U.S. Department of EnergyOffice of Scientific and Technical Information
Castanha et al. 2018: Hopland Lysimeter 13C-Labeled Root Litter Decomposition Study.
Abstract
The breakdown and decomposition of plant inputs are critical for nutrient cycling, soil development, and climate-ecosystem feedbacks, but uncertainties persist in how the rates and products of litter decomposition are affected by soil temperature, rhizosphere, and depth of input. To elucidate these questions we measured the effects of soil warming (+ 4 °C), rhizosphere, and depth of litter placement on the decomposition of Avena fatua (wild oat grass) root litter in a Mediterranean grassland ecosystem. Field lysimeters were subjected to three environmental treatments (heating, control, and plant removal) and three 13C-labeled root litter addition treatments (to A horizon, to B horizon, and no-addition disturbance control) for each of two harvest time points. We buried root litter in February 2014 and measured loss of 13C in CO2 from the soil surface and in leachate as dissolved organic carbon (DOC) over two growing seasons. At the end of each of the 2014 and 2015 growing seasons we recovered the 13C remaining in the soil. Loss of root litter C occurred almost entirely via heterotrophic respiration, with an estimated < 2% lost as DOC during the initial decay period. The added roots were broken down and incorporated into bulk soil material very quickly;more »
- Authors:
-
;
- Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory; Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory
- Peking University
- Dartmouth College
- Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory
- Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory
- Publication Date:
- Research Org.:
- Environmental System Science Data Infrastructure for a Virtual Ecosystem; Belowground Biogeochemistry Scientific Focus Area
- Sponsoring Org.:
- U.S. DOE > Office of Science > Biological and Environmental Research (BER)
- Subject:
- 54 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES; EARTH SCIENCE > LAND SURFACE > SOILS; EARTH SCIENCE > LAND SURFACE > SOILS > CARBON; EARTH SCIENCE > LAND SURFACE > SOILS > NITROGEN; EARTH SCIENCE > LAND SURFACE > SOILS > SOIL MOISTURE/WATER CONTENT; EARTH SCIENCE > LAND SURFACE > SOILS > SOIL RESPIRATION; EARTH SCIENCE > LAND SURFACE > SOILS > SOIL TEMPERATURE
- OSTI Identifier:
- 1895464
- DOI:
- https://doi.org/10.15485/1895464
Citation Formats
Castanha, Cristina, Zhu, Biao, Hicks Pries, Caitlin, Georgiou, Katerina, and Torn, Margaret. Castanha et al. 2018: Hopland Lysimeter 13C-Labeled Root Litter Decomposition Study.. United States: N. p., 2021.
Web. doi:10.15485/1895464.
Castanha, Cristina, Zhu, Biao, Hicks Pries, Caitlin, Georgiou, Katerina, & Torn, Margaret. Castanha et al. 2018: Hopland Lysimeter 13C-Labeled Root Litter Decomposition Study.. United States. doi:https://doi.org/10.15485/1895464
Castanha, Cristina, Zhu, Biao, Hicks Pries, Caitlin, Georgiou, Katerina, and Torn, Margaret. 2021.
"Castanha et al. 2018: Hopland Lysimeter 13C-Labeled Root Litter Decomposition Study.". United States. doi:https://doi.org/10.15485/1895464. https://www.osti.gov/servlets/purl/1895464. Pub date:Fri Dec 31 23:00:00 EST 2021
@article{osti_1895464,
title = {Castanha et al. 2018: Hopland Lysimeter 13C-Labeled Root Litter Decomposition Study.},
author = {Castanha, Cristina and Zhu, Biao and Hicks Pries, Caitlin and Georgiou, Katerina and Torn, Margaret},
abstractNote = {The breakdown and decomposition of plant inputs are critical for nutrient cycling, soil development, and climate-ecosystem feedbacks, but uncertainties persist in how the rates and products of litter decomposition are affected by soil temperature, rhizosphere, and depth of input. To elucidate these questions we measured the effects of soil warming (+ 4 °C), rhizosphere, and depth of litter placement on the decomposition of Avena fatua (wild oat grass) root litter in a Mediterranean grassland ecosystem. Field lysimeters were subjected to three environmental treatments (heating, control, and plant removal) and three 13C-labeled root litter addition treatments (to A horizon, to B horizon, and no-addition disturbance control) for each of two harvest time points. We buried root litter in February 2014 and measured loss of 13C in CO2 from the soil surface and in leachate as dissolved organic carbon (DOC) over two growing seasons. At the end of each of the 2014 and 2015 growing seasons we recovered the 13C remaining in the soil. Loss of root litter C occurred almost entirely via heterotrophic respiration, with an estimated < 2% lost as DOC during the initial decay period. The added roots were broken down and incorporated into bulk soil material very quickly; only ~ 30% of added root was visible after 6 months. In the first growing season, decomposition occurred faster in the B than in the A horizon, the latter having greater moisture limitation. Subsequently, there was almost no further decomposition in the B horizon. After two growing seasons, less than 20% of the added root litter C remained in the A or B horizons of all environmental treatments. Heating did not stimulate decomposition, likely because it exacerbated the moisture limitation. However, while plots without plants dried down more slowly than plots with plants, their decomposition rate was not significantly greater, possibly due to the lack of rhizosphere processes such as priming. We conclude that in this Mediterranean grassland ecosystem, soil moisture, which is affected by season, depth, heating, and rhizosphere, plays a dominant role in mediating the effect of those factors on root litter decomposition, which after two seasons did not differ by depth or by treatment.The files in this dataset comprise (1) 13C-labeled litter additions made to each plot, (2) litter recovery after each of 2 growing seasons, (3) periodical soil flux measurements, (4) leachate measurements, and continuously monitored soil (5) temperature and (6) moisture.},
doi = {10.15485/1895464},
journal = {},
number = ,
volume = ,
place = {United States},
year = {Fri Dec 31 23:00:00 EST 2021},
month = {Fri Dec 31 23:00:00 EST 2021}
}