Soil carbon stocks across tropical forests of Panama regulated by base cation effects on fine roots

Cusack, Daniela F.; Markesteijn, Lars; Condit, Richard; Lewis, Owen T.; Turner, Benjamin L.

doi:10.1007/s10533-017-0416-8

Title: Soil carbon stocks across tropical forests of Panama regulated by base cation effects on fine roots

Journal Article · Tue Jan 02 00:00:00 EST 2018 · Biogeochemistry

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1007/s10533-017-0416-8· OSTI ID:1416561

^[1]; Markesteijn, Lars ^[2]; Condit, Richard ^[3]; Lewis, Owen T. ^[4]; Turner, Benjamin L. ^[5]

University of California, Los Angeles, CA (United States). Department of Geography
Bangor University (United Kingdom). School of Environment, Natural Resources and Geography; University of Oxford (United Kingdom). Department of Zoology; Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute, Ancon (Republic of Panama)
Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute, Ancon (Republic of Panama); Morton Arboretum, Lisle, IL (United States); Field Museum of Natural History, Chicago, IL (United States)
University of Oxford (United Kingdom). Department of Zoology
Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute, Ancon (Republic of Panama)

We report that tropical forests are the most carbon (C)- rich ecosystems on Earth, containing 25–40% of global terrestrial C stocks. While large-scale quantifi- cation of aboveground biomass in tropical forests has improved recently, soil C dynamics remain one of the largest sources of uncertainty in Earth system models, which inhibits our ability to predict future climate. Globally, soil texture and climate predict B 30% of the variation in soil C stocks, so ecosystem models often predict soil C using measures of aboveground plant growth. However, this approach can underestimate tropical soil C stocks, and has proven inaccurate when compared with data for soil C in data-rich northern ecosystems. By quantifying soil organic C stocks to 1 m depth for 48 humid tropical forest plots across gradients of rainfall and soil fertility in Panama, we show that soil C does not correlate with common predictors used in models, such as plant biomass or litter production. Instead, a structural equation model including base cations, soil clay content, and rainfall as exogenous factors and root biomass as an endogenous factor predicted nearly 50% of the variation in tropical soil C stocks, indicating a strong indirect effect of base cation availability on tropical soil C storage. Including soil base cations in C cycle models, and thus emphasizing mechanistic links among nutrients, root biomass, and soil C stocks, will improve prediction of climate-soil feedbacks in tropical forests.

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Research Organization:: Univ. of California, Los Angeles, CA (United States); Colorado State Univ., Fort Collins, CO (United States)

Sponsoring Organization:: USDOE Office of Science (SC); USDOE Office of Science (SC), Biological and Environmental Research (BER). Earth and Environmental Systems Science Division

Grant/Contract Number:: SC0015898; SC0020669

OSTI ID:: 1416561

Alternate ID(s):: OSTI ID: 1924483

Journal Information:: Biogeochemistry, Vol. 137, Issue 1-2; ISSN 0168-2563

Publisher:: SpringerCopyright Statement

Country of Publication:: United States

Language:: English

Citation Metrics:

Cited by: 21 works

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Web of Science

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