,...

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The Effect of Erosion on Losses of Soil Organic Matter

Cited by 27 publications

References 0 publications

Changes in soil organic carbon induced by tillage and water erosion on a steep cultivated hillslope in the Chinese Loess Plateau from 1898–1954 and 1954–1998

Changes in soil organic carbon induced by tillage and water erosion on a steep cultivated hillslope in the Chinese Loess Plateau from 1898–1954 and 1954–1998

A mass balance approach to assess carbon dioxide evolution during erosional events

Calculation of organic matter and nutrients stored in soils under contrasting management regimes

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