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Title: Early accumulation of active fraction soil carbon in newly established cellulosic biofuel systems

Abstract

We examined relative changes in soil C pools shortly after the establishment of six perennial and two annual bioenergy cropping systems that differed in diversity (monoculture vs. polyculture). Perennial systems included two monocultures (switchgrass, Panicum virgatum; and miscanthus, Miscanthus × giganteus) and four polycultures including hybrid poplar (Populus sp.) + herbaceous understory; mixed native grasses, successional vegetation, and restored prairie. Two annual systems included no-till continuous corn (Zea mays) and rotational corn (corn-soybean (Glycine max)-canola (Brassica napus)). Each crop was planted in a full factorial design at both a moderate fertility Alfisol and a high fertility Mollisol site. Relative differences in active, slow, and passive C pools in surface soils, where C changes are most likely to be detected early, were evaluated with 322-day laboratory incubations followed by acid hydrolysis to infer different pools from exponential decay curves. Five years post-establishment, active C pools under perennial polycultures at the Alfisol site were up to twice those under annual and perennial monocultures, and followed the order hybrid poplars (696 ± 216 μg C g-1 soil, n = 5 replicate blocks) ≈ native grasses (656 ± 155) ≈ restored prairie (638 ± 44) > early successional (500 ± 54) ≫ continuous cornmore » (237 ± 68) ≈ rotational corn (180 ± n.a.). Active C pools in perennial monocultures were similar to those in continuous corn: switchgrass (274 ± 29) ≈ miscanthus (299 ± 9). In contrast, differences in active C pools among crops at the more fertile Mollisol site were not detectable except for greater pools in the restored prairie and rotational corn systems. At both sites, slow and passive C pools differed little among systems except that slow pools were greater in the poplar system. That diversity rather than perenniality itself led to greater active C pools suggests that polycultures might be used to accelerate soil C accumulation in bioenergy and other perennial cropping systems.« less

Authors:
; ORCiD logo
Publication Date:
Research Org.:
Univ. of Wisconsin, Madison, WI (United States)
Sponsoring Org.:
USDOE Office of Science (SC)
OSTI Identifier:
1631763
Alternate Identifier(s):
OSTI ID: 1506648
Grant/Contract Number:  
FCO2-07ER64494; FC02-07ER64494
Resource Type:
Journal Article: Published Article
Journal Name:
Geoderma
Additional Journal Information:
Journal Name: Geoderma Journal Volume: 318 Journal Issue: C; Journal ID: ISSN 0016-7061
Publisher:
Elsevier
Country of Publication:
Netherlands
Language:
English
Subject:
09 BIOMASS FUELS

Citation Formats

Sprunger, Christine D., and Philip Robertson, G. Early accumulation of active fraction soil carbon in newly established cellulosic biofuel systems. Netherlands: N. p., 2018. Web. doi:10.1016/j.geoderma.2017.11.040.
Sprunger, Christine D., & Philip Robertson, G. Early accumulation of active fraction soil carbon in newly established cellulosic biofuel systems. Netherlands. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.geoderma.2017.11.040
Sprunger, Christine D., and Philip Robertson, G. 2018. "Early accumulation of active fraction soil carbon in newly established cellulosic biofuel systems". Netherlands. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.geoderma.2017.11.040.
@article{osti_1631763,
title = {Early accumulation of active fraction soil carbon in newly established cellulosic biofuel systems},
author = {Sprunger, Christine D. and Philip Robertson, G.},
abstractNote = {We examined relative changes in soil C pools shortly after the establishment of six perennial and two annual bioenergy cropping systems that differed in diversity (monoculture vs. polyculture). Perennial systems included two monocultures (switchgrass, Panicum virgatum; and miscanthus, Miscanthus × giganteus) and four polycultures including hybrid poplar (Populus sp.) + herbaceous understory; mixed native grasses, successional vegetation, and restored prairie. Two annual systems included no-till continuous corn (Zea mays) and rotational corn (corn-soybean (Glycine max)-canola (Brassica napus)). Each crop was planted in a full factorial design at both a moderate fertility Alfisol and a high fertility Mollisol site. Relative differences in active, slow, and passive C pools in surface soils, where C changes are most likely to be detected early, were evaluated with 322-day laboratory incubations followed by acid hydrolysis to infer different pools from exponential decay curves. Five years post-establishment, active C pools under perennial polycultures at the Alfisol site were up to twice those under annual and perennial monocultures, and followed the order hybrid poplars (696 ± 216 μg C g-1 soil, n = 5 replicate blocks) ≈ native grasses (656 ± 155) ≈ restored prairie (638 ± 44) > early successional (500 ± 54) ≫ continuous corn (237 ± 68) ≈ rotational corn (180 ± n.a.). Active C pools in perennial monocultures were similar to those in continuous corn: switchgrass (274 ± 29) ≈ miscanthus (299 ± 9). In contrast, differences in active C pools among crops at the more fertile Mollisol site were not detectable except for greater pools in the restored prairie and rotational corn systems. At both sites, slow and passive C pools differed little among systems except that slow pools were greater in the poplar system. That diversity rather than perenniality itself led to greater active C pools suggests that polycultures might be used to accelerate soil C accumulation in bioenergy and other perennial cropping systems.},
doi = {10.1016/j.geoderma.2017.11.040},
url = {https://www.osti.gov/biblio/1631763}, journal = {Geoderma},
issn = {0016-7061},
number = C,
volume = 318,
place = {Netherlands},
year = {Tue May 01 00:00:00 EDT 2018},
month = {Tue May 01 00:00:00 EDT 2018}
}

Journal Article:
Free Publicly Available Full Text
Publisher's Version of Record at https://doi.org/10.1016/j.geoderma.2017.11.040

Citation Metrics:
Cited by: 34 works
Citation information provided by
Web of Science

Figures / Tables:

Fig. 1 Fig. 1: Cumulative C mineralization from surface soils (0–10 cm depth) over the course of 322 day incubations for the moderate fertility Alfisol (KBS) and high fertility Mollisol (ARL) sites. Systems with different lowercase letters are statistically different from one another (p < 0.05, n = 3).

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Works referencing / citing this record:

Soil organic carbon sequestration and its stability after vegetation restoration in the Loess Hilly Region, China
journal, January 2020


Microbial spatial footprint as a driver of soil carbon stabilization
journal, July 2019


Sustainable intensification of high-diversity biomass production for optimal biofuel benefits
journal, November 2018


X-ray computed tomography to predict soil N 2 O production via bacterial denitrification and N 2 O emission in contrasting bioenergy cropping systems
journal, September 2018


Figures/Tables have been extracted from DOE-funded journal article accepted manuscripts.